Seeking a way to spread a positive message, the Lezotte family put the pen (and crayons) to paper to create a children’s book and, ultimately, a lasting piece in their family’s history.
Mom Keli Lezotte, who wrote and published the family’s book “Cupcakes and Ninjas,” said writing has always been her passion and she always gravitated toward creating a message that would reach others and provide them with inspiration and empowerment. This time with children.
“I feel like I’m always teaching my kids the importance of balance and telling them to stay strong and be empathetic, stand up for yourselves, be passionate – and sometimes it’s a contradiction in a balancing act,” said Keli. “So, I thought it would be a simple way of getting the story across showing that comparison between being sweet and strong with a cupcake and a ninja.”
She went on to add inspiration for the book came to be when she was reading “What to Do with an Idea” to her children and they were discussing the book’s message, which she said was about “how important it is to nourish your ideas.”
Her kids, Sofia and Grayson, had a hand in creating the book by drawing all of the illustrations.
“I think it’s really cool and fun to see your name on a book and have it out there,” said Sofia. “People want to read it.”
“They were excited to see the end result,” said Keli’s husband Paul. “The buildup to that was crazy and they were having fun with it, but also learning how to do those things.”
Keli added the book also serves as inspiration for other kids and families to seek out their endeavors.
“I thought it would be a better message not only for the book to have one, but empowering other kids that they can be illustrators and do anything they put their mind to,” said Keli. “It’s an all around feel-good story. ”
“A lot of [the kids] have said that they were going to find their parents and go write a book together,” said Paul. “Many of them were inspired and took and ran with that idea.”
The book is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s web store. The Wenonah-based family hopes to create more books like this in the future.
