Teaching Kids About How Their Bodies Work

It sounds a bit cliché but it’s true – two Moms sitting around the kitchen table during a playdate came up with an idea: “Why don’t we try writing a kids book?” I was pregnant with my second child and working in broadcasting part time so I felt like I could use a hobby and a creative outlet...my sister-in-law Francine had recently had her third boy, was continuing to practice family medicine, run her aesthetic medicine clinic and be a general whirlwind of energy who always welcomes something new to do. The partnership was perfect for a couple of reasons:

I’m the dreamy type who comes up with ideas all the time but sometimes struggles with the follow through. Francine, as you might have gathered from the above description, GETS THINGS DONE. Once I mentioned the idea of the books to her there was no turning back.

Francine’s MD would help us determine the theme for the books – let’s use her knowledge to tell kids how their bodies work..... it would be fun, entertaining and educational as well as a great go-to resource for parents. Thus, the Body Works series was born.

Once we had determined what our topic was, Francine and I started meeting once a week to write. I’d bring my son to her house to play with his cousins, plunk my heavily pregnant tush down at her table and we’d write. At first we wrote a rhyming story about the body aimed at kids around age 5 .

After a few weeks we had a version we liked and started sending it off to publishers. Lo and behold, a short while later we received an e-mail expressing interest in our idea and we were offered a meeting with one of the biggest children’s book publishers in the country--Tundra. Was this thing actually going to be a book....that they actually sell in stores? That was still a long way off, but there was interest and that in itself was rewarding.

The people at Tundra were fantastic. From the first moments everyone was welcoming, supportive, interested and helpful. They explained that the rhyming didn’t really work...could we go away and write something in prose, and for an older audience, say 6-9? “Sure” we said, and it was back to the drawing board. Tundra continued to meet with us and eventually offered us a contract – we were going to be published authors! Honest to goodness it still shocks me – I’m a huge reader and lifelong lover of books. To now be able to put author behind my name is one of the proudest career achievements of my life.

Tundra continued to suggest different topics and styles and suddenly one book turned into a series of four: My Achy Body, My Noisy Body, My Messy Body and My Stretchy Body telling kids all about how their bodies work and dealing with everything from growing pains to bruises and of course discussing poo, pee and farts. Having small kids at home we know what our audience likes.

I was pregnant when we started this process – my beautiful daughter is now about to turn two. The books have just been released making me realize the publishing gestation process was substantially longer than my little girl's.

One small post script...a big thing that kept us on track and moving forward was Francine’s constant “Ok, what’s next?” And that didn’t stop when the books were done...watch for two more books in the series being released fall 2012.