About The Creators
Author & Co Founder
Marilou Urbi
Marilou writes the way the moon moves. With intention, with grace, and with the quiet certainty that light belongs everywhere, especially in the places it has been forgotten.
The Island Moon Universe grew from a singular, luminous belief: that children who see themselves in stories carry those stories into everything they become. Every character she has woven, every mythic tide she has set in motion, is a gift given forward, from the ancestors who shaped her, through the little ones growing beside her, toward the communities she holds in her heart.
Marilou grew up between two homelands, the Philippines and Hawaii, carrying both in the same heart long before she ever wrote a word. That is why this universe was never going to hold only one realm. Eight realms exist because she was raised inside more than one world herself, and she wanted every child who feels like she once did, caught between cultures, to finally have somewhere that holds all of it at once.
Her writing is rooted in cultural heritage and the sacred work of remembrance. In her world, tenderness is strength, sisterhood is protection, and imagination is not a luxury. It is a birthright. When Marilou writes, she is not simply telling a story. She is lighting a lantern and placing it in a child's hands, and her own twin sister, Marivic, is the one who has helped her carry that lantern from the very beginning.
This is my purpose. This is my heart. This is the Island Moon Universe.
Button: Connect with the Author
Co Author & Co Founder
Marivic U. Tuddao
Island Moon Universe is a shared vision, lovingly brought to life by twin sisters Marilou Urbi and Marivic U. Tuddao. A world created to help children feel seen, families feel connected, and stories become a bridge between heritage, imagination, and belonging.
There is a quiet symmetry here worth saying plainly. Maharaya and Mahina'ala are twin mermaids, one bold, one listening closely, both exactly enough. Marilou and Marivic are twin sisters who write and shape this universe the same way, two different gifts, one shared heart.
Where Marilou writes like the moon moves, gentle, luminous, and full of quiet wonder, Marivic carries the heartbeat of the universe through vision, stewardship, and the deep understanding that stories are not only told, but nurtured into becoming, places people can return to again and again.
Together, the sisters built the Island Moon Universe from a singular belief: that children who see themselves reflected in stories grow into adults who remember their worth, their roots, and their light.
Marivic's presence within the Island Moon Universe is grounded in care, creativity, and connection. She believes imagination is sacred work, a way of preserving culture, honoring family, and creating spaces where tenderness is celebrated instead of hidden. Every detail she helps shape carries the spirit of the islands: resilient, nurturing, and deeply alive.
Rooted in the beauty of Hawaii and the Philippines, the world they are building invites children and families into stories where sisterhood is strength, heritage is treasured, and wonder flows like the tides beneath the moon.
Together, Marilou and Marivic are not simply creating books. They are creating a home for imagination.
Meet the Illustrator
Kim Jasper Billones
Kim Jasper Billones is a young illustrator from Aklan, in the Visayas region of the Philippines, whose passion for art began with a deep love for imagination, storytelling, and visual wonder. Inspired by island life, nature, and fantasy worlds, Kim brings warmth and emotion into every illustration he creates.
Through his art, he hopes to create stories that spark curiosity, comfort, and magic for children and families alike. As the illustrator behind The Twin Mermaids of the Island Moon, Kim helps bring the Island Moon Universe to life, one brushstroke, one dream, and one glowing tide at a time.
A Story That Gives Back
Every book in this universe carries more than a story home with it. A portion of its proceeds helps carry hope a little further too, to families, patients, and animals who need gentleness just as much as any child needs a bedtime story.
Enkindled Hope Foundation Inc. is a humanitarian organization dedicated to bringing hope, comfort, and practical assistance to vulnerable individuals, families, and communities.
The foundation envisions communities where kindness inspires action, hope is shared, and no one is left behind, whether a family in need, a patient facing illness, or an animal awaiting care and a loving home.
Together, they ignite hope, restore dignity, and create meaningful change, one life, one family, and one act of kindness at a time.
