Eat Cake For Breakfast

Eat Cake for Breakfast and 99 Other Small Acts of Happiness is a little illustrated book that brings you big joy x 100.

It’s a book that reminds us not to wait for that big day, or perfect moment to be happy.
This is a book that celebrates joy and curiosity.
It’s the book that reminds us happiness is all around us, we just need to notice and savor these little moments.
It’s the book that, when times are hard, reminds us there is light at the end of a tunnel.

My name is Viola Sutanto and I am the founder of a sustainable bag brand called MAIKA and a designer and illustrator with over 15 years of experience in the creative field.

A year ago, our 9-year-old daughter, Maika, was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, also known as bone marrow failure. Miraculously our then 3-year-old son was a perfect match for her, so he became her bone marrow donor and saved her life.

During the months of her treatment, I was blown away by Maika’s courage and positivity. This was the biggest fight of her life, and it was hard. But she managed to find something to happy about every single day she was in the hospital. Whether it was Nutella for breakfast, or discovering re-runs of Full House on the hospital TV, or busting my butt at UNO, she found joy everyday in the most challenging time of her life. 

During our stay in the hospital, I started capturing these little moments of positivity. Eat Cake for Breakfast and 99 Other Small Acts of Happiness is the culmination of these small joys everyday.

Through this book, we hope to inspire everyday joy to those around us. It’s also a tribute to our amazing community of family, friends and the incredible medical team at the Children’s Hospital in Oakland. 

While I have written and designed books for established publishers like Chronicle Books and National Geographic, no other book has meant more to me than this one. Each page has been lovingly illustrated and written by me, and will be produced with much care by the amazing team at Collective Book Studio.

We plan to donate a portion of the proceeds to the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California, where our daughter was treated. 

We need your help to publish this book. Even though this book was inspired by a little girl’s journey to recovery, we believe this book resonates with a much bigger audience. It’s for anyone who needs a lift to get through the day. This is a book you keep by your bedside, and a book you gift to your best friend, or your grandma. 

Thank you!
Viola (MAIKA) and Angela (Collective Book Studio)