Mom Writes Children's Book Inspired by Daughter with Autism
Nicole M. Sigler and her daughter Isabella Rose pose while holding the book “Hi, I’m Rosie!” Photo from Sigler’s Instagram.
Nicole M. Sigler published her first children’s book, inspired by her 5-year-old daughter Isabella Rose who is on the autism spectrum, titled “Hi, I’m Rosie!”
Isabella Rose, whose nickname is Rosie, was two years old when she was diagnosed with autism, according to an article written on Community Advocate.
When Rosie started preschool, Sigler noticed her classmates were confused because she was wearing noise-cancelling headphones and avoided eye contact. After struggling to find children’s books that could help family and friends understand her daughter’s special needs, the Southborough, Massachusetts mother decided to write her own.
Sigler’s book shares the story of Rosie at school and explains why she behaves differently compared to her classmates.
“I tried to include as many common traits that children with autism face,” Sigler said in the Community Advocate article. “I tried to make it so a 4-year-old would understand if they were trying to interact.”
The book is illustrated by Marian Naseif who animated Sigler’s daughter into a bright-eyed character with her signature pink, cat ear headphones.
Sigler said the book’s release in May 2020 was an important decision because schools remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I realized the book could be more valuable now because many children on the autism spectrum will have a particularly difficult challenge ahead of them in attempting to return to school and their scheduled activities,” Sigler said in the Community Advocate article. “This will likely result in them exhibiting some of the very behaviors I describe in the book so I thought it might help if their peers had this insight in advance of that.”
“Hi, I’m Rosie!” is available on Kindle ($4.99), paperback ($9.99), and hardcover ($16.99) at Amazon. Hardcover copies are also available at Barnes & Noble for $16.99.