Eugenie Wong (left) and her father James-Scott Wong on a trip to Namibia. Their children’s book will raise funds for that African country’s efforts to prevent the extinction of the White Rhino.
Growing up, 17-year-old Eugenie Wong’s parents would always read her children’s books. Two months ago, inspired by those memories, she published her own.
Her first book, “Penny’s Day on the Farm,” was published in June and has become an international bestseller in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, France, Japan, the U.K., Singapore and Australia. The rhyming book follows a young girl named Penny who is nervous about her first day of school. She goes to a toy box and is taken to a world where animals talk.
A percentage of the book’s profits will be donated to Rhino Momma, a group in Namibia, Africa, that supports breeding of the White Rhino to save it from extinction.
In the book, Penny follows a little pig named Ammie, who tries to talk to the other animals. But they don’t hear her, and Ammie takes it personally. She then sees the other pigs playing soccer, making Penny feel more confident about introducing herself on the first day of school.
“The book’s theme is about adventure and friendship,” Eugenie explained. “The idea for writing a kids’ book was always bouncing around between my father and I.”
Her dad James-Scott Wong was supposed to write the book, while his daughter would illustrate, but as they continued to develop the story, the two both decided to write, Eugenie from Penny’s perspective and her dad from the perspective of Penny’s brother Pierre.
The plan was to release alternating books with two different illustrators. Both Penny and Pierre are based on Eugenie’s siblings.
James-Scott recalled that bedtime stories were always a staple in his household.
“My wife would always be reading bedtime stories to the children,” he remembered. “From my perspective, it would always be about the moral of the story … When (Eugenie) was little and we didn’t have a book,” he added, “I would say, ‘Okay, pick three things and I’ll make a story.’
” … Your job as a parent is to inspire children as well as have them imagine.”
For Eugenie, that experience is a tradition she wants to continue.
“We wanted to be able to put that in a book, to tell other kids, to teach those same lessons in an engaging way,” she said.
Father and daughter plan to have 12 books to share, with 12 lessons her parents instilled in her along the way. Eugenie described the news that the book had become an international bestseller as pure happiness.
“I think the best feeling for me is the reviews and the pictures people send me of giving it to grandkids as a gift,” she noted.
Eugenie also recalled a particularly meaningful moment over the summer when she went with her dad to Namibia and met children who couldn’t speak English. In spite of the language barrier, the children enjoyed her book through its pictures.
“When you put your passion into something that you do, the authenticity shows through,” James-Scott observed. ” … For a first-time author, you can’t ask for anything more, right?”
Outside of writing, Eugenie is a rising senior at Paul VI High School in Haddonfield. She is passionate about art and hopes to get a degree in finance and art management. She also wants to continue to develop her brand, Glo Studios, and expand to create things like clothing and products.
James-Scott will launch the second book of his and Eugenie’s series on Sept. 10. “Pierre’s Promise of the Deep” is about taking a journey filled with “determination, discovery and redemption.”
