Valerie F. -Welcome to the Bookworthy podcast. I'm children's author Valerie Fintress, and we are here to talk about Kid Lit that's good for your kids' hearts and souls. Kid Lit ranges from birth to teens, so there is a lot of shelf space to cover. Today, we're talking with Valerie Ellis, she is the mom of two and one of the contributors to Our Everyday Parables, which seeks to help families use everyday moments and excellent books to grow in faith and compassion. Today we're talking about Valerie's debut children's book, Share the Joy, a Christmas lift flat book from Paraclete Press. Welcome, Valerie.
Valerie E. -Thank you for having me. I'm excited.
Valerie F. -So glad to have you here, but we have to start with a tricky question. Does your Christmas tree go up before Thanksgiving or after?
Valerie E. -Okay, Valerie, I didn't know we would get this contentious right away. No, I'm just kidding. No, that's a good question and it varies depending on what we have going on. So, if we have a big trip and we're going to be leaving before Christmas, then we'll usually put it up beforehand. But if it's one of those years where there's just not a lot of time between
Thanksgiving and Christmas, you know how sometimes that works? We'll put it up beforehand. My husband is kind of like, it's tough for him to do that. He likes to wait till after Thanksgiving, but he gives in to me because I love to enjoy the tree. So it's not about skipping over Thanksgiving, but I do like to have time to enjoy my tree.
Valerie F. -Okay, then the second question about the Christmas tree, real or artificial?
Valerie E. -Artificial. And if I could build a closet in my house that I could just leave it decorated and wheel it in and out, I would be so happy.
Valerie F. -We have to do artificial trees at our house too. I'm allergic to cedar. And so I went and spent the night at a friend's house as a kid and they had a real Christmas tree and I woke up at two in the morning and sneezed my brains out. And so I was like, okay, yep, artificial for us.
Valerie E. -Yes, yes, yes. I feel like I'm keeping enough living things going like the kids and then you know like managing the food and making sure that doesn't spoil so I think a tree is just like a little too much for me.
Valerie F. -I hear you, keeping the kids watered is hard enough. Well, it may seem a little early to be talking about Christmas, but what is one of your favorite childhood Christmas memories?
Valerie E. -Okay, well, I have a lot of them. I'm thankful for that. But since this book is for very small kids, I'll tell you my earliest Christmas memory, which is when I had a snack out of bed and my parents were talking about our Christmas presents they did they must have known that we maybe were listening Because they were spelling things but they had said we're gonna put the barbies up in the top of the closet to make room for the D O L Y P O P S which I'm probably dating myself because it's like a toy from the 70s dolly pops they're like these plastic things that had plastic
clothes that snapped and I really wanted them and so I said I jumped out and I said dolly pops and they were like my gosh, she's three and she can spell a big word like Dolly Paws, but I couldn't spell I just knew that if they were putting up some of my dolls, and they were talking about getting another kind of doll and I wanted that it was Dolly Paws for a minute they thought I could spell. Yeah.
Valerie F. -You were showing them up at the age of three. Way fun. Well, how did your Christmas traditions and memories help you write Share the Joy?
Valerie E. -That's a great question. And I'll just show this is just that I don't have the book yet. Because this is just the card that is about half the size of the book. So it is about It's a book about Sharing and caring at Christmas, but it has that element of surprise because it's a lift-the-flap. So you think the child is just decorating the tree with their family or just decorating the tree and then you lift the flap and they're having family time. Or you think the child is receiving a gift and then you lift the flap and she's giving it to another child. So kind of trying to tie in, like you said, Christmas traditions with caring and sharing for others. So our Christmas traditions were very warm and I loved them. I loved light looking. I loved all the
things, decorating the tree. I mean, sometimes my kids are like, hmm, do we have to go look at Christmas lights? But not me, I was there for all of it. But I do remember even like 11, 12, 13 years old and being raised in a Christian home, knowing like, I am way more excited about these presents than I am about anything about Jesus. You know, now I'm older and I understand like there's nothing wrong with being excited about the things that God has given us. But at the time I was having a hard time integrating that, you know, into my reality as a kid. And I even remember at the time thinking like, how can we help? Like when I'm older and I have kids, how will I help them? And I was a kid myself, right? So it's just funny. I was like, how will I help them love worshiping? And then when I got older, it was, how do I help my kids realize that the best way we can celebrate the greatest servant of all is by serving others? And so that became later part of my desire. And so I looked back at our Christmas traditions and I was like I do, I get so excited about having hot chocolate, even though here in Houston, it's like maybe 78 degrees, but, or, you know, like why? And so I was thinking about how, you know, like all growing up, like we had all these representations of all of these traditions, some of which fit our climate, some of which don't, but you know, and all of these warm experiences, whether they were the ones we were having or the ones that on TV or in books, or Christmas songs, you know, and so that just was part of our culture. And so I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful if all of those warm feelings that kids feel about getting to go down and get their Christmas presents and you know, sitting by the fire with their family or whatever their favorites are, if they had those same warm enticing
feelings about serving others and about worshiping the Lord. And so, you know, with this book, I very much didn't want to pit traditions against worship but rather show it as a way to expand joy. So we have our traditions and then when we open our hearts and we share them with others, or we realize God is in the middle of them then they become even more joyful.
