A CHILDREN’S book inspired by family love that spans continents is set for release next month.
Written by Bahrain resident Julia Inserro, Nonni’s Moon is a 32-page book targeting children aged three to eight.
It was illustrated by Lucy Smith and has already won the 2018 Cover Design Award, represented by a gold seal on the front cover.
“It’s a sweet bedtime story about a little girl who lives across the world from her grandmother and misses her – something we, as expats, know all too well,” said Ms Inserro who is from Ohio, US.
“Together they figure out that they can use the moon to send messages back and forth.
“No matter where you’re from, missing friends and family is such a universal feeling and I think it can be especially hard for children.
“Hopefully Nonni’s Moon can help give them a feeling of happiness when they think about those whom they miss.”
The book was written shortly after Ms Inserro and her family moved to Bahrain in 2016.
Although the author and her husband had lived abroad for a decade at this point and since had three children, one small but powerful comment from her mother planted the seed that would become Nonni’s Moon.
“My mother and I are close and talk every few days on the phone,” explained the 48-year-old author, who is part of Bahrain Writer’s Circle.
“One night, soon after arriving in Bahrain, she said, ‘I was really missing you all the other night, but then I looked up at the moon and realised you get to see the exact same moon and I felt better’.
“I don’t think I knew it at the time, but the seed was planted.
“A few months later, after dropping my children off at nursery, I went and sat in my car at the beach here and wrote out the first draft.”
She said that although the book took only a few months to write, it was the illustrating and the marketing that were challenging.
“My illustrator, Lucy Smith, is in the UK and she’s been a dream to work with,” she said.
“She took my story and elevated it to new heights.
“I immediately knew I wanted to work with her again, so she’s already hard at work on two more books.”
She added that she was currently working on four more children’s books.
“One is written and edited and Lucy is working her illustration magic on it,” she said.
“Another has been edited, so I need to do some re-writes on it, and two more are in the have-ideas-need-to-flesh-out stage.
“Eventually, I hope to approach local bookstores in Bahrain about carrying them.
“I just need to get some copies in to be able to show them.”
Nonni’s Moon is set for release on July 31 and is available to pre-order on www.amazon.com, priced at $16.95 for hardback and $9.99 for paperback.
The Kindle version is also available for $2.99.
Free colouring pages from Nonni’s Moon are also available on Ms Inserro’s website, www.juliainserro.com.
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