“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
It’s a fair question, often asked to children by adults. Depending on the age group in question, some common responses may include a firefighter, a singer, an athlete or sometimes even a princess. Those answers often change as kids get older, but that’s not the case for Walnut Grove Elementary fourth-grader Abigail Perez. In fact, she is debunking the very question.
“I used to say ‘I want to be an author when I grow up,’’’ she says. “But then I realized I can do it right now. There are no rules against it. It’s not like how you have to be 16 before you can drive.”
Since she was only four years old, Abigail has always said she wanted to be a best-selling published author and illustrator. She has lined the family’s foyer with pages upon pages of her illustrated stories, taping them together before picking them up.
Twenty-four drafts of one story later, she published a book last fall. “How To Be A Super Kid” has already proven to be a hit on Amazon and in the community. Beyond that, Abigail is using the book to raise money for nonprofits that support her mission to empower kids.
“I wrote the book because I really like writing and I really like superheroes,” Abigail explains. “I want every kid to know that they can be a superhero because inside everyone is a super kid waiting to shine. So, I wrote it so I could help other kids become the super kid they were created to be.”
Here’s The Scoop
While “How To Be A Super Kid” is her first published book, it is far from her first book she has shared with her peers. In 2017, before putting a pencil to paper on her 5-Star Amazon hit, Abigail wrote stories and took them to school for an informal peer review.
“Last year, she had gotten to the point where she would take her books to school and have people sign it on the back if they enjoyed it, or they would leave feedback,” her mom, Elizabeth Perez, explains. “Then in the next book, she would incorporate them somehow.”
Seeing an age gap in the superhero market, Abigail took it upon herself to remedy the issue. “How To Be A Super Kid,” subtitled “Six Scoops to Earning Your Super Kid Status,” teaches kids how to navigate life in a positive and empowering way. The imagery features scoops of ice cream, each representative of a lesson or way to be a super kid, intermingled with drawings of kids carrying out tasks or simply being super.
Right away, readers will notice the book includes kids from all walks of life. A range of races and abilities are represented, including one girl in a wheelchair and a little boy with an eye patch.
“I wanted to make sure that everyone could see themselves in the book, and I wanted everyone to know that they could be a super kid, so I didn’t draw people that only looked just like me,” the young author says. “I wanted to be inclusive. I wanted everyone to know that they are super kids. They have it inside them and everyone is different.”
The “scoops” range from goal setting to nutrition to positive affirmations and more. Any adult who has read a motivational self-help book may even recognize some of these simplified tips to on how to be super. One scoop, in particular, teaches kids on how to handle a bully. Like the rest of the book, the lesson rhymes, making it easy to remember. “If a bully is mean to you and calls you a name...turn away from the bully but don’t act the same.” Over a span of two pages, Abigail teaches a profound lesson – one birthed from her own personal experience.
“When you feel like someone is being mean to you, you don’t feel like being a super kid at all,” Abigail says. “Some bullies have been bullied, and that’s what causes them to be bullies. Some people don’t even realize that they’ve become bullies.”
She went as far as to illustrate the bully as a bull, so as to not represent any kid in a bad light. After writing the book, Abigail recalls a time in which she was bullied. She remembered the rhyme and turned away, rather than responding in anger. Many of her Amazon reviewers agree: These lessons aren’t just for kids.
“You can read this book in five minutes, or you can spend a lifetime,” Elizabeth says. “You can spend an hour on every scoop, having a discussion with the class. It’s a unique opportunity for both parents and children to look at lifestyle changes that could be super simple.”
More Than A Book
Though Abigail has already been writing for more than half of her lifetime, the journey to becoming a published author started to accelerate at the beginning of 2017.
Abigail attended an event hosted by House of Shine, a local nonprofit with a mission to uncover talents of women and children and enable them to use those gifts to better the communities around them. SHINE stands for Strengths, Hobbies, Interests & Irritants, Needs and Experiences. In early 2017, The House of Shine hosted an author and jewelry designer, Margo Manhattan, to speak.
