Gintota was a peaceful little village in the Southern coast of Sri Lanka, over half a century ago. That was the home of Sybil Wettasinghe. The refreshing rural background to all her stories and illustrations are recollections of her early childhood days which never seem to diminish in her mind over the passing years.

Sybil claims that her love of writing and illustrating books for children and young adults keep her gloriously happy and contented. A grandmother of five, Sybil says that all the world’s children are like her very own. She loves them all. Children are the spice of her life.

Sybil started her literary career with the classic Umbrella Thief, way back in 1956 and today is internationally recognized as one of the world’s best children’s book and illustrators. In The Child in Me, which is based on Sybil’s enchanting childhood in Gintota, the reader is confronted with “A child and a grown-up who live as one and magical things they dream of together…” With the winning of the Gratiaen Award, a highly acclaimed Japanese translation and a new edition with beautiful colour illustrations, today The Child in Me is recognized as a classic.