Thandi's Parents have died of AIDS, and she must go to live with her Gogo. Memories of her family are woven throughout the making of a special doll – a doll made from a few oddly shaped rags, but who shows Thandi how to find comfort and hope.
Author, Catherine lives with her husband and three daughters in a small holding outside Stellenbosch. She is kept busy with their writing, illustrating, chickens, fruit trees, and gardening. She is involved with the not-for-profit initiative Siphosenkozi, which trains previously disadvantaged women to make an African ragdoll called Nosipho. The doll is featured in each of the books in the Thandi and the Nosipho series. Catherine's passion is to work with children who are in crisis, foster care, or suffering from the effect of HIV/AIDS