“So Abigail attended, and not knowing anyone, came with a stack of books that she had written,” Elizabeth recalls with a smile. “She marched up to Margo and said, ‘Hi, my name is Abigail, and I want to be a published author and illustrator.’”
The event inspired Abigail in more ways than one. Not only did she get to meet a published children’s book author but also she was able to find a tangible goal. At the event, three posters were on display with pictures of three different girls. While talking with the nonprofit’s founder, Dr. Claudia Beeney, Abigail asked how she could get on one of those posters.
“Well,” Dr. Beeney says. “You have to earn it.”
On its calendar of events, House of Shine had the “Be. Do. Share. Holiday Fair” slated for December 1. The event features young artisans and their work and offers an outlet for holiday shopping while supporting their endeavors. Abigail made it her goal to have a book published by that fair. “How To Be A Super Kid” was available to the public on November 12.
“By day three, she became an Amazon bestseller in 10 categories, and she is still tracking No. 1 on the Kindle version,” Elizabeth said in mid-December. “The average author, especially self-published author, sells about 250 books in their lifetime. Abigail is close to 2,000 one month after it published.”
A large portion of those books were sold in under 15 minutes. The best part: $10 per book was donated to grant the wish of someone fighting for their life.
The Perez family was first introduced to the Front Row Foundation earlier this summer. The nonprofit aims to give anyone who is fighting for their life the chance to have a front row experience. Whether that involves a concert or even an overseas rugby match, Front Row Foundation ensures that the experience is top notch. Abigail wanted to give a kid that kind of experience, so she decided to use her book to make it happen.
In December, Abigail’s parents – Elizabeth and Philip – attended a conference. On the final day, a short, one-minute video that Abigail sent was played prior to an auction. Her book is normally $15, but that day it was being sold for $20, with the extra five dollars being matched by her family and donated to a kid who is battling an illness. In less than 15 minutes, she more than doubled her goal of $5,000 raised to give a kid a Front Row experience, selling 1,086 books.
Still A Kid
While Abigail is learning how to be an entrepreneur and what it means to be in the red versus the black, she is most definitely still a kid. In fact, while her book was raising over $10,000 for Front Row, she was in pajamas, having breakfast with Santa.
And that’s the beauty of “How To Be A Super Kid.” Instead of an adult telling kids how to act, it’s a kid empowering her peers through lessons she’s still learning. Some days, she may get pulled out of school to speak to a crowd of 125 adults or pulled out of recess to have a mentoring session with international best selling author, Hal Elrod of the Miracle Morning.
Other days, she is being interviewed for a podcast. She had a book release party instead of a 10th birthday party. At the end of the day, however, she is simply living the vibrant life of a 10-year-old, from piano lessons and chores to jiu jitsu and tennis lessons.
In her own wonderful, youthful way, Abigail is quick to dream big. She is currently working with inspirational pop artist, Brotha James to produce an empowering Super Kid themed song and music video with hopes to inspire kids all over the world to unleash their super kid powers. She hopes to someday have a store with merchandise in theme of her book.
“Maybe when I grow up I will own a store with super kids stuff,” she says excitedly. “And when I have grandchildren and great grandchildren...”
She trails off before venturing into ideas for a super kids roller coaster. In the meantime, she has goals for her community including rallying support for Carroll Education Foundation to provide funding to teachers. Abigail and her family also volunteer with Kids Matter, a local nonprofit dedicated to serving underprivileged children in Tarrant County.
At one volunteer event, she told her mom: “This time next year, I want all of those kids to have a copy of my book. They can’t afford it, but I want to raise enough money to give it to them because the message is important for them to hear.”
Elizabeth estimates they will need 500 books to donate. If anyone can make it happen, it’s our local super kid, Abigail Perez.