Valerie F. -That's amazing. And it's such a great message for our young kids. And even for the older kids too sometimes, because it can be so easy to get caught up in all the excitement of Christmas and forget that the whole heart of Christmas itself is to share and to serve. And I love that what you've done with your book is to incorporate both the excitement and the serving. Now, how have you taught your kids to define joy?
Valerie E. -That is a hard one. And I've been thinking about joy a lot lately, not just because of this book, but because I have another project I wanna get up on the blog about joy and coming at it from a different angle. And so, you know, I think When I was growing up, we had a big definition of happiness and joy. You know, like it was a big thing. I haven't gone in that direction with my kids to define joy specifically, but I think that you know, for me, one of the most joyful things we can do is discover. So I have been trying to teach my kids to like discover, like we might not be getting what we want, but like where, where is God in this? Like how can we open our hearts to what God is trying to show us in this? Or if we are having a happy moment, you know, where is the deeper joy in that? So through discovery and trying to be open-hearted, I think that is where we've kind of come to joy in my family.
Valerie F. -That's really neat because it's, what is it? Joy is one of those really hard words to explain because it gets wrapped up in, what is it? Happiness. It's like, well, joy isn't happiness and happiness isn't joy. And you can have one without the other. And so I think, I know in our home, trying to communicate that joy is a feeling of, what is it? It's not happiness, but despite your circumstances, you're content and know that God is still good and acting, even if you're not getting the thing that you want under the Christmas tree. And that's one of the things I love about Christmases. Every year, my kids are like, this is the best Christmas ever. And I'm like, I think we forgot this gift that was like the number one thing on their list. And they're just like, this is the best Christmas ever because it is just Christmas. It's not so much about the stuff. And that's always a lot of fun to watch kids get it without having to truly be taught. Too fun. Now with this book, it's for younger kids. And a little bit, what do you want the number one takeaway to be from this book for kiddos?
Valerie E. -That's amazing. Yes, I love that. Well, I think you've hit on it. I think it's about growing joy for everyone. So when we give and share and bring our gifts to the Lord even, that brings joy to the Lord, that brings joy to the people we are giving to, but it also helps us have that sustaining joy that even though we're not maybe receiving at that moment, we're practicing something that's going to give us even deeper joy. And then hopefully, you know, like, as we grow, and I know I need this message as well, it's like as we look outside ourselves when we don't get those things we wanted at Christmas or when we don't have the perfect Christmas or we take our kids to light looking and all they do is groan, you know, we also have, you know, these other practices that we're doing that aren't about us, that truly make Christmas joyful and help us break out of that cultural tendency to craft the perfect Christmas and put all this pressure on ourselves. And when we make it not about us, we make it about others, kind of insulates us from that.
Valerie F. -Very neat. Now you have a lot of extra resources that come along with that, this book. Can you tell us a little bit about those resources?
