I Will Love You Forever and Always helps children work through the complicated emotions they feel when they are struggling with meeting their parents’ expectations. What was the inspiration for your story?

The source of inspiration for this book is two-fold, the first being the children and families I have worked with in outpatient therapy, and the second being my own children. As a clinical social worker and outpatient therapist, I have been allowed to share in some of the most vulnerable emotional experiences that my clients have walked through. Over the course of my career, children have worked to process insecurities about knowing their place in their family dynamic, understanding parent-child love, and understanding that love does not change even in periods of difficulty or difference.

Children tend to be very concrete thinkers and can easily draw assumptions that parents do not intend or are not even aware of, leading to these insecurities in the parent-child relationship. Parents can also struggle with such insecurities, being unsure of whether they express love enough, if they know how to connect with their child in a meaningful way, or if they themselves are good enough. Being in a position to observe and share in these emotional processes with parents and children, I wanted to create a tool to allow children to feel normalized in their experiences, allow parents to hear some of the common insecurities children express and allow parents to reinforce for their children that their love is constant and unconditional.

I initially created a sort of poem that we would read and discuss in sessions, which worked its way into the initial draft of this book (a smaller, informal version that I primarily used with families in sessions), and ultimately, this published version. My intention in creating this book was to give parents a platform to process unconditional love with their children and reinforce that concept, to ultimately give their children a sense of security in knowing that love is unconditional. This book can be used in both the therapeutic setting and in the family setting, and although it is an enjoyable story, my hope is that it would act as a powerful tool in helping facilitate increased security in the parent-child relationship.

Regarding my own children, they were just babies at the time this book was published. Although the content is largely based on conversations and concepts that would need to be discussed and reinforced as my children grow, my mama heart knows that these are conversations I will have with them as they get older. I want them to always know how deeply and unconditionally they are loved, even when we have differences or difficulty, in the ways our individual traits are similar and different, through boogers, stinky feet, bad grades, meltdowns, messy rooms and all.

The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Sarah Gledhill?

Working with the illustrator, Sarah Gledhill, was a very enjoyable experience. I like to draw, and considered illustrating my book, but wanted the illustrations to be more professional and complete. My publisher, Atmosphere Press, had an established relationship with Sarah Gledhill and had worked with her on previous projects, so they facilitated the connection. Sarah’s first sample drawing was of the elephants on the first page of the book. I fell in love with the drawing immediately and felt it captured the message of the page it was drawn for. Sarah and I never met in person and collaborated fully by phone and video. She was easy to work with and was able to portray the message of the book well with her vibrant, energetic and emotion-filled drawings, bringing life to each page. Seeing my words interpreted in her illustrations certainly made the book come to life and was a very exciting part of the process. Many parents have shared with me that their children have nicknamed this book “The Stinky Feet Book” and love the skunk family illustration, stinky feet and boogers included. I so appreciate collaborating with an illustrator who has been able to help connect children to the larger message of the book through her captivating drawings.

What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?

My hope is that parents would read this book to their children (rather than children reading the book independently) or that therapists would integrate this book into family therapy sessions when working on strengthening the parent-child bond. This overall work in strengthening family connection and understanding the wants, needs and perspectives of other family members involves both psychoeducational and therapeutic components.

The purpose of this book is to help children learn what it means to be loved unconditionally, and for parents to be given child-friendly words and language to facilitate these conversations with their children. The ultimate goal, if this book is used as a tool in the larger process, is that the parent-child emotional connection would be strengthened.

The book includes an activity page at the end, with the question, “What does forever and always love mean to me?” This prompt is intended to emphasize the points presented in the book and ensure the child understands the concepts presented. It is an opportunity for parents to connect the concepts presented in the book to their own circumstances and scenarios at home, and extend the conversation with their children beyond the story into an opportunity for further learning, discussion, connection and strengthening of the parent-child relationship.

In the words of the book’s preface, “Parents know the love they hold for their children never changes, even on days that are tough, days that are smelly and oh-so-yucky, days when nothing seems to go right, days of noticing we don’t look the same or days of noticing we like different things. However, children often need reassurance, reminder and repetition that they are loved unconditionally in such days and such moments…Children can never be told too often they are loved, and sometimes in life’s unpredictable moments, is when they need the reassurance of your unconditional love most.”

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?

My primary profession and career identity is in being a clinical social worker, so the idea of having a series or further books is a concept I am working to integrate into my profession. I wrote a rough draft of a children’s book on grief and have thoughts to complete future similar children’s stories on subjects related to transition, adjustment, coping and navigating life events. My focus is in creating future children’s books that would be used in the therapeutic setting as well as the family setting. Being in a position to walk children through difficult life events or transitions, and simultaneously give parents child-friendly words or language to have difficult or complex conversations with their children, is something I would consider a privilege to pursue in future published works.

Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Atmosphere Press