And on the last day of black history month, and black children’s book week, I have an exciting bit of news to share: I published a children’s picture book 🎊 It’s called The Prince’s Ruby.
It teaches the importance of good manners, leadership, and being kind. I modeled the character after my younger brothers. It felt meaningful to have a story with a black main character that wasn’t solely focused on hair or a specific cultural identity (which are important to have too!) and was simply an adventure with a moral.
After three years I’m finally holding a physical copy! Saying this was a long time coming feels like an understatement 🥹
If you’d like to check it out, it’s available as both a paperback and a hardcover on Amazon and IngramSpark respectively.
I learned a lot during the process and I still can’t believe it’s out, so I’ll probably be sharing more on that later on. For now, I shall celebrate 💃🏽
Some more details about the story:
My mother made up a version of this tale many, many years ago and it’s never left my mind since. The prospect of actually turning it into a book for children to read, and enjoy, and learn from, seemed daunting so I tucked it away.
A few years ago I finally set my mind to actually giving it a shot, and I can tell you it was an up and down journey. But once the ball started rolling, everything slowly started falling into place. At long last it’s here and I can hold it. The feeling is surreal!
I felt like I was back in school learning a whole lot about all of the different formats, distribution, and publication protocols. I’d love to make a detailed guide and pass along what I’ve learned to anyone else on their journey; there were definitely some bumps in the process, haha.
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!
~ C.C.
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