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The Inside of Me
The Inside of Me is a sweet, rhyming story with flowing imagery about connecting with the natural world through a child’s eyes. More than it seems, it prompts children to think about their magical, interconnected world and the possibility of a reciprocal relationship with nature. Each illustration renders a scene from a natural place in Maine that is both open to the public and accessible to small children. In the back of the book are invitations to adventure to those places. This book is a keepsake and guide for exploring Maine’s outdoors and the natural world wherever you are.
40 pages, Paperback
Published June 12, 2024
5 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Elwell Comeau
3 books6 followers* MY WRITING *
“Words set things in motion. I’ve seen them doing it. Words set up atmospheres. Words conjure.” -- Toni Cade Bambera
I’m careful what I give voice to. Indeed, in my writing I seek to de-program the belief that every story must center humans, that every story requires a hero and an anti-hero, that every story requires dysfunction for it to be interesting. What if stories were as magical as Quantum Science reveals about our cosmos? What if stories were seen as vehicles for dreaming a new world into being?
* BIO *
Jennifer Elwell Comeau is a storyteller – as a published author, songwriter and singer, and a speaker. The story she tells, both in her creative endeavors and in her professional engagements as the founder of Wild Wonder Forest Bathing and Sunrise Hill Sanctuary, is one that inspires humans to remember and restore our sacred partnership with the rest of the natural world.
A Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, Jennifer conducts mindfulness walks in special places in Southern Maine and at conferences around the world. She also has a retreat space in Maine, offering coaching and workshops on climate buoyancy and embodied leadership in support of a more beautiful, just, and biodiverse world.
In addition to being a former trustee and ambassador for TreeSisters, an organization focusing on reforestation, and gender equity, Jennifer is an ambassador for Climate Change & Consciousness, an international inner-climate-healing to outer-climate-action organization. She partners with OzGREEN, an award-winning non-profit bringing YOUth LEADing The World programs to Australia, Africa, America and India.
She penned the Nautilus Gold-Winning children’s book, The Inside of ME, as well as A Moon In All Things, a finalist in the Independent Author Network Best Book of the Year competition (cross-genre category), and she her poems and essays are published in several anthologies, including No Ordinary Word: The Real Life Wisdom of Women, (Amazon); A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis (Littoral Books); Sacred Stone, Sacred Water (White Cloud Press); and VSS365 Volume One (Amazon). With two albums of original music,—She Flies and Feed The Tribe—both available on all major music streaming platforms, she continues to incorporate all her gifts fully into her projects. Note, for example, her debut novel, A Moon In All Things contains original songs she penned and produced in a world-class recording studio in Boston, with Berklee School of Music musicians.
Jennifer left behind a corporate career to pursue the creative arts and to support nature-based experiences, helping people experience the curative powers of the untamed world. She has worked as a global Quality Director, an IT executive, high-stakes facilitator, and workshop leader for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, and federal agencies. She is also a Certified Executive Coach.
Her books have been reviewed favorably by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly BookLife, and Clarion Foreword Reviews. She has also been featured on local media outlets, including ABC-Radio, WABI-TV, Penobscot Bay Pilot, and USA Today’s York County Star.
Jennifer secured a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering form General Motors Institute at Kettering University, and a Master’s of Engineering from University of Buffalo.
“Words set things in motion. I’ve seen them doing it. Words set up atmospheres. Words conjure.” -- Toni Cade Bambera
I’m careful what I give voice to. Indeed, in my writing I seek to de-program the belief that every story must center humans, that every story requires a hero and an anti-hero, that every story requires dysfunction for it to be interesting. What if stories were as magical as Quantum Science reveals about our cosmos? What if stories were seen as vehicles for dreaming a new world into being?
* BIO *
Jennifer Elwell Comeau is a storyteller – as a published author, songwriter and singer, and a speaker. The story she tells, both in her creative endeavors and in her professional engagements as the founder of Wild Wonder Forest Bathing and Sunrise Hill Sanctuary, is one that inspires humans to remember and restore our sacred partnership with the rest of the natural world.
A Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, Jennifer conducts mindfulness walks in special places in Southern Maine and at conferences around the world. She also has a retreat space in Maine, offering coaching and workshops on climate buoyancy and embodied leadership in support of a more beautiful, just, and biodiverse world.
In addition to being a former trustee and ambassador for TreeSisters, an organization focusing on reforestation, and gender equity, Jennifer is an ambassador for Climate Change & Consciousness, an international inner-climate-healing to outer-climate-action organization. She partners with OzGREEN, an award-winning non-profit bringing YOUth LEADing The World programs to Australia, Africa, America and India.
She penned the Nautilus Gold-Winning children’s book, The Inside of ME, as well as A Moon In All Things, a finalist in the Independent Author Network Best Book of the Year competition (cross-genre category), and she her poems and essays are published in several anthologies, including No Ordinary Word: The Real Life Wisdom of Women, (Amazon); A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis (Littoral Books); Sacred Stone, Sacred Water (White Cloud Press); and VSS365 Volume One (Amazon). With two albums of original music,—She Flies and Feed The Tribe—both available on all major music streaming platforms, she continues to incorporate all her gifts fully into her projects. Note, for example, her debut novel, A Moon In All Things contains original songs she penned and produced in a world-class recording studio in Boston, with Berklee School of Music musicians.
Jennifer left behind a corporate career to pursue the creative arts and to support nature-based experiences, helping people experience the curative powers of the untamed world. She has worked as a global Quality Director, an IT executive, high-stakes facilitator, and workshop leader for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, and federal agencies. She is also a Certified Executive Coach.
