Christina Dankert - First Book Event

First Book Event

Happy Monday! Last weekend, my husband and I attended our first book event! We were invited to set up a table at a local corn maze. This year, the corn maze spelled out BE KIND. After the event, I found out that the message in the maze was to honor a young man who this world lost earlier this year, as he took his life due to an unhealthy relationship. To make the story more full circle, we are related. To continue the circle, I was asked this week by his mother to collaborate with her to promote kindness and healthy relationships in hopes that everyone knows they are loved. Remember that one small act of kindness can have an unbelievable impact on an individual that they never forget.

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I was nervous before the event and was a little worried about doing a book event…without the actual book. I am so thrilled with how it turned out and look forward to another upcoming event in my community. We had tables for children to draw what they thought was under the sheet of The Kindness Machine cover, coloring pages, bookmarks and kindness rocks to take home. A huge shoutout to my mom who has been painting rocks for months! She came up with creative and colorful designs and we added QR codes that link to my website that we modge podged on the bottom. We encouraged the kids who visited our table, to take a rock and hide it somewhere around town. They were very excited about this take away! Thanks mom! 

One of the moms who attended the event shared with me that her little daughter LOVES her rock. She said, “It has become a staple in our day to day. It goes to bed with her and sleeps on her dresser, or in her bed, sits beside her while she eats breakfast, rides along to daycare in the cupholder, and relaxes the day away in her cubby at school. Some kids snuggle blankets, while others carry rocks.” The icing on the cake was seeing a few pictures depicting those examples! Hilarious and adorable! 

Remember that our book cover does not show the entire kindness machine. It was very exciting to see what children thought was under the sheet and their designs were creative and hilarious! We saw small machines, big machines, colorful machines and some all one color. Some children didn’t think it was a machine beneath the sheet, but rather a thing. For example, they thought there was a wolf under the sheet, a ghost, a dinosaur (which he said was the “kind-o-saurus) and a kind frog! I enjoyed questions from parents/grandparents asking about the book and inspiration. Thank you to all who attended. I truly appreciate your support! A massive shoutout to husband and illustrator, Chad, who helped me set up the event and helped it run smoothly. 

I encourage you to take a moment to be kind today and everyday. Be kind to others but also remember be kind to yourself. You are loved. Make today count. 

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