Laura Canetti, If

By supernovamommy
15 July, 2012
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I learned about local children’s author, Laura Canetti, from my friends at 529 Kids Consign and am delighted with her new book titled If. The book If is written to inspire children to be individuals, creative, and kind. If asks many questions through the eyes of a butterfly in a rhyming format. “If you were a butterfly where would you fly? Would you soar to the moon or perhaps not that high? I was lucky to interview Laura about her inspirational work and love how she encourages children to communicate.

1) Why did you decide to become a children’s book author?

My main reason for writing this book was about 2 years ago my mother passed away from cancer. She was a wonderful mother, friend, wife, and sister. She always told me I should write and illustrate my own children’s book; so in her honor I began my journey shortly after her passing. Beyond a personal memoir to my mother, I wanted to pass on the life lessons she taught to me as a child to other children. She truly was unselfish in her dreams for her children. She wanted each of her three daughters to be happy, kind and most importantly true to our individual selves. I don’t think enough children are given that message. In addition, I have always loved to doodle and engage in anything creative so writing a children’s book was the perfect combination of both. I was an art major at one point in my life but ventured down another path, but I have still maintained my love of drawing so this was a way to get back into the art world. The process took a lot of research and internet search on learning Photoshop and all the ins and outs of self-publishing but it was worth it.

2) What is the inspiration behind your newest book, If?

As I stated in the last question, my mother was the biggest inspiration behind this book but, I also wrote it for all the children that I work with at the schools. I am employed full-time as a Speech Language Pathologist at a middle school in Fairfax County working with many students with special needs. My students inspire me every day but I don’t see them honoring their uniqueness and individual strengths as much as I would like. I truly believe everyone has their own path in life and I want to inspire that belief in children. Also as an SLP I am always trying to encourage my students to communicate and increase their vocabulary. My book prompts children to use adjectives to describe exactly what their wings would look like and describe details about where they would go. I wanted to write a book that facilitated conversations between parents and their children, between teachers and their students and children amongst each other.