Valerie E. -Yes, I'd love to because I'm very excited about them. So the publisher is Paraclete Press and they worked really hard to, well, along with me, create a packet for teachers and parents to go along with the book. So there's a page of just reading tips, like ideas for questions you can ask to really make the book your own with your kids. There is a sheet of ideas for how to have a party. Like if your church or your neighborhood wanted to have the book at the party, you read the book, there are some games listed, and there are some Bible verses and things you could center on. And, um, even there's ideas for older kids too, because even though an older kid might not pick up the book and say, you know like this is the book I want for Christmas if they're like 10 years old. But if you're at a party and you're reading the book, you know, it's still, all kids love to be read to. And you know, the message of the book is universal. So then one of my favorite things in the packet that really can be used all year long is a Share the Joy Jar activity. And it's 24, like cut apart cards that have ideas for sharing and carrying at Christmas and they can be as small as like if you're in a Sunday school group where you're with your family like share something you love about the person on the right or as big as You know go to a food pantry and donate so you can pick the ones that fit your family if you're like we are not going to make cards for
the hospital because either they always get cards at Christmas and we do that in July or you know we don't have time for that and this is not about me crafting the perfect Christmas as I said earlier then you just pick the ones you want you put them in a jar and then you decide the schedule so maybe once a week or maybe all the days leading up to Christmas or the 12 days of Christmas depending on how many you put in there you can draw out something and as a family serve together so I love that one. And then there's a cookie recipe and tags to color so they can color the tags make the cookies give them to their neighbors and The recipe is delicious. I'm going to be posting about it on Instagram soon But you can get all the goodies when you pre-order and you enter your info at sharethejoybook.com
Valerie F. -That's amazing because that's one thing about books is to not only just make it about sitting down and reading, which I could do all day, but to give both parents or caregivers just those tangible next steps to implement the ideas that they're reading about. And I love all that you've put together with that. Because even as a mom myself, just like, oh, this is great. Yes, we should think of all these things we could do, but it gets so overwhelming. So to provide that and to give people that resource to be able to be like, oh, okay, yeah, we can take this and move forward. It's not so daunting and doesn't have to add to the already Christmas crazy.
Valerie E. -Right, because the other thing I'll be doing this fall and winter is speaking to mom's groups about, you know, this very topic. And so by tying Christmas traditions to service activities, the idea is to make them less daunting. So you're already making cookies, you know, double the recipe, or you're already coloring Christmas cards, you know, give some away or attach them to a gift card at Target and, you know, share about God's love and hide the gift That was an idea that someone gave me that's actually in the packet. So yeah, the idea is to not. Yeah, I love it. Yeah. That was such a great idea that she had and so easy, but then also builds on that.
Valerie F. -That seems sneaky.
Valerie E. -Plants those seeds to help kids be rooted in loving others and showing God's love in that way. You know, Christmas is a time when a lot of people who maybe haven't grown up in the church or, you know, maybe had a bad experience in the church are more open to the Lord. And so when we serve at this time, even though it's wonderful to do it all year long, sometimes that can help draw people.
Valerie F. -Very neat. Now, what is your favorite Christmas book, Valerie?
Valerie E. -This is a hard question. Yes. So my son the other day, had to fill out something for school that said my favorite movie, my favorite this, my favorite that. And he's like, I'm just going to leave them blank. I don't like people judging me. And I was like, you are so cute. But I do feel like it's really hard to pick a favorite. But I will say Mouse's Christmas Gift is a wonderful book by Mindy Baker that shares just about this mouse who goes outside of
himself to save the Christmas Eve service I don't want to spoil it but it's sweet and last year my eight-year-old read it and he was like such a good book so I feel like when my kids unsolicited will comment about something he's like because the ending I'm like I know it's so great so anyway
Valerie F. -Aww, too sweet.
Valerie E. -But speaking of childhood memories, I'll also say The Sweet Smell of Christmas is a classic Christmas book. It's a scratch and sniff, even though mine don't sniff anymore. But it is that book that inspired me to think about Christmas traditions in such a warm way. It's just such a cute, such a cute, sweet book.
Valerie F. -It's always hard to pick just one. Well, kind of on our book theme here, what's the most impactful book in your life, Valerie, other than the Bible?
