Empowering Children Through Storytelling
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
When Heather Lunsford, a member of Chesapeake Conference’s New Hope church in Fulton, Md., was a child, complex topics such as adoption, bullying and surrogacy were not commonly addressed in children’s books. Now, as an adult who has experienced all three situations, Lunsford has authored and illustrated books she hopes will help others.
It was when Lunsford experienced bullying as an adult, that she felt the need to write her feelings down. “Those feelings slowly morphed into a story about a flower's journey through difficult times. I then realized that there were other situations that I had experienced in my life that would also be beneficial for a younger audience,” she says. “There were instances like adoption and surrogacy that I have personal experience with, that I wish I had stories to relate to when I was growing up and for my own children as they grew up. [Author] Toni Morrison once said, ‘If there is a book you want to read but it hasn't been written yet then you must write it.’ God sparked the need in me to write where there was a need.”
Creating Violet
Lunsford drew and created the character Violet on paper, then digitized and edited her. “Editing, sizing, formatting, colorizing, doing all the layouts and doing the publishing for each book was a difficult process to learn, but I eventually learned how to do it,” she says.
She hopes her younger audience will find a connection with Violet, a sunflower, and the journey she goes through. “There are so many experiences in our young lives that we don't have a reference for, or a story in which to aid in our own personal journey. I hope that Violet can help at least one child know that they are wanted, that they matter, that they can live with purpose and that they can live like Christ,” says Lunsford.
The suggested age range for the Sunflower Series is kindergarten to 5th grade.
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