Pip and the Magical Kingdom

Have you discovered it yet? The imaginative children’s book “Pip and the Magical Kingdom”, an exciting story about an otter warrior in training, written by children’s author Linn van den Heuvel. When we discovered this book, we immediately fell in love with it. Purely because the main character is an otter. A book about an otter, who wouldn’t want to read that? So we bought the book and were quickly swept away by the adventures of Pip and Ava.

Soon, part two titled “Pip and the Quest for the Magical Artifact” will be released. A perfect reason for us to ask Linn a few questions

As a little girl, Linn van den Heuvel already dreamed of becoming a children’s author. She devoured one book after another, and it was therefore not very surprising that by the end of primary school she had already read through the entire school library three times.

Once she started secondary school, her focus shifted even more toward creativity. She wrote poems and even published a poetry collection during her teenage years. However, when she started working, her writing mainly consisted of example stories she created for the lessons she taught to her class.

It was there that the stories about Lucky were born, her stubborn little beagle friend, known as Lucky the Detective. Lucky the Detective and the Missing Cookies, Lucky the Detective and the Missing Painting, Lucky the Detective and the Missing Red Pandas.

In short: mysteries and puzzles. The children in her class loved them, and some stories she read aloud three or four times a day. Unfortunately, it never quite turned into a real book.

During her birthday party in 2024, she was talking with friends about the fantasy books they read, the series they watched, and the games they played. That evening she told them about an idea that had been in her mind for a long time.

A story about Pip, inspired by her own Dungeons & Dragons animal companion. An otter, but not just any otter. Pip is an otter warrior!

She told them about her idea: the magical kingdom of Lutra, the Mystical Wolves, and the Dark Curse. In her mind, she knew exactly how the story would come together, because her brain would naturally fill in the gaps to create a complete story. However, she assumed that no one but herself would enjoy reading it.

Her friends strongly disagreed. They really wanted to read her story and were certain they wouldn’t be the only ones.

So Linn started writing her story and published it in a beautiful book edition. And by now she can say that her friends were absolutely right. Her first book has been a great success: in less than a year, 400 of the 500 printed copies have already been sold. At the moment, she is working on a second print run. And not just any second print, but this one will be a special edition. How incredibly cool is that?

And what’s even cooler is that she is currently finishing the second book in this fun trilogy, which will be released in April/May 2026.

But why choose an otter as the main character? How did she come up with that idea?

The answer is very simple.

For as long as Linn can remember, she has absolutely loved otters. They look adorable, behave in adorable ways, make adorable sounds, and she instantly becomes happy when she sees cute otter videos. Her love for otters runs very deep, which means that anything related to otters immediately catches her interest.

During her trip to Japan, she even visited a special otter experience where she had a private moment with the otters. She was able to feed them, play with them, and pet them.

For Linn, that was pure heaven.

Linn believes that otters are a bit overlooked in the category of “favorite animals.” And because there were no fantasy children’s books about otters, the choice was easy, her main character simply had to be an otter.

These days she often hears people say that the otter is their favorite animal, or even their spirit animal. The reactions to the fact that the story is about magical otters bring out so much love and affection in people. It’s wonderful to see and motivates her to keep writing.

The cover of Pip and the Magical Kingdom also absolutely had to feature an otter, so it would immediately be clear that he would steal the show. But most importantly, it needed to show that everything takes place in a magical kingdom. And that worked very well, because people constantly confirm how attractive and eye-catching the cover is.

Linn regularly attends events with Pip and the Magical Kingdom, and every time it is a wonderful experience. The conversations, the reactions to the cover, the people who have already bought the book and can’t wait for part two (and even part three), the compliments from readers, the enthusiasm, it makes her incredibly happy every single time.

The story of Pip is for everyone who is curious, who dares to believe in magic and friendship, but above all believes in themselves and in the good in the world. Just like the otters.

At the end of April / beginning of May, part two titled Pip and the Quest for the Magical Artifact will be released.

Would you like to meet Linn and her book? Then check out her event calendar here.

And who knows, you might even meet her in April 2027 at Pixie Spirit Fest.