A young author with a big imagination

Cara Komukai is a 13-year-old girl who loves art, singing, dancing, make up, and creating stories. Cara also happens to have Down syndrome and a repaired AVSD heart defect. With her lower immunity, she studied from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Cara’s learning goals during her online lessons included clearer articulation, proper sequencing of events, and adding details to her conversations. Despite the many challenges, Cara’s Education Assistant, Dave Larocque, found ways to engage her and keep her on task. When Cara did get frustrated or tired, she would start making up stories about rainbows, unicorns, and Mr. Larocque’s dogs, Reggie and Olive. Mr. Larocque took this opportunity to have Cara develop the characters, settings, problems, and solutions further. Cara explained her ideas clearly, organized the details logically, and before you knew it, this story came together.

Cara’s book, Rainbow Puppy Daycare, shows parents, caregivers, teachers, and children of all different abilities what can be achieved with the right support and a big imagination. 
Cara lives in Burnaby, BC, Canada with her parents, Beverly and Yasu, and her older brother, Nathan.