'Deep in the bayou, little Gus feels too small to keep up with his big, strong brothers. But when trouble splashes up, Gus discovers that being small has many advantages! With quick thinking and a brave heart, he proves that you don’t have to be big to be great.' – 'The Littlest Gator in the Bayou.'
When Arun Thottumkara's son, Nicholas, was born Sept. 19, 2024, he was about five weeks early. As new parents, Arun and his wife, Lauren, were a little nervous about the early arrival. Now, the 16-month-old is going-going-going, and is 'rambunctious' according to his dad, in spite of his early beginnings. But that time in the Thottumkara family's life, shortly after Nicholas' birth and given Lauren's time living in New Orleans, gave Arun a thought … How about a children's book that teaches children about courage, cleverness and overcoming obstacles, all based on the life of the smallest alligator in the swamp as the book's champion. And with that, 'The Littlest Gator in the Bayou' was born and self-published in November 2025.
'I wanted to make sure he knew that no matter what size he is, he can always accomplish big things. I wrote this book to help teach him and all kids that lesson,' Thottumkara shared. 'I teamed up with an amazing illustrator, Miranda DeMarco (his wife's cousin's wife), and we created this book that is all about dreaming big and believing in yourself.'
'In the lead up to Nicholas being born, I thought about what I wanted to do with my child, and I knew I wanted to read books to him, so I was really looking forward to reading bedtime stories,' he explained. 'And when he was born a little early and a little small, I didn't know if he'd be a smaller child growing up or not. I wanted him to learn that it's not size that defines you, it's what's inside that defines you, and there's so much you can do, no matter your size. His cousins are big kids, and they're big boys, and that's where it came from.'
He came up with the idea for the book near the end of 2024 and put pen to paper in January 2025, finishing it a few months later. Thottumkara said once he sat down to write, it didn't take long as he already had it figured out in his head. After his son was born, because Thottumkara and his wife have such an affinity for New Orleans, where she lived for many years, and they still have several good friends there, plus Thottumkara fell in love with the culture and the people, he was talking to his son (aka Nicky) in his best Cajun accent, 'you may be the littlest gater but you'll do big things' and just like that, the idea was born.
'I remember looking at children's books in the library, and while there are lots of animal books, most of which have cute, little furry animals, there was nothing like the bayou and its ecosystem, so my characters, alligators, turtles and frogs in that setting is really unique,' Thottumkara added.
The 2004 Macomb High School graduate attended Harvard University following his graduation and then went on to Stanford University in California, where he earned his Ph.D. in chemistry. Thottumkara, who is the son of T.K. Vinod and Deepika Vinod, of Macomb, is a research chemist for Curie Bio in San Diego, where he's responsible for discovering medicine for some of the most challenging diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. His job is incredibly technical and scientific, involving the abstract, so for him, seeing his characters come to life through the illustrations have been a great part of the process.
'I give real kudos to Miranda as her illustrations are remarkable. Once I wrote this, I started thinking about who could bring the characters to life how I envisioned them. I just asked Miranda to draw me a mock-up of what she thought the characters looked like,' he pointed out. 'And she captured them. She brought them to life exactly as I saw them. It's so great to see the fruits of my labor, and the most encouraging are the messages from parents that their son or daughter keeps asking them to read this book. My friend's family traveled abroad over Christmas and their kids could each choose two books. His daughter chose 'The Littlest Gator.' When I hear things like that, I feel really good and there's a conviction that I have something here with the characters.'
He's already writing his second 'Gus' book, 'The Littlest Gator in the Classroom,' and is working with an agent in a publishing house. Thottumkara can see a whole Gus series, following his own son's milestones, until perhaps the time his son might tell him, 'Dad, no more,' he laughed.
'While the reception has been amazing and it makes me so happy people love the book, for me, it all starts with my son,' Thottumkara said. 'And I would really like to thank my family; my wife Lauren, and my illustrator Miranda, but the biggest thank you goes to Nicholas because he has inspired everything.'
'The Littlest Gator in the Bayou' can be found on Amazon at a.co/d/2kOb3ZV
