Feb 09 2019
Electric! A story about my children’s book…
My first son was born an observer. He entered the world quietly and watched with wonder at how the world around him worked. My second son was just the opposite. He was born flailing his tiny jazz hands and screaming “Ta-Da!”!
When my boys were little, one of my favorite things to do was read with them. We read often and I found it fascinating how some stories with very few words could invoke such an emotional response from me (My favorite examples are Peter H. Reynold’s book THE DOT and Patrick McDonnell’s THE GIFT OF NOTHING). I loved how these books said so much on so few pages. I started making up stories for my boys based on the things I saw them dealing with in their little lives. One of the stories I wrote is called ELECTRIC. It’s about a little boys who just can’t seem to be still and use a quiet voice (it was based on my son, Ethan). It sat in a binder for years…until this past 2018 when I reconnected with an old friend of mine from High school. She and her best friend had decided to start a publishing company and she’d remebered that I used to write. I sent off my stories and a few months later…the story I wrote for my son (and every child who has struggled to be quiet and still) is now a book and is available for other children and families to enjoy. This expreience has been a whirlwind, but one that I’m so grateful for. I can only attribute it to the shifts in my own thinking. I truly believe in the power of thought; specifically, creative thought. I am re-learning to see the world the way I want it to be and to think the way I want to think. It is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I promise…it literally changes the world around you.
