Meet local authors Katherine and Caroline Brickley—twin sisters, writers and co-founders of Blossom Children’s Media Group. The talented duo published their first book, The Blossom Shoppe, in 2017 while still in college. Their new title, The Friendly Bookshelf, was released on November 30. The sisters wrote the book to “empower children to be brave, be a friend, and always be yourshelf!” We spoke to them about their entrepreneurial spirit, and how their passion for storytelling and working with children turned into a fulfilling career. Come meet them in person at the New Canaan Library on Tuesday, December 7 from 4:30pm – 5:30pm. There is also a virtual option. Visit the website HERE to register and for more details.
How long have you lived in New Canaan?
Since we were two years old!
Tell us about Blossom and how you started out at the library…
Growing up, we always loved writing stories together and working with children. We would spend our summers filling our writing journals with illustrated stories all our own, and our very first jobs were volunteering at the New Canaan Library in the children’s room and in the New Canaan High School preschool lab. In our junior year of high school, we started a children’s party planning company where we planned and executed children’s parties centered around beloved fairytale characters throughout the tri-state area. Our passion for storytelling and working with children grew from there, and it blossomed into a dream of publishing our own original stories! Our experiences showed us that it was important to not only produce meaningful, high-quality storybooks for children but also provide them with enriching ways to connect with those stories. We founded Blossom (an award-winning, independent children’s media company dedicated to growing lifelong readers and empathetic leaders through an enriching combination of original stories, story-based content, and community-centered experiences) with the financial support of our university after winning the School of Management’s entrepreneurial competition and in the spring of 2017, while still college juniors, we were able to publish our first book, The Blossom Shoppe, alongside an assortment of media, merchandise, and community experiences inspired by the book to bring it to life for young readers. When scheduling our first book tour, it only made sense for us to hold our very first author event at the New Canaan Library, a place where we spent much time while we were growing up and central to our own development of a love for books.
When did you go into business together and what’s it like working with your twin sister? While we founded our first real business in our sophomore year of high school, our mom would say our entrepreneurial spirit became evident when we began setting up business stands at the end of our driveway during elementary school. We started with the tried-and-true lemonade stand, but eventually moved on to selling homemade art as well as on the spot performances. We even created different customer incentives, such as offering every tenth customer a stuffed animal! We enjoyed our experiences so much that we ended up founding two companies before the age of 21—the first in high school and then the second during our junior year of college. We think it’s an amazing experience to get to work with our twin because not only do we share a special connection where we just “get” each other, but we also have our own individual strengths which complement one another and enrich our personal and professional development.
Favorite part about your job?
Seeing children, families, and educators enjoy what we create! While we love the creative process, there is nothing like seeing our books and products make a difference in the lives of the people we create them for! Recently one of our little readers visited the New York City area from Michigan, and their only two wishes were to see the Statue of Liberty and meet us. It was inspiring to see the impact of our work, and little does that young reader (and all our young readers) know that he is the one that made our dreams come true.
Discuss the characters Poppy and Posie and what children love about them…
There are lots of things children seem to love about Poppy & Posie. They like their sibling bond, colorful outfits, upbeat music and dancing, as well as saying their names (they’re pretty fun to say!). But, we think what children especially gravitate towards in these characters is that Poppy & Posie are simply real children that kids can relate to and find a friend in. Poppy & Posie, while living in a magical place, encounter real life challenges that they have to overcome in a real way that all children can relate to. And, we are hopeful that children will have the same love for our new characters, Bibli and Cassie, from our soon-to-be released picture book, The Friendly Bookshelf.
What is your new book The Friendly Bookshelf about and what’s the target age?
The Friendly Bookshelf is the world’s very first picture book about a bookshelf. We came up with the idea when wanting to write a story that inspired children to find the confidence to share their own stories with the world during a time when many children struggle to feel seen and represented. We couldn’t think of a better character to portray this than a bookshelf which very literally has (up until now!) only held stories for others — never had one of its very own. And so, an adorable bookshelf named Bibli was born! This is the book’s summary:
Meet Bibli, a brave little library bookshelf in search of a story about someone like him . . .
Once upon a time, in a library like any other, there lived a little bookshelf named Bibli who carried a BIG question on his shelves: “Could there be a story somewhere about a bookshelf like me?” Bibli is told that bookshelves are supposed to hold stories, not have ones of their own. But everything changes when he meets Cassie, a girl longing for a friend just as much as Bibli longs for a story to relate to. Bibli learns that with kindness, confidence, empathy, and friendship, even your biggest dreams can come true—and that everyone has an important story worth sharing.
The Friendly Bookshelf is a social-emotional learning (SEL) research-based book and the first-ever picture book about a bookshelf. Written to build self-confidence and self-esteem as well as encourage inclusivity, Bibli’s story empowers children to be brave, be a friend, and always be your-shelf! Readers will be inspired to go beyond the final page of the book and share their own stories, as well as be the pioneers of a kinder, more inclusive world where everybody (and every bookshelf!) belongs.
The target age range is 3-8 years old, but with reviewers already celebrating the story as a “new classic”, Bibli’s story can be enjoyed by book lovers of all ages for years to come. We are hopeful that Bibli will become a childhood tradition for every child learning how to read and developing a love of books!
Where can people buy the book?
People can buy the book online at most major retailers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is also available on our website, Thefriendlybookshelf.com. We also encourage anyone who would like to help us spread The Friendly Bookshelf’s important messages to recommend the title to their local bookshop, public library, and school, and is available for them to purchase through either Baker & Taylor or Ingram.
Any upcoming projects for Blossom?
Currently we are working on developing content inspired by The Friendly Bookshelf, such as Bibli’s theme song that children will be able to sing and dance-along to! We are also booking for The Friendly Bookshelf’s book launch tour, and we invite any bookstores, libraries, or schools to reach out!
We also have a number of stories in the planning phase and look forward to publishing another title in the near future. We can’t wait to be able to update you on future releases once we have more details!
Anything to add?
We welcome children, their families, schools, libraries and bookstores to reach out to us to learn more about The Friendly Bookshelf and our SEL-based learning guides, to schedule an event, or to just talk books! We love sharing advice with aspiring authors and illustrators as well! [email protected] / [email protected] / www.thefriendlybookshelf.com
Also, we’d love for you to join us on our journey as we bring to life inspiring stories for children by following us on Instagram(@the_friendly_bookshelf) or Facebook (The Friendly Bookshelf).
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