Borneo Tom by: Tom McLaughlin

Borneo Tom by: Tom McLaughlin has it all….romance,travel through Southeast Asia, orangutans and more, all being told with sketches throughout the book instead of images. At first glance you would think it’s a children’s book because the cover is vibrant. However, Borneo Tom is one of those “Don’t judge a book by its cover” books.

After caring for his parents in the years before their death, Tom impulsively decides to pull up roots and move to Borneo as well as travel through Southeast Asia. That only would be more than enough material for a great book, but Tom’s story doesn’t end at the traveling.

Tom decided to write Borneo Tom for several reasons. One of those being to educate people on the Islamic faith and attempt to reduce the bigotry and prejudice against the. Tom lived with the Islamic people in Southeast Asia and writes of those experiences. after reading Tom’s experiences I must say I see the Islamic people in a different light.

I told you there were orangutans in  Borneo Tom. Efforts to help these creatures are mentioned in the book, and a portion of the proceeds from the book go to benefit this worthy cause. The illustrations of orangutans in Borneo Tom show how they interact with humans in such a  way that will endear them to readers and make them want to learn more.

The illustrations in Borneo Tom help you create a true and vivid picture in mind about the life Tom lived  traveling through Southeast Asia.  Waterfront Niki created the sketches, he lives near the Sarawak River in Borneo. He is famous in the region for his work because he sketches portraits of tourists.

Borneo Tom is about taking a chance and just doing it. It took courage to suddenly pick up and move. For tom McLaughlin that courage paid off. Remember the romance I mentioned? Well Tom fell in love with a local girl in Southeast Asia and in spite of a vasectomy years prior, she got pregnant.