I’m excited.  And I’m sheepishly telling my husband that he was right.   Or should it be write?  He’s been pestering me for a very long time about putting my skills to use and writing a book.  Every time, I responded “that’s your idea, why don’t you write one?”  Well, a bright idea finally hit and I’m working on a book.

Specifically, a picture book.  For little kids.  Gifted little kids.

While that might sound a little weird, I’m excited about it because this is an opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do for a while: help gifted kids feel ok about their intensities.

My brief stint of research is missing a lot, but I’m pretty sure this is a target market that’s been really overlooked.  There aren’t a lot of books out there for little gifted kids.  There are lots for older kids, and given that many gifted kids read early it could be a deliberate omission.  That’s ok.  I’m setting out to create something that I wish I had when we first figured out that the Engineer was gifted at the ripe old age of 3.  Something that helped him understand that his overwhelming emotions and behaviors weren’t “bad,” but just intense instead.

My target age is 4-7, and I’m tossing all the patronizing and simplistic crap out of the window because gifted kids get it, right?  But still pictures, because asynchronous happens, and because kids appreciate lovely illustrations whether they are gifted or not.  And I should note that the word gifted itself is NOT included in this book – or at least, the part the kids will read.   Because taking on that label should be up to the parents and teachers, not me.

For now, everything is in the “maybe” phase – I have no publisher (working on it) so it will probably be published through Amazon.  I’m working on the illustrations too, because what’s the point of being an artist if you can’t illustrate your own book?

All of that to say this: what would YOU want in a picture book for your gifted child?