Meet Meggoline

Hey there!

As some of you may know, I wrote and illustrated a book this year! It’s titled Meggoline and can be purchased from my Etsy shop (autographed!), Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. Keep scrolling to read more about the book and the story behind it!

The Idea: Are there memories you wish you could hold on to forever? Fun moments and crazy adventures with people you care about? Have you ever had to say goodbye to someone you loved very much? The life of a nanny/babysitter is a delicate balance of love and professionalism, attachment and relinquishment. As adults, we know and understand that love is not bound by physical location, but does the child being separated from someone who they have grown to trust and perhaps see as part of the family, understand and believe that fact?  And even if we know facts with our heads, that doesn’t necessarily mean our hearts still can’t hurt when the separation happens.

The Summary: This heart-felt story tells of a little girl and her nanny, the fun times they have together, and their ways of coping when one of them moves away.  It leaves the reader with suggestions for ways to keep in touch and reinforces the fact that love transcends distance (in kid-friendly rhyming couplets, of course!)

P.S.  The book refers to the girl’s nanny as her friend (instead of using the word ‘nanny’) because I wanted it to be applicable to a wider audience.  So even if you are a babysitter, a relative who is moving away, or just an older friend or mentor to a child, I think that both you and your little one could relate to the story found in these pages.

 

The Story: After I (Megan, or Meggo as Caroline calls me) graduated from college I decided to nanny for a year and that is when I met Caroline. I spent an average of thirty hours a week with her for almost a year and a half, during which she learned to roll over, crawl, walk, talk, color, and throw food on the floor (a necessary skill, lemme tell ya).

We went on lots of adventures together, including story time at the library, various playgrounds, the local children’s museum, and going to the mall to take ridiculous pictures in the photo-booth. While I wouldn’t have traded anything for the memories we made together, saying goodbye was not easy.

I am a doodler by nature so I started drawing memories of us to make into a scrapbook for us to remember our time together. Simultaneously, I began looking for a children’s book for Caroline and I to read together to help explain why I wasn’t going to be hanging out with her much any more. However, to my surprise I couldn’t find any.

 

So I decided to write my own book!  I launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the process/production and people so generously helped me to reach my financial goals! I self-published the book through Ingram Spark in spring of 2018 and have loved getting feedback from nannies, parents, and children about their experiences with the book.

Your book is absolutely beautiful! It made me cry in the best way.  Going to have to order a copy for my nanny family before they move.

Sarah (@needsacupofcoffee)

If you decide to check out a copy, I would love to know your thoughts!  Feel free to email me at TheMillsofAbstraction@gmail.com or connect with me on social media.