My interview was published in USA Today! Can I shout that from the rooftops?
To say this has been an exciting few weeks is an understatement! The holiday season is in full swing and our family has been blessed in so many ways. We are all healthy, happy and doing well in life.
My author life has been filled with jaw-dropping moments and heartwarming feedback as well. On November 1, 2019, I released my eleventh book…which also happens to be one of my most popular books to date. In The Nick of Time is a diverse children’s picture book I penned to fill a glaring gap. I had spent years searching the online world for picture books about brown children who are the heroes in their Christmas story, especially the one about helping Santa save Christmas.
Needless to say, I couldn’t find any. So I wrote my own.
In The Nick of Time is about a little brown boy who saves Christmas, but this one sweet story has an additional layer of “special.” I truly wanted a book that featured a positive character that looked like my son, Nick. As a black mom, I know the importance of sharing books with my son that include characters he can admire, but also directly relate to.
The news of In The Nick of Time spread like wildfire and before I knew it, the story about why I wrote this book was also running in USA Today!
The resulting piece was an exceptionally well-written feature that shined the spotlight on the need for books like In The Nick of Time. The feedback and support I’ve gotten have made me so happy and beyond grateful. This is a message that the world needs to hear.
To read the full USA Today Story, go here. To learn more about my “why” when writing this book, visit the Make A Way Media blog.
Nick is also available for purchase on Amazon.
A Reader’s Praise:
Dear Ms. Eadens, (USA Today staff member)
Thank you so much for the story you wrote about Deedee Cummings writing a children’s book featuring (a boy like) her son Nick, a child of color. How refreshing to learn about this book! And your article is beautifully written.
I am a white mom of three boys ages 18, 14, and 9 who are Latinos. My spouse is from Honduras; we say their skin is “coffee with milk” (café con leche). The older two were born in Nicaragua. We appreciate family-crossing cultures, ethnicities, languages, and socio-economic lines (I’m from a college town in mid-Michigan; my spouse is from a peasant farming family in Central America).
Just last week I started talking more in earnest with our nine-year-old, Dario, about white privilege and racism, and the difference between personal prejudice or bias and systemic racism. I’m excited to show him the story about this children’s book as a positive story (and also one that highlights the issue of white privilege in children’s literature).
I felt very moved – happily so – reading about this book and other stories Deedee Cummings has written for children. Thank you!!!
Sincerely, Ellen S.