Her books have been reviewed favorably by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly BookLife, and Clarion Foreword Reviews. She has also been featured on local media outlets, including ABC-Radio, WABI-TV, Penobscot Bay Pilot, and USA Today’s York County Star.
Jennifer secured a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering form General Motors Institute at Kettering University, and a Master’s of Engineering from University of Buffalo.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 11, 2025
“The Inside of ME” is a picture book that shows three kids exploring places around Maine. However, it is more than that. Each page is written as though the children are imagining what it would be like to be nature or, at least, be fully present in nature. The rhyming words also carry readers easily from page to page creating a quite soothing effect. At the end of the book, author Jennifer Comeau explains a little bit more about the places depicted in the story and proposes an activity.
As the three children in “The Inside of ME” make their way around Maine, Comeau’s prose gently prompts readers to think of how they would explore each place. This is done by both asking questions as well as showing each child finding their own way to take part in where they are. Readers young and old will think of some of their favorite places and how they could be more in tune with them.
This perfectly leads into the proposed activity at the end of the book: MAP YOUR FAVORITE PLACE. Comeau invites readers to map a place familiar to them on blank pages of the book itself while marking spots that readers would like to explore. She then prompts readers to go to those spots and reflect there about what they’re sensing, what the place feels like, and how they would describe it to others. She even welcomes readers to photograph and detail their journey then send it to her to be used in workshops, social media, and other talks.
Illustrator Suzi Linden’s artwork feels whimsical. While it shows what the children are literally up to, it also often depicts what the children are imagining for themselves in the different spaces they explore. For instance, sometimes a child is looking at a gorgeous vista, but also imagining what it would be like for them and their friends to be flying up above the vista. My personal favorite piece of artwork in the book is the one featuring an adorable and delicate seal swirled in water and observed by the children in a boat as it made me pause and smile.
Jennifer Comeau’s “The Inside of ME” is a wonderfully whimsical and reflective picture book that will carry readers easily through some adventures. However, it will also invite readers to take a pause and think about the spaces and nature that surrounds them.
As the three children in “The Inside of ME” make their way around Maine, Comeau’s prose gently prompts readers to think of how they would explore each place. This is done by both asking questions as well as showing each child finding their own way to take part in where they are. Readers young and old will think of some of their favorite places and how they could be more in tune with them.
This perfectly leads into the proposed activity at the end of the book: MAP YOUR FAVORITE PLACE. Comeau invites readers to map a place familiar to them on blank pages of the book itself while marking spots that readers would like to explore. She then prompts readers to go to those spots and reflect there about what they’re sensing, what the place feels like, and how they would describe it to others. She even welcomes readers to photograph and detail their journey then send it to her to be used in workshops, social media, and other talks.
Illustrator Suzi Linden’s artwork feels whimsical. While it shows what the children are literally up to, it also often depicts what the children are imagining for themselves in the different spaces they explore. For instance, sometimes a child is looking at a gorgeous vista, but also imagining what it would be like for them and their friends to be flying up above the vista. My personal favorite piece of artwork in the book is the one featuring an adorable and delicate seal swirled in water and observed by the children in a boat as it made me pause and smile.
Jennifer Comeau’s “The Inside of ME” is a wonderfully whimsical and reflective picture book that will carry readers easily through some adventures. However, it will also invite readers to take a pause and think about the spaces and nature that surrounds them.
October 3, 2024
The Inside of Me is a delightful book featuring engaging graphics that spark conversation among young readers. It makes for a wonderful bedtime story, but it can also serve as a creative and exploratory guide for outdoor adventures.
One aspect that distinguishes this book from others is its concluding sections on “Featured Places” and “Make Your Map.” This charming book imparts an important lesson to children in today’s world about the joy that comes from playing outdoors in nature.
This vibrant and captivating book encourages readers to explore ponds, forests, beaches, and various natural settings. Although the illustrations draw inspiration from the beautiful landscapes of Maine, you don’t need to live there to enjoy them. The book also features supplementary material at the back, offering insights about the showcased environments and highlighting specific sensory experiences to observe when visiting these locations.
This book takes readers of all ages on a sensory-rich, wonder-filled journey into the great outdoors. While being outside is nearly as delightful as reading the book, the true treasure of this charming and insightful story is its reminder of the joy that spending time in nature brings to us all.
One aspect that distinguishes this book from others is its concluding sections on “Featured Places” and “Make Your Map.” This charming book imparts an important lesson to children in today’s world about the joy that comes from playing outdoors in nature.
This vibrant and captivating book encourages readers to explore ponds, forests, beaches, and various natural settings. Although the illustrations draw inspiration from the beautiful landscapes of Maine, you don’t need to live there to enjoy them. The book also features supplementary material at the back, offering insights about the showcased environments and highlighting specific sensory experiences to observe when visiting these locations.
This book takes readers of all ages on a sensory-rich, wonder-filled journey into the great outdoors. While being outside is nearly as delightful as reading the book, the true treasure of this charming and insightful story is its reminder of the joy that spending time in nature brings to us all.
May 31, 2025
The Inside of ME is a treasure of a picture book, gentle, poetic, and soul-nourishing. Jennifer Comeau has created a lyrical journey that beautifully connects children to both the natural world and their inner landscapes. With heartfelt rhymes and enchanting illustrations rooted in real Maine locations, this book invites young readers into a world of mindfulness, courage, and curiosity. It’s not just a story, it’s an experience, a guide to wonder, and a gentle reminder that the magic of nature lives within us all. A deserving Gold Nautilus Award winner, this book is sure to become a beloved keepsake for families who cherish both storytime and the great outdoors.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews