Lost at Carnival is a children’s story set in Trinidad and Tobago about Akil who becomes separated from his school band when he slips away for a sno-cone.
Author Gail Morong has been a secondary and university educator for over 35 years, both in Trinidad and Tobago and in Canada where she now lives. Back in 1988, she wrote her first children’s storybook, Lost at Carnival, because the local bookstores carried mainly foreign books that did not reflect her three young daughters’ local culture. In 1990, she asked local artist, Jackie Hinkson, to do the illustrations for the book, but unfortunately the project sat in a closet for many years when her family migrated to Canada. She discovered and dusted off the project in 2015 and self-published the book in Canada. The Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism helped her to print enough books for donation to all libraries in Trinidad and Tobago. Lost at Carnival is set during the annual children’s carnival parade and aims to teach kids some important lessons about staying safe while out in public. The book mentions many important sites in Trinidad and Tobago such as the Red House and Queen’s Park Savannah, and highlights some of the traditional carnival characters.
