Madaline McFarland
Author Madaline McFarland said she wanted to especially thank Kristina Mills, a Hixson-based artist, for creating the cover and art for the book.Using her background in Christian children’s ministry, Madaline McFarland is putting out positive messages for kids in her writing. The Hixson-area author’s recently released second children’s book, “The Princess and Her Heart,” is a tale of Christian salvation, she said.
“It has been a dream of mine to write children’s books for a long time,” said McFarland. “I finally just dove in last year and decided to self-publish.”
She described her first book, “My Mom is Not An Octopus,” as a story teaching families to work together to accomplish their goals faster so they can spend more time together. The importance of family time is also a takeaway, she said.
While her first book was not specifically faith-related, she said she wanted to write directly to Christian children with her second book.
McFarland said the difficulty of writing for children all depends on your worldview. When McFarland became a mother, it changed how she thought, and made her consider easier and better ways to break down hard topics for her children.
“Kids are smart and not easily fooled,” she said. “I think it’s important to be truthful with kids about all things, but of course in ways that are age-appropriate.”
The primary message she hopes kids take away from “The Princess and Her Heart,” aside from the theme of salvation, is one of overcoming selfishness and putting others first.
As an author, McFarland said she’s definitely not done, citing a need for books for children with themes that develop good character traits.
“I would love to continue writing,” she said. “So many books that are available for this age group are about zombies, monsters or vampires. I would love to write books that fill this void and could inspire kids to become the great person that each of them were designed to be.”
“The Princess and Her Heart” is being published through Tate Publishing and will be available at retailers like Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
For more information, head to the publisher’s website at tatepublishing.com/bookstore.