One day while listening to “Will You Marry Me?” by Pinkfong, my three-year-old daughter decided the song absolutely needed a platypus in it. Then she announced that we should write a book inspired by the song.

And just like that, our picture book journey began.

We started working together in Canva to design our books, and she had very strong opinions about how the animals looked and how everything should be laid out. (Creative director energy from day one 😄)

I also began designing picture books based on the songs I sing to her at bedtime, and she was beyond excited to be able to “read” the books herself.

Eventually, she decided she wanted to create her very own solo book — Fairies Call Fairies. I handled the typing and the mouse, but she chose every picture and decided every single word.

Her story ideas come from everywhere — waking up grumpy, her first hospital stay, shampoo getting in her eyes in the shower… basically everyday life becomes a story in her imagination.

She also wanted everyone to know that The Gassy Grump’s real name is actually Friends Forever, and that Hearty’s nickname is Love Friend.

​Since that first idea, we’ve now written 32 picture books, and we’re still coming up with new stories and projects all the time. Watching her imagination grow — and getting to create alongside her — has been one of the most joyful parts of my writing journey. I can’t wait to see where all our future ideas take us.