Latest / 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids. / Interview with Happy Easter, Risen King! Author Laura Sassi

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Interview with Happy Easter, Risen King! Author Laura Sassi · 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the Five Minute Parenting Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Karen Ferguson, wife, mom, grandmom, and children's book author with a background in K-8 education and a passion for equipping parents to raise confident and God-confident kids.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we'll cover parenting practices for both a practical view and a biblical view.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal is to help you raise kids with a positive, godly self-image so they can become all they were created to be.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're busy, so we'll keep it short.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take just five minutes and dive in.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Five Minute Parenting.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Karen, your show host, and today I'm interviewing children's author Laura Sassey, who has a new Easter book available called Happy Easter Risen King.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Laura has been a teacher, homeschool mom, children's ministry director, and more.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: She's the author of multiple books for young children, including Goodnight Ark, Goodnight Manger, Love is Kind, Bunny Finds Easter, Happy Birthday Christmas Child, My Tender Heart Devotions, Faithful Feet, and now her new book, Happy Easter Risen King.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Laura writes daily from her home in New Jersey and finds special joy in sharing messages of kindness, comfort, and hope at school visits, church gatherings, and events.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Laura, welcome.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to be here.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: So nice to have you.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I love to highlight good books for kids, and your new book is a great one.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: I have read it, and it's just such a clever way to share the Easter message with little ones through the use of colors.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm glad you're here.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Jump right in and tell us about this new book and what inspired you to write it.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: So Happy Easter Risen King is a joyful introduction to Easter for our littlest ones, starting with the that first Easter morning when the women come to the garden and they're looking for Jesus.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I chose to tell the story through color, uh, partly because this is the companion book to a Christmas book called Happy Birthday Christmas Child, which used counting to introduce littlest ones to the real meaning of Christmas.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so I wanted to have something with a similar concept, and I thought color would be just wonderful for spring because after the grays of winter, uh, when we celebrate Easter, it's springtime, and you have all those beautiful colors and they're so joyful.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just a simple, fun introduction to the real meaning of Easter for our littlest friends with lots to look at and point.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: The illustrator for this book is Gabby Murphy.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: She also illustrated Happy Birthday Christmas Child, and she just has done a wonderful job of making uh the illustrations bright and kid friendly with lots to look at and point to.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: So paired together with the text is just my my inspiration and hope is that it's just going to be a fun introduction for the little.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it is, I have it in my hands, and the the illustrations, they are beautiful, and and you're right, just so vibrant uh in color.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that was the thing that struck me is it's it's joyful, and I love that.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it there's you know, there's enough text to get the message across, but there's not too much to overwhelm with the little ones.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I just think it's a great book.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, before we move on to some tips for sharing the Easter message with Littlest Ones, I'm curious, what was the first book you published?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: When was that?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And how many have you published so far?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so my very first book uh is a book that continues to be my bestseller, uh, and it's called Good Night Ark.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's illustrated by Jane Chapman, who also illustrated The Bear Snores On.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: She's a New York Times bestselling illustrator.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I was thrilled when Zonder Kids paired us together with that first book.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: So in that book, it's bedtime on Noah's Ark, and as the storm escalates, different animals all go running into Noah's bed because they're scared.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: And how are they ever going, how is he ever going to get them back to sleep?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: So that one really sort of set things in motion.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: That one released in 2014.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: So, and since then, uh this book, um, Happy Easter Risen King is book number 13.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so uh can I ask what what kind of launched you into that sphere there?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: What made you go, yes, I want to start writing children's books?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's a great question.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I've uh before becoming a children's author, well, I guess you could say I've always been an author because I've always loved writing ever since I was a child.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I sort of had that component, a love of writing.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I grew up, I became a teacher.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so I had that love of writing, love of working with children, love of reading.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and when my own kids came along, I loved reading picture books with them and poems with them, and then just a love for the Lord.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I wanted to find a way to put all those things together.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's what launched me into uh writing picture books that point little ones to Jesus, but also before that I was writing uh poems and stories for magazines like um Focus on the Families, um, Clubhouse Junior and Clubhouse.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I've just uh sort of had a thread throughout of wanting to write in ways that are going to point little ones and also their caregivers uh in the direction of God and God's goodness in Jesus.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: So in a in fun, age-appropriate, engaging ways.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was gonna say, we talked a little bit before we hit record, that I've been following you on Instagram for some time.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And you, yes, you you are such a busy author, and I love it.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's very inspiring.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And just um the the pictures and videos that you show of your school visits and your church gatherings, it's it looks it's it's telling an important message, a spiritual message, but you do it in such a fun way, and I love that.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I do feel like a book, and you we're both authors here, but our books give us an opportunity to visit classrooms.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's sort of like the spark, the excuse excuse to get to go into schools and churches.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I just love I love doing that.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's great.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so with this new book being about Easter for very young readers, what tips can you give to parents and grandparents for sharing the Easter message with with their littlest ones?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think the number one thing is just to remember their age.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: So the age group for my uh Happy Easter risen kig, for example, is baby through age three or four, very young children, young children who think very concretely there uh and they might easily be scared.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say remember their age and think about as we grow, our depth and knowledge and understanding of Jesus and his gift of dying on the cross for us grows and rising again for us and forgiving our sins grows.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: So start with what's what a little one can understand.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I would recommend with Easter focusing on the joy of Easter morning when Jesus rose again.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So that would be my main tip.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then as as your children age, you can add a little bit more of the story each year as they're as they're able to understand more.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: But also on the same side, don't underestimate the ability of a little one to understand that God loves them.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: But just you know, grow it as as the years go.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good point.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Very good.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Laura, is there another book in the works for you or what's going on now in your writing life?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, well, I do.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: I do have so this one just released in January, and in November I have another board book releasing uh with Zonder Kids, and that one is called Love Aby.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's a when my daughter was little, she called lullabies, love a bying she felt when we were singing them.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is a lullaby, a little a love song to a child, all the things that the parent and caregiver loves about spending the day with the child in the form of a love aby.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's just I've just seen the illustrations and the final cover and um oh, it's I can't wait for it to release.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be so much fun.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds sweet.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I look forward to hearing more about that and seeing it come out.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, before we close, tell listeners the best place to find your books and to find you online.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the books are available wherever books are sold.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I would check your independent bookstore.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: You can, if they don't have it, they can order it for you, all your online vendors, and uh you can find out about me.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I also have links to the books on my website, which is laurasass.com.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm on social, so please come join me and be social on uh Facebook and Instagram at Laura Sassytales.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Laura, thank you for being here to share your sweet book.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And listeners, thank you for joining us.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to check the show notes for links to Laura's book and to her website so you can connect with her.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Then come back next week for another episode of Five Minute Parenting.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Have a blessed week.