Sometimes the thing you almost give up on is the thing that was always meant to lead the way.
Seven years ago, I wrote a children’s book about kindness.
I didn’t tell many people. I didn’t promote it. I didn’t invite anyone into it. I released it quietly — mostly for myself — and then I tucked it away.
Not because I didn’t love the idea. I loved the idea deeply. The message — kindness as a way of being, not a rule to follow — was everything I believed in and everything I was trying to model as a mother.
But I didn’t believe in my execution of it. I couldn’t see past the gap between what I had imagined and what I had actually created. So I did what a lot of us do with the things that matter most to us when we’re afraid.
I hid it.
When Life Asks You to Start Over
In the years that followed, a lot happened.
I opened a children’s learning and play center in Queens called House of Playful Soul — two weeks before a pandemic shut the world down. Instead of walking away from our mission, we leaned in harder. We raised funds for local hospitals. We organized food drives and clothing drives. We showed up for our Queens community in the middle of the hardest season any of us had lived through.
And then, two and a half years later, we closed.
I had to start over — again.
There was no clear path forward. No strategy. No vision board that predicted what happened next. I was a mom of three, a founder without a business, and a writer with a book hidden in a drawer.
And then my kids found it.
The Moment That Changed Everything
They didn’t see what I saw when they opened those pages. They didn’t see the imperfections I had fixated on for years. They saw something with my name on it. They saw themselves in the pages. They recognized acts of kindness we had practiced together as a family — and were curious about the ones they were learning for the first time.
We read it again and again over the next few weeks.
And then came the question I hadn’t been expecting.
“Mommy, how many books have you sold?”
I told them the truth — that I never really promoted it because it hadn’t turned out the way I had imagined.
What they said next stopped me completely.
“Then let’s redo it the way you want. Can we make it better?”
What Happens When You Let Your Kids Rewrite Your Story With You
I had never considered rewriting the book. But suddenly, it felt obvious — if this kindness book for kids was going to come back into the world, it should be rebuilt together.
So for the next month, we edited pages. We redesigned letters. We created characters. We imagined what else could live inside the pages.
My kids weren’t just listeners — they were contributors. They asked questions, challenged ideas, and pushed the story further than I ever could have alone.
That process became the foundation of Alpha Academy — a series designed to help kids grow kindness, confidence, and emotional awareness through storytelling — and it gave birth to KidsGiving Press, our family-founded children’s publishing company rooted in the belief that small hands can do big things.
What started as one forgotten ABC book for kids became a mission.
Why Teaching Kids Kindness Matters More Than Ever
Kids are growing up in a world that feels heavier and louder. Parents and educators are searching for meaningful ways to talk about emotions, empathy, and giving back — without overwhelming their children.
ABCs of Kindness isn’t about being perfect or polite.
It’s a social emotional learning book built around three simple ideas:
- Notice — how others feel
- Practice — empathy in everyday moments
- Give — because kindness is something you do, not just something you say
And because we believe books should connect to real-world action, 20% of net sales from every copy funds scholarships for communities in need. Teaching kids empathy doesn’t stop at the last page.
It’s Never Too Late to Rewrite Your Story
I’ve spent a lot of years defining myself by what I built — and what I lost. A career. A title. A business. I thought those things were my story.
They weren’t.
My story is this: a girl from Queens, raised by an immigrant mother who stretched every dollar, shaped by a teacher who once knocked on her door with a box of food — who grew up to raise three kids who believe, in their bones, that kindness is something you do, not something you talk about.
That has always been the story. It just took seven years, a closed business, and three kids with better eyes than mine to help me see it.
It’s never too late to rewrite your story.
Mine found me through my children. Yours might be closer than you think.
The Book That Was Always Meant to Start Something
ABCs of Kindness is here — and we built it for families exactly like yours.
It’s a children’s book about kindness that goes beyond the page. Every copy supports real-world giving — 20% of net sales funds scholarships for communities in need, because we believe the lessons inside a book should live outside it too.
This is the book my kids and I rebuilt together. Letter by letter. Page by page. With arguments about characters, debates about colors, and more patience than I knew I had.
It is the most honest thing I have ever made.
And I hope it finds its way into your home — and into the hands of a child who needs to know that kindness isn’t a rule to follow.
It’s a way of being.
