When we lived in Okinawa, the jungle was always just a breath away.

At dusk, we’d round up our young kids and go walking with flashlights—bat hunting, we called it. Not to catch them, just to spot them.

We’d shine our beams into the trees and freeze with awe and a little fear when flying foxes, two feet long and red-eyed, hung in the branches, leathery wings wrapped around their bodies like Dracula’s cloak.

Sometimes, on those flashlight hunts,

we’d catch a glimpse of a web stretched across the trail, glistening in the dark, spun from one tree to the next.

But one morning, the wild came to us.

We opened the front door, headed for the car—and stopped.

The car door wouldn’t fully open.

It was snagged.

A banana spider had spun a web ten feet across, anchored from a tree to the car.

What do you do when a giant spider catches your car?

Well, first off, you look for the spider!

Then you yank, and yank, and yank, until—SNAP! The web breaks and you’re free.

Then you jump in and get out of there!

Night Hunt! Ryukyu is inspired by our adventures while living in Okinawa—when the ordinary turns wild.

Set in the Ryukyu Island jungles, the story follows a nighttime flashlight expedition, discovering real wildlife: flying foxes, banana spiders, wildcats, snakes, and more. Told in playful riddles and rhythmic clues, it’s a seek-and-find mystery made for curious kids (and brave grown-ups).

Whether you’ve hunted bats by moonlight or just wondered what hides in the dark, this book is for you.

Watch the trailer and learn more at cocomcq.com