LOCAL mother of two, Jade Wallace has made the decision to balance her busy lifestyle of looking after her little ones with becoming an aspiring author.
Jade has released a series of nine children books that she has specifically tailored to be neurodivergent friendly, targeting children who may find it harder to consume other types of reading.
The nine books are part of a series that she has named The Big Feelings Library, with each book targeting a separate issue that is commonly faced by neurodivergent children.
Two examples of books that Jade has released within this series are named Finn Cant Sit Still and Caleb Sees the Words Backwards.
The aim of the specific scenarios that Jade writes about is to make children who experience similar things within their day-to-day life feel less alone and more comfortable within themselves.
Jade explained: The books are designed to help neurodivergent children feel heard, seen, and represented. They cover topics like ADHD (Finn Cant Sit Still) and reading difficulties (Caleb Sees the Words Backwards), and they feature interactive discussion pages at the back so parents, carers, and educators can safely chat through big emotions with little ones.
Jades main influence behind her books is her daughter, as she struggles with being neurodivergent herself. She has watched her daughter experience difficult times and wanted to do something that would be able to help.
This is where Jades role as a mother and an author collide, as she is both helping her daughter feel seen whilst encouraging other children to learn and accept that it is good to be different and should be celebrated.
She described that it was a challenge to witness her daughter struggle with her self confidence due to the challenges that she faces through neurodivergence.
Jade said: My inspiration behind my books is my amazing daughter who I watch daily go through struggles with seeing the world differently, and watching her navigate her life feeling differently and the days where she says I am not normal that is hard to hear as a mum.
She added: From my own personal experience in life I know how she feels when you are deemed as not normal to others because of how your brain works and made to feel different and singled out or even ashamed.
But there is no normal in my eyes, every individual is different and every one deserves to be seen and heard and respected, no one should have to fight to be seen or heard, especially children.
Writing the Big Feelings to me it felt like a life line to show children, parents, carers, educators, or anyone who reads my book, that it is okay to be different, its nothing to hide from or be ashamed of, its something to see as your superpower, not just that but also to be able to talk about in conversations, this is what I always envisioned with my books.
However, producing these books alongside motherhood has proved a major challenge. Jade is the sole driving force behind her books and completes everything from writing to illustrating to publishing them on her own. She makes constant sacrifices to be able to create these books and often stays up after her children are in bed to be able to work on them – however the late nights and hard work is worth the end result.
The positive influence that Jade has provided to the community and beyond through these books is evident. She has distributed 170 free copies of her books to people locally, such as parents, carers and schoolteachers, she has had a large amount of positive feedback from these people, and has received positive reviews online from buyers.
Jades book series including her most recent book Olivers Brave Badge is selling in local shop Allsortz and online on Amazon.
