It’s happening! My children’s book is in the final stages of editing. The illustrations are complete, the content is added, and now I’m fine-tuning the details to make it just as I envisioned it.
A Little Background
I have always loved to write, which is why I started my blog, and I’ve always thought it would be cool to release a book. I wondered how I could do this without having a huge online presence beyond my blog. I ended up paying a self-publishing service to help me through the process because I didn’t feel confident self-publishing through Amazon. The self-publisher I worked with created all the illustrations, and I had complete control over the appearance of the illustrations and the content of the book. They helped guide me through the process, which was very helpful. There are some people out there who believe you shouldn’t have to pay to self-publish, but at the end of the day, unless you are illustrating, you still will have to pay for an illustrator. The company I worked with handled the illustration and self-publishing on Amazon. It was very helpful, especially since it was my first book.
A Love for Children’s Books
My love for children’s books started after I had our daughter, Quinn. She is the complete inspiration behind this book, but before we came up with the premise, my love for children’s books stemmed from Quinn’s love of story time. Our nighttime routine is very thorough, but even more so when she was littler. We would get her tucked in, read 2-3 books, and sing lots of slow, sung-in-a-round songs, almost all of which are about Jesus or God and His character. We then conclude with “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” This song serves as a reminder for her to know it’s bedtime. Now, it’s become a tradition.
When Quinn was younger, children’s books were my weakness. I could spend a long time in a bookstore, thumbing through the books, examining the art, words, and creativity that authors share in their works.
How it Started
When Quinn started school, I would say goodbye and say, “Shine your light, love you!” This then evolved into having a little conversation in the car on the way to school, with me asking, “How are you going to shine your light today?” She would answer differently about being kind, helping classmates, listening to her Spanish teacher (I think this is a challenging class to pay attention to, haha), or simply asking a classmate to join them in playing.
One day, she asked me, “Mom, how will you shine your light?” After a bit of thought, but not too much, I said, “I’m going to shine my light by thanking The Lord throughout my day for the little things along the way.” An idea came to mind. What if I wrote a children’s book, all in rhyme, about how to shine your light for Jesus? The idea stuck, prompting me to write down ideas and rhymes in my notes.
A year passed, and I left the beginning of a book idea in my notes. One day, another rhyme came to mind, and I thought, “I should really take this seriously and write up some different rhymes.” That’s when I began to develop the book’s premise. The premise I came up with was to follow a little girl throughout her day and see how she shines her light for Jesus.
I then listed different scenarios throughout her day and started pairing rhymes with those scenarios. The content of the book was forming, and I was getting excited. I contacted a self-publisher, Jordan was my biggest cheerleader, and we leaped.
Inspiration
In the book, you will find many inspirations from our real life. I love all the little hints of our real life in the book.
Some of them include:
Quinn inspires the main character throughout the book.
Cow Cow, Quinn’s lovey, which she sleeps with every night.
The green carpet that we have yet to update in our playroom.
Our backyard farm is complete with Susan the Sheep and Gerty Goose.
The Title
Drumroll please…
The title of my first children’s book is… Shine Bright, Little Light
A Little Sneak Peek
Here is a little sneak peek at a page spread in the book.
The rhyme on this page is “Instead of speaking hate, I can speak kindly with my classmates.”
The Goal of this Children’s Book
With this book, I aim to encourage young hearts to shine their light for Jesus in their everyday, ordinary lives. They can achieve this through kindness, courage, obedience, and love, even with the simplest of actions. More importantly, they should not just model good behavior but focus on where their heart is in the action. In 1 Samuel 16:7, we read that God does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart.
Our hope isn’t in our actions but in Jesus. When our hearts are close to Him, we consistently hear His voice, and we put those words into practice. Our actions will naturally reflect His love.
Please remind your kids and yourselves that shining your light isn’t about being perfect, trying harder, or doing more. It’s about consistently allowing our hearts to be transformed to reflect more of Christ —to be filled with His light —and letting that light overflow.
I’m SO excited for you to read this book with your kids!
XO, Lo