Children’s Books with Good Values
[image error]
First, I just want to say thank you to everyone for your prayers and words of encouragement throughout the storm of Irma. We were blessed to have no damage to our home, even though the pond had risen and there was water halfway up our driveway. We were without power for 3 days and are currently under a boil water alert. However, it could have been so much worse. We are very, very thankful that our family (each living in a different area of Florida) are all safe. Our prayers are with those who are displaced due to the damage from the storm and those who have lost family members. We will come together stronger than before.
Now, on to today’s wonderful author, Christina McDonald. Her books have absolutely adorable illustrations and the storylines carry wonderful messages for children.
Welcome, Christina! Tell us about your books.
You never realize just how much you sound like your parents until one day you catch yourself saying to your kids ‘practice makes perfect’ or ‘you’re perfect just the way you are’ or ‘you’ll catch more bees with honey than with vinegar’.
One day, after another particularly gruelling squabble with my oldest son in which he got upset because he had to practice addition to be good at math, practice reading to be good at English, and practice riding a bike to be good at…well, riding a bike, I decided to write a story about practice makes perfect.
I think almost everybody can remember their parents saying these words, but really it doesn’t mean much until you grow up. I wanted to find some way of teaching my son a valuable lesson, but in a more memorable way. And thus Betsy Bird Learns to Fly was born, a rhyming story about a little bird learning about practice, persistence and patience.
[image error]
Of course, as anybody who’s published a book knows, there is nothing magical about the whole process. In fact, I think I may have learned more about persistence and patience throughout the ordeal than I even meant to teach my son.
Once I finally mentally gave myself permission to publish the book, there was choosing an artist, getting the artwork perfect, doing edits in Photoshop, finding the right font, pulling the words onto the page, and then, Amazon, and all the work that section of publishing entailed.
But once I’d done it I found I had more stories I wanted to write; more values I wanted to teach. So I wrote No One Quite Like Me, [image error]a story about a duck and a cat who learn to accept and appreciate themselves while embracing their differences.
And soon after I wrote Zoe Zebra Loses Her Z, which introduces children to the alphabet through funny rhymes as Zoe Zebra looks for her Z.
[image error]
I can’t say 100 percent that my kids now totally value all of these morals I write about, but I do know with complete certainty that they love it when I sit down before bedtime and read them my stories. I hope one day it all sticks, although for all I know they look at each other behind my back and shake their heads and say, ‘When I have kids I’m going to be, like, so totally different than mom.’
And to that, I say, ‘Uh huh. Sure. We’ll just see about that.’
***
Christina McDonald is a qualified author and journalist, a zealous bookworm and a devoted mother and wife.
She was born in Seattle, Washington, the oldest of three girls. These first relationships were the audience, cheerleaders and sounding board for her early creative stories and helped with many ideas for her later writing.
She studied Communications at the University of Washington, then moved to Ireland, where she received a Master’s in Journalism from the National University of Ireland, Galway. She now lives in London, UK with her husband and two sons.
***
Thank you so much for being with us here today, Christina. We wish you all the best with your books. It sounds like you’re doing a great job with your kids!
And folks, if you are interested in purchasing any or all of Christina’s books, below are links to them on Amazon:
Betsy Bird Learns to Fly: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y3LWRBN
No One Quite Like Me: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MUJ2AJL/
Zoe Zebra Loses Her Z: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZG6INI/
And to connect with Christina or learn more about her, here are her social media links:
Email: christina@christina-mcdonald.com
Website: http://christina-mcdonald.com/childrens-books/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Christinamac79
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaMcDonaldChildrensBooks
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2whSk3n
