I’m so excited to finally get to announce that I wrote a children’s book! It’s available for pre-order now on Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, and more. The book is called A Thankful Book for Kids: Giving Thanks, Helping Others, and Feeling Grateful. I’m so excited to get to announce this book and share more details on how this came to be.

How I Got A Book Deal

Back in the fall, I spoke with my dear friend Ramona with Fab Everyday about how she started writing cookbooks (she’s now published two of them). She kindly offered to connect me with her publisher and then I set up a phone call with her publisher. After speaking with her publisher about some areas I’d be interested in writing a book (i.e. recipes, parenting, education), she started sending me ideas. 

I submitted writing samples for a few books before I landed this one. When she contacted me about this specific book, I knew it was the right fit. It aligns so well with my day job too. I’ve briefly talked about it before, but I currently direct a research institute focused on kindness. I also have a Ph.D. in education and I’ve worked in both early childhood and elementary education. I think about kindness every day and I care so much about education for all kids. So, helping kids to understand thankfulness felt like such a great and happy fit for me.

A Thankful Book for Kids

In the fall, I found out that I was chosen to write A Thankful Book for Kids. The entire process of writing the book was actually way easier than I expected. The editors were so easy to work with. My favorite part of the entire process was getting to provide all of the illustrator notes. I really enjoyed getting to create the ‘characters’ for the book. One of the things that were so important to me was to ensure the book celebrated diversity. I’m so happy the illustrator upheld my ideas in the illustrations and created truly lovely and adorable diverse characters. 

This book is perfect for younger children, but still very appropriate for elementary-aged kids. My kids are 8 and 9. It was so fun to watch them reading it together. They took turns and read a page at a time. It was probably my favorite moment of the entire process with the book. I felt so proud to watch my kids reading the words I wrote and appreciating the beautiful photos.

If you’re looking for a way to talk to your kids about thankfulness and gratitude, I hope you’ll check out this book. I really believe in the book and think it is such a nice way to teach your kids these important life concepts. If you’re looking for other parenting stories, click here.