Amanda Owen, who has a brother with a disability, is the the founder and executive director of Puzzle Pieces, a nonprofit organization that supports people, aged 8-adult, with intellectual disabilities and their families. Ashley Wedding, editor of Kentucky’s Owensboro Parent magazine, is the nonprofit’s public relations director.
These Puzzle Pieces co-workers collaborated to co-author a children’s book, titled Owen the Wonderer and the New Kid in Class.
The children’s book, the first of a three book series, is about 9 year old Owen and his curiosity about the new student in his class, McKenzie, who has Down syndrome. Owen is full of questions and learns how to include his new classmate. In the end, he learns McKenzie is not that different from himself and the two become friends.
The authors want their book to be used as a resource for parents and teachers to startconversations about disabilities with their children and students. A list of questions is provided in the back of the book to help guide these discussions.
“Growing up with a brother with a rare disability meant I was exposed to disabilities from the beginning, but not every child has that experience,” Owen said. “I have spent my career advocating for inclusion, but I know that reaching our children is the only way to have a truly inclusive future.”
Wedding hopes that Owen the Wonderer will help explain disabilities to children and have an impact like it has had on her own children.
“Through the process of writing this book, I have shared it with my kids, hoping to get their feedback on the story and the illustrations,” she said. “I had no clue the impact it would have on them, even in the early stages. My son built a LEGO figure in a wheelchair and he played with it like it was any other figure. That’s when I had my ‘a-ha’ moment that this book was going to make an impact.”
Owen and Wedding are donating 25% of sales to their nonprofit organization.
“Puzzle Pieces was significantly impacted by COVID-19,” Owen said. “It just made sense for us to donate a portion of the profit to the place that inspired the story.”
McKenzie, one of the book’s main characters, is based on a client at Puzzle Pieces with the same name who has been attending the nonprofit since she was 7 years old. In fact, all of the characters represent someone that has touched the lives of the authors. Owen is named after Amanda and resembles Wedding’s oldest son. The bus driver and teachers are based on local people. Even the settings in future books will be some of Owensboro’s most popular spots.
“Owensboro is working hard to become a more inclusive community and we wanted to represent that in our book,” Wedding said.
Pre-sales for Owen the Wonderer and the New Kid in Class will begin March 21 in honor of World Down Syndrome Day. To pre-order a book, you can visit piecesofme.org on March 21.
