The other day I was at my local library and the children’s librarian and I were discussing my book.

“Is it on the shelves at the moment?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I said. “Why?”

“Go check and see if there’s a picture in the back pocket. The book has been returned several times now with kids pictures in the back.”

So I went to the ‘A’ section, got out Surprise! and lo! there in the back pocket was a lovely little sketch of a child in a garden underneath a bulging yellow sun, signed, Gracie.

Just to explain briefly to people who haven’t bought / seen the book yet, its plot focuses on four children and how they each ‘pass along’ a lovely surprise they find hidden between the covers of a library book. I had a hunch – nay, more than a hunch; a secret knowing – that kids are more generous than we as adults sometimes care to remember, and the fact this has been borne out in demonstration makes me damn pleased I published myself. This experience, along with Kim, is ours to tell and celebrate.

I told my story; now the children, the readers, get their stories told in pictures, and get passed on.

It’s been documented. It matters. You matter. We all matter.

This is how I feel about my book and pretty well sums up my feeling about blogging as well.

karen andrews

Karen Andrews is the creator of this website, one of the most established and well-respected parenting blogs in the country. She is also an author, award-winning writer, poet, editor and publisher at Miscellaneous Press. Her latest book is Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity