I never really set out to be a children’s book author.
That is to say that, among the many creative dreams I had in my sights, a children’s book was one that was distinctly out of view. But in searching for ways to connect my daughters with my mom, who I lost as a kid, I realized there was nothing that could accomplish that faster than a rhyming story with beautiful illustrations.
My girls are hungry for picture books, often asking (demanding?) three or four or ten at a time. We can spend entire afternoons on the couch with a pile of books, and it became an art form I respected and admired as much as any other I’d studied or worked towards.
I also learned a lot about them.
Turns out, making a children’s book is hard. Actually, let me rephrase that. Making a children’s book is damn near impossible.
I know you’re probably thinking there are a million terrible children’s books, and you’d be totally right. It turns out that a LOT of crap slips through the cracks and leads to what my wife and I call “quick books” because we might skip a paragraph or even page here and there. But think about TV shows, movies, music, your high school talent show… bad art exists in every medium. And making a bad TV show is in no way more noble than making a not-so-great board book. But the good ones? My god. They’re pure magic. A good children’s book brings us back to our youth, no matter our age. I’ve cried tears of sadness and tears of joy while reading books about imaginary friends. I’ve thought about my place in the world and my duty as a father while reading digestible, rhyming stories that my daughters think are just… fun.
If you aren’t able to recognize the magic in a good children’s book, I honestly feel sorry for you.
The other thing you’re probably thinking is, “I could do that,” and you’re almost definitely totally wrong. Do you have any idea how much work goes into one of the better children’s books out there? Let’s forget the illustration side, which requires actual professional skill that is only possessed by people who have been working on it for years. You probably couldn’t even write one! At least not a book with rhymes that haven’t been done to death or ideas that haven’t been churned out by every parent writing their own special book for the last 150 years (I refuse to look up when our boy Gutenberg invented the printing press, but I’m generally using that as the time that a few people got annoying about being able to write a book).
I am, by all definitions, a professional writer. I have sold a TV show to Comedy Central. I have written a one man show that won the Producer’s Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. I have written a short online video where my character creates a bunch of clones and then makes them his family and makes one his girlfriend and has sex with her. I’m not sure I should have included that last one. But you know what took me SIX DAMN YEARS? My first children’s book. And honestly, I even started with a good idea! You can ask the many people I softly pitched it to while I was figure out what to do with it. That is not a given. And it still took six damn years. Because I wanted it to be perfect, yes, but also because I knew it demanded that amount of work.
So what is my book? Oh, I’m so glad you asked, because I’d really like you to buy it! In fact, you can do so here.
The People Who Can’t Meet You is a book about loss, that doesn’t focus on what we’ve lost. It’s a book about the people who came before us, and how much they add to our story. It’s a book about the exciting lives our children are going to lead, knowing in their heart that people we’ve lost are so much of the reason why they are who they are. Is it a grief book? Sure, technically. But it was never my intention to make you cry. In fact, I wasn’t even thinking about you, I was thinking about your kids. And I was thinking about my kids. I was thinking about the warm images and ideas they love to hear when I talk about Grammy Amy, one of the people who can’t meet them. And I was thinking about how some families might really need a way to talk about these people in a digestible and fun way. I really hope it helps.
After six long years, and multiple iterations, I finally turned that into a book. One you can buy here. Did you know that?
So, this post is certainly to give some much needed press to my little-book-that-could. I’ve sold over 1,000 copies
already, but I think it so belongs in the homes of people all over the world. Loss is universal, unfortunately, and talking about it is healthy. So why not talk about it through a group of diverse characters who get to live their amazing lives, thanks to The People Who Can’t Meet You.
If you have the time, please check it out. And if you want to know more, you can always follow me on instagram @gudernatchos. And if you’ve already ordered, I should be shipping them out in 4-6 weeks and would LOVE to know what you think. Make sure to tag me so I can respond!
www.guderbooks.com