New book remembers author’s father
Author and illustrator Farrah Raines introduced her newest book at the Tuscora Park’s Park Place Youth Center.
Author Farrah Raines of Uhrichsville included a character in her latest book, “Finding the Super You!” to remember her late father, William “Gene” Caswell. It is the third book she has written and illustrated.
Raines introduced the book at a recent book release party at Tuscora Park’s Park Place Youth Center.
“Finding the Super You!” is about finding the superhero in you.
“I picked that title because the key thing is the finding. It’s about a girl named Farrah, who wants to help people, but she feels like she can’t help people because she’s not a superhero and she doesn’t have superpowers,” Raines said. “(Farrah) got the idea to take a quest, and she sets out looking for her superpowers.”
In one scene Farrah buys a cape and mask.
“That is when she takes on that whole Super Farrah image, and her father is actually The White Knight, and his character is inspired by my own father, whose nickname was The White Knight,” Raines said. “So that’s kind of where my book originated. I really wanted to do something in memory of my father, and I thought since they called him The White Knight, it would be fun to do a superhero book.”
The character Farrah meets different superheroes along the way who help her discover she does have her own superpowers and skills, as well as some weaknesses. Farrah and her friends also run into some villains they have to make feel better about themselves to continue on their quest.
Problem-solving skills and working together with others to succeed are lessons children can learn in the book.
“Super Farrah, at the very end, discovers that she has super powers within her. They’ve always been there, but it took her new friends pointing them out in these new situations to help her realize that she is super and she does have super skills to help other people,” Raines said.
After all the characters’ work together, the book has a happy ending.
“It’s a feel-good story and helps with self-esteem and confidence,” Raines said.
The books help open the lines of communication with the children to discover what they’re passionate about.
“Everybody is passionate about something. It’s just discovering that,” Raines said.
Raines spent time this past year offering library programs featuring her first two books, “Tons of Tools To Help Me Be Me” and “Sea of Feelings,” which help children understand and cope with their feelings.
“It has been so much fun. I have had the best experience of my life. All summer long I did story times all around Tuscarawas County in several different libraries, along with here at Tuscora Park,” Raines said.
Raines read her book, “Sea of Feelings,” because it went along with last summer’s ocean theme for the summer reading program.
“It was amazing. That book talks about different emotions, and introducing emotions to little ones is very important, learning that vocabulary,” Raines said, adding the book also is important because it teaches children their happy may look different than someone else’s happy.
Raines also participated in a recent reading festival at New Towne Mall.
“That was my very first author event, and that was exciting,” Raines said.
She enjoyed talking with others about her books and even met a future author.
“I had a girl stop and talk to me at the reading festival. She told me she wanted to be an author and illustrator. She is currently involved in the young authors program,” Raines said. “I was so touched by her drive and passion. I wanted to share my book with her. When I gave her a copy of my book, she hugged me three times and continuously thanked me. It was a very emotional moment for me because I could see that had made this young girl’s whole day, and that warmed my heart. Seeing her excitement is the reason why I do everything I do. It was such a powerful moment that I am so thankful to have had.”
Since she has written her books, Raines has had several different parents reach out to her to say how the books have helped their children.
“One in particular that stands out is a little girl who was just very anxious about going to the doctor. Her mom purchased my book and started doing a lot of these tools with her,” Raines said. “When they were at the doctor’s office, (the girl) was actually practicing her deep breathing, and it was the best doctor visit that they’d ever had. That made me feel really good because that’s the whole purpose of why I’m doing this.”
Another mother uses Raines’ first book, “Tons of Tools To Help Me Be Me,” with her 3-year-old.
“They used the book to put together a calming toolbox to use at home when she is anxious or she is moving too fast and needs to reset or slow down,” Raines said.
Another parent said her child’s favorite tools are deep breathing and counting.
“They actually did a read aloud of the book on my YouTube channel because they enjoy reading the book together,” Raines said.
One parent told Raines her child had colored the entire “Sea of Feelings” coloring book in one sitting and that it was the longest he had ever stayed with a coloring book.
The books are available at Amazon.com or at Tuscora Park’s Park Place Youth Center. The first two books also have a separate coloring book that can be purchased to go along with the stories.
Raines’ next library program is scheduled for Feb. 25 at 11 a.m. at the Tuscarawas County Public Library in New Philadelphia. Visit www.missfarrahmovementandfun.com.