I’m so excited to finally share my new book, What’s True About You, a Christian children’s book about identity, self-worth, and God’s love.
This book was created with one simple hope: that children would grow up rooted in the truth that they are deeply loved by God, created on purpose, and valuable exactly as they are.
I’ve been getting questions about the book—why I wrote it, who it’s for, and what I hope it does in the lives of families. So I wanted to share a little behind the scenes in a Q&A format.
Behind the Book 📖
Writing What’s True About You was such a meaningful and deeply emotional process for me. This book was born out of a desire to help children understand something that can take us a lifetime to fully grasp: their identity is secure, created by God, and not dependent on comparison, performance, or what they look like.
I wanted to share a little behind the scenes of how this book came to life!
What inspired you to write What’s True About You? 🖊️
This book came from our youngest daughter’s experience with an infantile hemangioma on her eyelid. A hemangioma is a birthmark, and because hers is on her eyelid, it led to a lot of people noticing and asking questions about how she looked.
Reading my book to the inspiration for my book! Dream come true. 😭
Fielding questions like “What’s wrong with her eye?” and “What happened to her?” during the first year of Dakota’s life had me wondering what it would be like for her to answer those questions as she grows up and how she might process them.
As I pondered this, I thought more deeply about identity for all children. I wanted to write something that spoke God’s truth over kids who look different, develop differently, or experience the world in their own unique way. That includes children in wheelchairs, children with speech delays, and so many others whose differences are often noticed before anything else.
From a Christian perspective, I wanted to approach identity from a different lens that what the world often offers—one that doesn’t simply reduce a child to what makes them different, but instead anchors their identity in who God says they are.
The world we live in often teaches comparison or categorization, but Scripture points us back to the beautiful fact that God lovingly created every child on purpose and with purpose. Every child is deeply loved by God and worth isn’t something to earn. I kept thinking how great it would be if kids could hear that truth early and often, and that’s why I wrote What’s True About You!
What was the writing process like? ✏️
Honestly, this book was something that swirled in my brain from when Dakota was diagnosed with a hemangioma at two months old until I finally put the pen to paper when she was almost a year old. I was not prepared for what it would be like to have a child who looks different—with just a tiny birthmark on her eyelid!—and how almost every encounter with strangers (and even people we know) would revolve around how she looks.
I felt like people didn’t see Dakota, they saw her birthmark. I knew God created her that way and it was special. Why did it seem like people didn’t see it the same way? How would Dakota internalize the questions and comments when she could understand them?
I thought about my sister, who has a son with a speech delay, and how people unknowingly treat her son differently because they can’t understand him. I thought about our oldest daughter, Sadie, who struggles with math and is always comparing herself to her peers. I even thought about myself as a child and how I hated my curly hair and would spend time straightening it every single day to try and look like other girls.
All of that fueled my writing. I sat down and the words flowed. I finished writing within a few days. I then had to figure out illustrations! I had the idea to make all the illustrations Sadie’s favorite animal—an axolotl!
Thus began my journey of drawing axolotls to try and illustrate this book. It was very interesting to say the least! I really enjoyed trying different art forms and tools. From colored pencils to markers, different types of paper, and styles of drawing. I illustrated page after page and then one day, I laid it all out on our kitchen table and doubted it.
The illustrations were… fine. Cute, even. But they just didn’t feel cohesive or professional. I wasn’t sure how colored pencil drawings would look in a printed book. Oh, and it was going to take me forever to try and get everything just right.
It was fun, though! I would wake up every morning between 4 and 5 am and draw axolotls hugging, axolotls with hearing aids, axolotls in wheelchairs, and more. I love to create, but I finally threw in the towel and did some research to find a professional illustrator. I got in touch with Whimsy Studios and the rest is history! The illustrator, Shey, worked tirelessly with me to come up with a main character, the vibe I was going for, and the illustrations.
I so enjoyed being involved in the design process of every page of this book! It was beautiful to see my words come alive in cute axolotl illustrations.
My drawings ended up becoming a loose basis for the illustrations so all was not lost. I’m so glad I reached out to a professional!
Who did you write this book for?
This book is for children ages 3–8, but honestly, I think it’s for the adults reading it too. I know reading it to my kids is a beautiful reminder for me that God loves me no matter what.
What’s True About You is for parents, grandparents, teachers, family members, and caregivers who want to speak God’s love and truth over the kids in their life.
It’s meant for bedtime snuggles, classroom read-alouds, and quiet moments where truth can really sink in.
What message do you hope children walk away with?
I hope children walk away knowing this simple truth: they were created on purpose, with purpose, and are deeply loved by God.
Not because of what they do well, how they look, or how they compare to others. But because God made them and calls them good. If a child (or even adult!) finishes this book feeling a little more secure in who they are, that’s success to me.
Why focus on identity and self-worth?
Because identity shapes so much for a child. The way a child perceives themself impacts how they feel, learn, relate to others, handle challenges, and how they understand God’s love.
I wanted to write something that lays a foundation of truth they can grow on for years to come.
What makes this book different from other children’s books?
What’s True About You intentionally celebrates differences from a Christian perspective. From freckles and curls to wheelchairs and unique talents, it reminds children that God’s creativity shows up in all kinds of beautiful ways.
Instead of comparison, it points them back to celebration in their divine Creator.
What do you hope parents take away from it?
I hope parents feel equipped and encouraged to talk about differences, disabilities, and worth with their children in a joyful way. My prayer is that What’s True About You is a tool to help those conversations.
I hope it becomes a steady reminder and something that gets pulled off the shelf again and again. A book that grows with a child as they begin to understand more deeply what’s true about them and who God says they are.
Because what’s true about them never changes.
Thank you for reading! Bringing this book to life has been such a special journey that I’m so thankful for. My prayer is that What’s True About You helps children remember that they were created on purpose and wonderfully made. 💛
Living My Full Life 