My then 6-year-old daughter, Sami, asked for a gratitude book so that she could journal the same way I did. I'm thinking, okay, easy enough to find this type of book.....WRONG! I searched the internet, the bookstores, the used bookstores, garage sales, friends, family, and in every nook and cranny I could think of. Nothing, nada, zilch. I broke the news to Sami who simply replied, "that's fine, mommy, we'll just make one." And with that, our project began.
First we sat down and I tried to figure out what she really wanted in this book and of course what would work best for a 6-year-old in terms of keeping her attention and not having this turn into something she used for 5 minutes and then tossed into a drawer for years to come. We really were not focused on publishing this book, it was more of a creation of Sami's, for Sami to use. Within a short period of time we realized that this could be a lot bigger than we originally intended. By fall of this year, we knew this would be HUGE as there are so many children in the world and gratitude is not a lesson taught in many households today, let alone in the school systems.
So with the goal of helping others, encouraging children to learn about gratitude and to be thankful for the blessings they have in their lives instead of complaining they did not have the latest and greatest toys, clothes, ect....we set our intention on publishing our still untitled book.
Next was naming our book. We starting thinking of things that the majority of kids could relate to as well as something catchy so as to grab the attention of parents walking through a store. "Fish Sticks" just seemed to be the catch-phrase we were looking for...after all, most people would stop to see exactly what was in a book with "Fish Sticks" in the title, when it was not in the cookbook section.
November came and we were on roll. The name of the book was finalized, it was edited and proofread several times and we finally went to press in mid November with the final proofs arriving toward the end of the month.
Once everything was reviewed, we gave the final okay and the book was released globally online on Wednesday December 5th.
We just KNEW from the feedback and endorsements that this book would be HUGE, but we had no idea just how big it would grow and how quickly it would get there.
In less than a week, sales have taken off. The book debuted at 49,000 in the rankings for book sales and at last check was up in the 7,000 range and steadily heading towards the top 100.
We are open to working with all family and child friendly organizations for fundraisers as well as larger for-profit organizations that would like to share "Fish Sticks, Books and Blue Jeans ~ Teaching kids to be thankful for everything (yes, even fish sticks) everyday!" with their customers.
We are grateful in that we have wonderful friends supporting us in this endeavor. Sami has always been an amazing child and we are excited to see her sharing her love of gratitude with others.
Til next time,
Caryn aka 'Sami's mom'
First we sat down and I tried to figure out what she really wanted in this book and of course what would work best for a 6-year-old in terms of keeping her attention and not having this turn into something she used for 5 minutes and then tossed into a drawer for years to come. We really were not focused on publishing this book, it was more of a creation of Sami's, for Sami to use. Within a short period of time we realized that this could be a lot bigger than we originally intended. By fall of this year, we knew this would be HUGE as there are so many children in the world and gratitude is not a lesson taught in many households today, let alone in the school systems.
So with the goal of helping others, encouraging children to learn about gratitude and to be thankful for the blessings they have in their lives instead of complaining they did not have the latest and greatest toys, clothes, ect....we set our intention on publishing our still untitled book.
Next was naming our book. We starting thinking of things that the majority of kids could relate to as well as something catchy so as to grab the attention of parents walking through a store. "Fish Sticks" just seemed to be the catch-phrase we were looking for...after all, most people would stop to see exactly what was in a book with "Fish Sticks" in the title, when it was not in the cookbook section.
November came and we were on roll. The name of the book was finalized, it was edited and proofread several times and we finally went to press in mid November with the final proofs arriving toward the end of the month.
Once everything was reviewed, we gave the final okay and the book was released globally online on Wednesday December 5th.
We just KNEW from the feedback and endorsements that this book would be HUGE, but we had no idea just how big it would grow and how quickly it would get there.
In less than a week, sales have taken off. The book debuted at 49,000 in the rankings for book sales and at last check was up in the 7,000 range and steadily heading towards the top 100.
We are open to working with all family and child friendly organizations for fundraisers as well as larger for-profit organizations that would like to share "Fish Sticks, Books and Blue Jeans ~ Teaching kids to be thankful for everything (yes, even fish sticks) everyday!" with their customers.
We are grateful in that we have wonderful friends supporting us in this endeavor. Sami has always been an amazing child and we are excited to see her sharing her love of gratitude with others.
Til next time,
Caryn aka 'Sami's mom'
