About Me and My Unicorn Book!
Little about me and my book… I am a mother of 7 amazing children. My hubby and I have our second grandson on his way! I teach elementary art, and painting classes in the summer…and I love unicorns!
I see them everywhere!
To me a unicorn represents all that is beautiful, magical, rare and precious in the world. This book idea came to me almost exactly three years ago.
I was teaching at my children’s neighborhood elementary. A little girl with red hair and bright blue eyes came and sat by me. She was very grumpy and in an attempt to cheer her up I told her that I read that red hair and blue eyes are the most genetically rare hair and eye color combination in the world, “…So you are basically a unicorn!” I told (& it worked).
The smile I saw on her sweet face that day was enough to leave a lasting impression with me. I STARTED WRITING MY FIRST BOOK since elementary school!
Each child that I wrote about in here was inspired by children I have known or met or heard about. There was a beautiful teenager that stopped by my home one time to buy something and she had vitiligo. It covered her long slender arms and legs and I thought she was just stunning.
My little brother had cancer as a child and he hated to be bothered with hats. He was much too busy living life to the fullest to care what anyone thought of his bald head.
I work with some of the sweetest children teaching art and am blown away at their resilience, bravery and determination. I want children everywhere to know of their worth and just how incredibly special they are!
I submitted this book to a traditional publisher and after two months of back and forth and sleepless nights and prayers for clarity, I very hesitantly decided to start illustrating myself… after the first 4 layouts came together so beautifully inspired and in a just matter of days, I knew that this was the route I was supposed to take! I turned down the offer and have not doubted that this was the right decision. Among other things… they wanted to remove the text with the unicorn pages which I knew needed to stay. These kids ARE the unicorns! They are brave and resilient and amazing!
So… I got a negative review recently. Not going to lie. It stung a bit…But, I think this person completely missed the point! In my book, I wanted the focus to be on the child, and the things that make them unique, but also just like other children! I purposely did not want the words to focus on their trait that made them look or feel different or on their illness or disability, but rather their character and the way they are just like you and me.
I do not use the word #Diabetes or #cancer or #amputation or #vitiligo or #autism when describing these amazing children. I have a section at the end of the book that is a glossary of sorts that talks about these things and uses the proper words and highlights each child with their unique trait. It is written simply so that children of all ages can understand and relate. It opens dialogue to help parents of all children learn compassion, empathy and maybe answer questions about their friends or classmates in a very open and honest way.
I hope to have book two with even more remarkable children and their traits, illnesses or different abilities soon. I’m in the writing process as I’ve had parent contact me asking for their children’s uniqueness to be added… things like #hearingloss #hemophilia #ADHD and #scars from surgeries or #cleftpallet etc…
You can find the link in my bio for my books that I have for sale on amazon. I’d love to schedule author visits with your school, and I have hardcover books on order and am taking preorders now! Contact me for more information!
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