Everyone has been asking me about the artist behind the illustrations of my first children's book,  These Words Are for You.   I'm delighted to share an interview with the talented Ms. Fru Farkas. Want more from Fru? Check her out shop, Manard Illustration , and follow her along on Instagram for daily inspiration and smiles. 

I was standing in my favorite place, the library, reading the spines in the biography section. I touched the books in the T section, as I carefully scanned them, looking for Temple, Shirley.

My fifth grade teacher assigned us a biography project, and we spent the day in the library choosing our book and completing pre-reading worksheets. As an avid reader who loved class projects, this was right up my alley. So why did I start to get verklempt in the non-fiction section of my school library? 

You see, I've always had these strange, strong emotions when it comes to death. I'm sure nobody likes the idea of it, but as early as I can remember, I've been extremely sensitive to the notion of it. The idea of studying someone's life both excited and made me - sad? contemplative? - I can't describe it exactly, but I do know that day in the library, I decided something: I was going to be a published author one day.

What I loved about the project, and books in general, was that even after the author had passed on, their legacy, words, and stories would forever be read and cherished. In that way, their memories live on. They made an impact. They could never truly be gone.

I made up my mind that one day, my stories would be published, too. 

Over the years, I've kept journals, written poems, songs, notes, you name it, I've written it. I've started three novels that I'll have to return to one of these days and have written short stories, but never had I written a children's book.

As a mom to three little girls, I've had emotions and inspiration that I never could have conceived without being a parent, and I'm proud that the first book I'll be publishing is something so timeless and relatable to anyone who loves a child.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on my first book,  These Words Are for You , available for pre-order now!

I've always been a writer. In fact, as much as I love verbal communication, I've always been most comfortable and confident communicating through writing. From writing stories and songs to poetry and notes to loved ones, words seem to come to me, just bursting to get out.

It's no surprise that when my friend got pregnant after years of struggling with painful fertility issues that I wanted to use writing to convey my feelings about it. How do you tell someone you love them when words like "I love you" don't do it justice? How do you express to a baby how much she was truly desired and meant to come at the exact time she was born? 

When conventional words fail to capture these big emotions, poetry is the answer.

I wrote a few lines of poetry and put it in a jeweled frame for my friend's nursery:  The sun has been waiting her whole life, and the moon has been waiting too | The stars in the great big wondrous sky have all been waiting for you. Short. Sweet. Seems simple but when you really think about it, the meaning is big.

I couldn't get these lines out of my head. At the time, I had a a toddler and a baby and often found myself unable to capture my feelings about them. As parents, we all know how quickly time passes; things we know we'll never ever forget slip away without us even realizing it. I wanted to capture those feelings and lock them up forever, so the four lines of poetry naturally kept growing - that's how  These Words Are for You was born.

These Words Are for You  actually wasn't going to be my first book; I have another manuscript that I thought I would publish first, but there was something about these words that felt more special and important to capture and get into the hands of children, parents, grandparents, teachers, aunts, and uncles everywhere.

These Words Are for You gives children a sense of their place in the beautiful world around them; it connects their being with nature, society, past, and present. It gives them a sense of belonging.

This is the first out of many books I'll be publishing, but I know it's one that will be cherished by adults as much as children for years to come. I'm so excited to share these words with you - you can pre-order your copy now!