Valerie E. -Yeah, that's hard for me too, but I will say that Well, how about a children's Bible? I want it because what came to mind was the Jesus Storybook Bible came out at a time when my kids were very young and I was also going through a time of like Looking at my faith
differently and just the way that Sally Lloyd-Jones The voice that she used to talk about God's love just really impacted me I actually ended up buying it for everyone in my family even the people who didn't have kids I was just like, y'all, we all need this book. So I say that one, you know, it was a while ago, but that had a big impact on me. And then The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, I would say is something that's impacting me now. I was scared to read it because eliminating hurry is not in my DNA, but I loved it and going through it with my kids right now too. So we're about maybe halfway, maybe done.
Valerie F. -Very interesting. Too fun. Well, so we talked about your favorite Christmas book, but what is your favorite children's book other than your own?
Valerie E. -Okay, so I thought this question might be coming and I asked my kids because they know I have a lot of favorite books. I'm like, y'all, what's my favorite book? And they were right. So they said, I did grab this one, how this book was made. And I feel like Valerie, you're an author and on your platform, you probably have a lot of authors and writers listening in. So I'll say that the book is
great for kids. And authors. I just felt so seen. Do you know the book? Okay, yeah. So you know, I mean, I just felt so seen when I read it is talking about drafts and what they're good for, which basically spoiler alert is like setting a fire to scare away a tiger. But it does teach kids about writing and publishing. And at the end, it has a great message about how a book is not finished until it has a reader. And I feel that way about my book as well.
Valerie F. - I do, yes. That's right. And then what is it? The reader keeps reading and shares it even more and it makes a bigger impact. So it's a never-ending story in a sense. Too fun. Well, you mentioned one book that you're reading right now. What else are you reading?
Valerie E. -Yes, I love that. Absolutely. So I'm reading habits of the household. At least I was until Libby returned it for me when I wasn't finished. So now I have to wait again to get it. No, I have the hard copy to a friend lent to me, but I just audiobooks are just my jam. So I'll wait to finish it. But I feel like habits and household are two words that don't get me super excited, but I'm finding the book is beautiful. So I'm not finished with it yet. So I can't, you know, like wholeheartedly, I don't know. Right, give a full summary. But so far, I'm loving it. Yeah.
Valerie F. -Give a full summary. Book report right now, Valerie. Book report. Very neat. Yeah, two words that are more of a struggle than something I would pull off the shelf. So that's definitely something I might need to check out. Now, Valerie, what can we expect next from you?
Valerie E. -So, I have two books that will be coming out in, well, one doesn't have a date yet. For sure one that will be coming out in 2025, another one, you know, like TBA. And I can't share
too much about them, except that one is for the next age group up. So more like six, let me think, four to eight. And one that is for the next age group up, so more like six to ten. So I'm really excited about them. I just turned in the rough draft of the manuscript of the third one in July, so yeah, it's exciting.
Valerie F. -Very exciting. I love that you're not just staying in one age group, but you have a message for all age groups. Because what is it? If we don't catch it young, we can still catch a message from six to 10 or eight to 12. God always pursues us no matter our age. So I love that. Well, Valerie, where can people find out more about you?
Valerie E. -Yes, yes, he is so good. So yes, as you said at the top, our Everyday Parables is an online resource for parents and teachers, and I write there. We have a newsletter that also includes info about my author stuff, so you can check that out if you want a free list of my favorite books. We've talked a lot about books, not just mine, but some that we've pulled together as authors of the blog that are in five categories, and five age groups, so 75 recommendations and all. You can go to our everyday parables and backslash books, and I'll take you right to where you can sign up for the newsletter, and get the freebie. And then I'm on Instagram at IamValerieEllis, and my website is ValerieEllis.com if you're interested in speaking. So those are probably the three main places that I hang out, yeah.
Valerie F. -Very neat. Well, thank you so much, Valerie, for joining us today and sharing a little bit about your sweet little book.
Valerie E. -Well, thank you for having me. I know it's like, board books sometimes can seem like a simple thing, but I feel like there's been so much love from not just me, the publisher, and the illustrator behind this book. And so I feel like it's a lot bigger than meets the eye. There's a lot to it, yeah. Thank you, Valerie, it's my pleasure.
Valerie F. -Thank you for joining Valerie and me on this episode of the Bookworthy Podcast. Be sure to check out the show notes for any books or links that we discussed and hit the like and subscribe button so we can discover more great books together.
Happy reading!
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