By Dylana Kneeshaw

LET'S TALK ABOUT DINOSAURS

Mother of missing Ryan Shtuka pens new children’s book

Dec 4, 2025 | 4:23 PM

KAMLOOPS — The mother of Ryan Shtuka, a young man missing from the Sun Peaks area since 2018, has written a new children’s book in honour of her son’s childhood experience.

In 2022, Heather Shtuka first wrote ‘Missing from Me’, a book about her son’s disappearance which shared tragic aspects of that experience and the community response. But for her second author experience, Shtuka says the children’s book is more of a light-hearted read.

‘Let’s Talk About Dinosaurs’ is inspired by a question-and-answer-style game Ryan often played with the family when he was a child, which is a memory that came up when he first went missing in February of 2018.

“To me, it was symbolic of what we talked about from the very beginning when he went missing, but I was able to bring this joy of what he loved as a kid to life and I thought it was just a different journey,” explains Shtuka.

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The story follows the young boy’s curiosity about the world and Shtuka hopes it can become another way for the uplifting parts of Ryan to make a positive impact on others.

“It’s about him but it’s not as recognizable. I wasn’t sure what to expect,” she says. “However, when I woke up this morning, it is the Hot New Release for that category and it’s in the top ten, so I’m really happy with the success of it.”

Shtuka says she does have other ideas in mind for future books, featuring the support systems that were created in the wake of Ryan’s disappearance and the worldwide presence the 3D-printed dinosaurs handed out to spread awareness about his case have garnered.

For this children’s book, however, Shtuka said she wanted to keep the focus on uplifting moments that can bring families together.

“I think I want people to remember those moments,” she replied when asked what she hopes parents will take away from reading the latest book. “I want them to be in it and centre yourself in it.”

‘Let’s Talk About Dinosaurs’ was released this week and is available through Amazon and other online book retailers.