The Book Series That Will Help Your Child Manage Big Emotions
Jenny was inspired to write a book series to help children manage their emotions after adopting two children who had suffered trauma in their early years. These children struggled to express and deal with their emotions. Through the use of rhyme and story, Jenny's books connect with children and help them to better understand their own feelings.
Jenny's books can be found on Amazon.com
Listen to the Podcast here:
About Jenny
She and her husband Larry have five children. Three are biological, and two are adopted. They were from social services in Utah.
They wanted to help them out because they had been in the foster care system. They found out that the children they had adopted had suffered from trauma during the first three years of their age. They had post traumatic stress disorder from their experiences.
Story Telling
She realized that the only way she was able to get through to these kids was through story and rhymes. They didn’t have the emotional intelligence to handle their feelings. Reading helped them learn better what was expected emotionally.
That helped her realize how important stories, especially rhyming stories, are for children.
Helping Kids Deal with Emotions
Her kids had some pretty severe behaviors. Jenny felt that they had been passed off too many times and she felt like she needed to stick with them.
She said it has taught her a lot and helped her to write her books. All of her books are about helping children deal with their emotions.
The Grump on The Stump
The first book Jenny wrote is called “The Grump on the Stump.” It was written to help her daughter who had trouble expressing her emotions.
Throughout the book, she decides to sit on a stump and she holds on to the consequences of all of her experiences. In the end, she decides to clean things up because another girl comes and teaches her to get off the stump. She reaches out to another little boy to help him once she has changed.
Her books are about the fact that you have to change yourself. The only one that can change you is you.
The Writing Process
Jenny wanted to find books that would help her children, but she had a hard time finding what she needed. She said that the books she wrote basically wrote themselves. She kept a notebook and wrote down all her ideas; they came to her in rhyme. The sentences came to her in unexpected moments.
They didn’t seem to go, but when she shifted them around, she saw the stories writing themselves. She started to see the story coming together.
The Publishing Process
“I’ve had so many rejections! So many! When you’re a writer, you will,” Jenny says, "I gave up on my book idea until my father died. When my dad died, he gave me an inheritance.” She felt like she was supposed to finish this.
She found an illustrator, David Nemitz, who worked on the Flintstones and the Jetsons. They worked together on her first two books and got those published and they are on amazon.
Jenny is working to get more sales for the first two books so she can complete the series of 12. She is excited to keep moving forward.
Love for Children
Jenny has always had a love for children of all ages. She thinks that these books will help children. Stories are the best way to help children learn.
Education system focuses on a lot of things, including competition. She wants her kids to only compete with themselves.
She also thinks it would help children to learn more about how to deal with their emotions. She wants to change that. She wants schools to help children deal with their emotions as much as they do with their math and their history.
She is hoping to change the world!
Jenny’s books:
The Grump on the Stump
Kyrie Dew our Bugaboo
Dewcrewbooks.com
For Authors and Parents
If you are ever in the middle of writing a story, writing is just the beginning.
Publishing is the hard part!
Start your own LLC.
Be vulnerable.
Don’t feel self conscious about the critics. Take what people say and use it to grow. If you have a passion, if you keep moving forward, something will happen. Know your why.
Be excited about where your books will take you and enjoy the ride!
