“Odd little duck” has been a commonly used phrase to describe me. It’s a title I wear happily now, but that wasn’t always the case. Though I grew up having a lot of friends, I never fully felt like I fit in.
The things that interested me were rarely topics of conversation anyone else wanted to participate in. The Special Somethings I found most fascinating were fairly ordinary and unspectacular to the general population.
And I didn’t grow out of that.
I’ll still talk your ear off about macronutrients and what they do for the human body. I’ll still eagerly show you my many jars of foraging finds and my squirrel skull (his name is Skullivan 😉).
I was a weird little kid who grew up into a weird little adult, and you know what? I’m so very happy I turned out that way! I love this crazy, beautiful, quirky little life of mine.
In fact, that’s part of what inspired my children’s book, Ivy and the Special Somethings. In truth, Ivy was never meant to be a storybook. She was simply a drawing and writing personal project I wanted to dive into for Inktober. But somewhere along the way, she became a beacon of hope and light for me. A reminder that it’s okay if your Special Somethings look a little bit different than someone else’s. It’s okay to be a bit weird. It’s okay to find the magic in the mundane.
If you were a weird kid too (or if you have a wonderfully weird kid in your life!), maybe Ivy and the Special Somethings belongs on your shelf, too! Here’s what some folks are saying about it. 😊
