Writing your own children’s book

“How much did you spend on this? That much?!? For this book? You know what… I bet I could do better!”

This is a conversation that I suspect most parents have had whilst reading to their children at bedtime! However, to be fair, my desire to write a children’s book was slightly different (although the above sentiment was most likely there anyway!). When my daughter was born I decided to write some short stories as I wanted to give her something that would feel really special to her. I thought that it would blow her mind that the book she was reading was written especially for her, and that the girl in the book was her and that the toys on the bed were her toys and that the author was her father! I also hoped that it would become a keepsake, something that she would appreciate as she got older, and may even end up reading to her own children one day.

One doesn’t go into the children’s book writing business to make money, and given the not insignificant costs of publishing a book, committing to the endeavor was financially challenging. On a number of occasions I almost went ahead with it, but fiscal responsibility crept in and the project was shelved. As the years went by and my daughter got older, I felt my opportunity to ‘wow’ get slimmer, so I set myself the target to have it illustrated and printed before her sixth birthday – no matter the cost. So I went ahead, found myself an illustrator and self-published “I Dream of Ice Cream,” in time for her birthday. She absolutely loved it, and subsequently I was asked to go to her school and speak to a few different classes during ‘Book Week,’ where we got to read it together which was something very special indeed! 

For any parents wanting to write their own book… just go ahead and do it! It’s a lot of fun and there is a huge sense of satisfaction when you read it to your children for the first time!

If you want to check out ‘I Dream of Ice Cream,’ you can find it here on Amazon.

If you want to write your own book and would like a few pointers, feel free to email me at [email protected] and I would be more than happy to share any wisdom that I might have!