Celebrating Birdie & Mipps

Today I'm excited because my sister is visiting; look at the memory gift she had made for me, to celebrate this week's release of our niche picture book about the importance of names and respectful use of nicknames.

It's a couch pillow made from the sweater our brother Mipps is wearing in one of my all-time favorite holiday pictures, with a pocket in the back to hold this laminated treasure. Isn't that so thoughtful and sentimental?

And, like that, our dream book, Birdie & Mipps, is a reality.

Go to bit.ly/BirdieMipps to check it out at Barnes &Noble online.

Thursday night at the release, our librarian and I read the book aloud, then

we all wrote our nicknames on stickers and shared their backstories.

This sweet Elizabeth goes by Ellie Bean.

Meet Bubba Stinker,

and his little sister Maddie Cake,

Theo and his puppets Bob and Curious George,

and Claire, also known as Claire Bear.

We also heard from KiKi, Jay Bird, Gunner, Cookie, Sti, J, Heather Feather, Hay Hay, El, and Judy Patootie, a fun few moments of connection and love, sharing the stories behind these terms of endearment.

After the event, my friend Jessica texted to share privately the nickname that only her parents call her, a name she'd give anything to hear now that they're gone. And I get it, because I also yearn to hear Mipps call me Bird, even if only just one more time.

My hope is that our book will open up conversations like these and get people appreciating what was and what is while it's still present; a gift that we get to wrap, every day until it's gone.

And I'm so very grateful to my esteemed colleague and friend for his affirming endorsement, a beautiful addition to the back cover.