Phyllis Kimani is a pharmacist, a family caregiver, and the author of the NeuroReach Friends series of children’s books about epilepsy.
She began writing them for a simple reason. As a caregiver, she could not find a book that explained epilepsy to a child in a way that lowered fear rather than raising it, set somewhere the child would recognise. So she wrote one. Then another.
Her African titles are the first children’s books about epilepsy written for sub-Saharan African settings, with African characters, in African languages, and include The Day the Purple Kite Flew, published in East African English and in Kiswahili as Siku Kishada cha Zambarau Kilipopaa, and My Friend Amani. She also writes for young readers in the United Kingdom. Every book is clinically reviewed by consultant paediatric neurologists before publication.
Phyllis holds an MPharm and is registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board in Kenya and the General Pharmaceutical Council in the United Kingdom. She is the founder of NeuroReach Africa a non-profit organisation, which works on epilepsy awareness, advancing epilepsy research and community impact.
She is a mother of four daughters and divides her time between Leeds and Nairobi.
