Deano Yipadee hits Awapuni School

Dean O'Brien (Mr Yipadee) - with awapuni kids Olivia Peach, Catherine Maynoa, Whare Spring, Lorcan Pellow

REDUNDANCY at his radio station job worked out for former Mosgiel man Dean O’Brien.

An unexpected opportunity led to his rise as a best-selling children’s book author whose New Zealand tour brought him to Gisborne this week.

“I’d always wanted to be Dean Wiggle in skivvy,” he says.

Instead he took on the name Deano Yipadee for his books and Mr Yipadee in his role as a musical entertainer.

Mr O’Brien found his vocation following his redundancy from a Manchester radio station when he and his wife held an emergency meeting at a cafe that also catered to children.

“When we there I realised the cafe was full of potential customers. I went to the manager and said ‘I want to do a show’. I did a show and kids went crazy for it.”

With thousands of similar cafes across the UK, he not only had plenty of work but headlined the Glastonbury music festival’s Kidz Field stage. His music is aimed at promoting positive thinking and self-confidence in children.

Published last year, Mr O’Brien’s first children’s book Jingle Bells, Rudolph Smells debuted at No. 1 on the best sellers children’s charts.

His second book, Nee Naw The Little Fire Engine, debuted in the top three in the best sellers charts in the first week of February and remained in the top 10 for more than three months.