Eevi Jones is a bestselling author of more than a dozen children’s books, and founder of EEscribe, a writing and marketing resource for aspiring children’s book authors. Originally from former East Germany, she now lives near Washington, D.C. with her family.
According to Eevi, all parents want to encourage their kids to read. And in so doing, they are on a constant hunt for books that align with their little ones’ interests. But what do you do when you can’t find a book that matches your kid’s unique interests or needs?
Beverly Clearly once said, “If you don’t see the book you want on the shelf, write it.”
And that’s exactly what Eevi Jones did.
Both her sons were absolutely fascinated and obsessed with vacuum cleaners. Whether it was You Tube reviews of vacuum cleaners or “special” trips to the vacuum aisle of the local Target, this peculiar interest went far beyond the concept of a typical ‘favorite’ toy.
When faced with such unusual likes of your children, you can react in two ways. You can either try to steer them toward more mainstream interests, and by doing so, run the risk of stifling their creativity and imagination. Or, you can accept their interests and look for a way to encourage and support your kids’ likes.
Eevi chose to do the latter.
Unable to find an interesting children’s book on or about vacuum cleaners, she decided to write and illustrate her own. Inspired by her kids’ tales and descriptions, she sat down and wrote a book that incorporated all the elements that would let every vacuum lover’s heart beat faster.
Upon publishing, it became an instant success among young vacuum enthusiasts. To this day, she receives loving fan mail from little vacuum-adoring children and their parents.
Since then, Eevi let herself be inspired many times more by her sons’ constantly shifting interests. To date, she has published and illustrated more than a dozen children’s books on everything from lawn mowers to monster trucks.
She has made it her mission to transfer her sons’ peculiar interests into something tangible and meaningful. Over the years, she’s realized that by listening to her children, she can use her gifts to pen and illustrate something truly needed, loved, and appreciated.
Her process always follows the same pattern:
- She listens. By listening, she opens herself up and becomes susceptible to new ideas. Rather than glancing over or ignoring a seemingly mundane statement made by her kids, she’s curious and digs deeper, only to be rewarded with the most wonderful themes to write about. This also allows here to share something special with her children as they explore and learn more about a topic together.
- She shifts her mindset. Instead of trying to change her kids’ interests to something more mainstream, she sees the beauty in their unique and sometimes peculiar likes.
- She fully embraces it. Eevi realized that by writing about her sons’ unique interests, she is helping other families. You may think you have the only kid that is obsessed with lawn mowers, garbage trucks, or gemstones. In reality, there are hundreds, if not thousands of other families out there waiting for the garbage truck to rumble by, or making a special trip down the street to watch the neighbor mow the lawn.
Because many of her books are bestsellers, Eevi is often approached by other moms and dads, inquiring about her newfound career as a self-published author.
And that’s when she realized that lots of other people have the same dream. They too have an incredible idea for a children’s book that they can’t stop thinking about. They too want to bring it to life. They too want to see their sons’ and daughters’ smiling faces as they read the story together.
They want to be able to realize their own dream of becoming an author. They just don’t know how to go about it.
Many think that writing a children’s book is an impossible undertaking, especially when it comes to illustrations. But in reality, modern technology and recent changes in the publication process have made self-publishing books easier and less expensive than ever before.
“When I published my first book,” Eevi says, “I felt so lost and overwhelmed throughout the entire writing, illustrating, and publishing process.”
After months and months of frustrating research, she painstakingly put all the pieces together, but still felt like something was missing. As most available information pertains to the writing of books for grown-ups, it seemed as though the children’s book market had been forgotten. How much easier it would have been with some guidance and support!
To facilitate and support the writing and publishing process, Eevi created EEscribe, a writing and marketing resource for aspiring children’s book authors.
Over the years, Eevi has worked with many aspiring authors, which has enabled her to compile and create remarkable content that will really help aspiring children’s book authors through the process of writing, illustrating, publishing, and marketing their children’s book.
With EEscribe, she’s elated that she was able to combine two of her greatest life’s passions: being able to helping others fulfill their dreams of writing a children’s book, and writing her children’s books, because she knows that as long as her sons are interested in a book’s topic, they’ll keep on reading!