Developing Brain Books

Read to Kobe at Woods Memorial Library Pima County Public Library ❤️

Watch this story by Developing Brain Books on Instagram before it disappears. 81 Followers, 299 Following, 48 Posts

Let me reintroduce myself 🫶🏽 Hi! I’m a mother, artist, and indie children’s book author and illustrator. Inspired by my daughter, I’ve reconnected with my inner child to create wholesome stories that nurture reading skills, emotional intelligence, and a lifelong love of books ❤️📚❤️ My work is heartfelt and thoughtfully crafted for both children and the adults who guide them.

I call the beautiful Sonoran desert my home (though my heart secretly belongs to green grass and the whimsical willow tree), I’ve been on a lifelong cheese boycott, and if there were an Olympic sport for rewatching FRIENDS, I’d have a zillion gold medals by now.

Also, #1 fans of the Read to a Dog Pima County Public Library program ❤️🐶📚❤️

Follow: on Instagram for the pups! ✨🐶📚✨

Link to available books in About 📚

The gentle giant, Gracie ❤️ Woods Memorial Library

Pima County Public Library ❤️

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUf4ax1jIvJ/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Sometimes Saturdays are for our friends at the @pimacountylibrary Read to a Dog program 🐶 This is Gracie at Woods Memorial—the sweetest gentle giant ❤️ #readtoadogtucson #readtoadogpimacounty Follow: @developingbrainbooks ✨🌱✨ #developingbrainbooks #booksfordevelopingbrains

Princess Sadie at Nanini Library is always ready for a story 📚

Literacy isn’t just about skills—it’s about connection, confidence, and belonging ❤️ We’ve found this at our local libraries through the Read to a Dog program 🫶🏽



https://www.instagram.com/p/DUY3xcTEhYq/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Princess Sadie at Nanini @pimacountylibrary is always ready for a story 📚 Literacy isn’t just about skills—it’s about connection, confidence, and belonging ❤️ We’ve found this at our local libraries through the Read to a Dog program 🫶🏽 #readtoadogpimacounty #readtoadogtucson Follow: @developingbrainbooks ✨🌱✨ #developingbrainbooks #booksfordevelopingbrains

Sadie at Nanini Library 👑❤️

Watch this story by Developing Brain Books on Instagram before it disappears. 69 Followers, 169 Following, 44 Posts

Holding space for grief and healing ❤️
H: I have heart. I heal ❤️‍🩹

A message from Ana’s ABCs: The Power in Being Me that I’m using in real time ❤️

Link in bio 🫶🏽

Gracie at Woods Memorial Library ❤️

Watch this story by Developing Brain Books on Instagram before it disappears. 66 Followers, 169 Following, 43 Posts

With so much love and gratitude—and with so much grief—we said goodbye to our Jewelsie girl last week. 🤍🐾

Jewelsie wasn’t just a dog. She was family. My daughter’s first four-legged best friend. The very first dog she ever read to.

She was there through years of motherhood, growing, beautiful memories, life changing. She watched my baby grow. She listened to first stories. She laid nearby while I edited manuscripts or sketched illustrations. She was absolutely beautiful ❤️

It’s hard explaining to a little heart why she can’t see her best friend anymore.

There have been a lot of “why” questions… and a lot of tears, from both of us.

But this is part of loving, too.

As a parent, I know how I walk through this grief will help shape how she walks through future heartbreaks. So we’re making space for all of it—the sadness, the confusion, the anger, the missing.

Learning that it’s okay to cry.
Okay to hurt.
Okay to take time.

Because having a heart means we feel deeply. And feeling deeply means we heal, too.

H: I hurt sometimes.
I have heart.
I heal. 🤍

💔❤️‍🩹

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUEGXRCj6_1/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

With so much love and gratitude—and with so much grief—we said goodbye to our Jewelsie girl last week. 🤍🐾 Jewelsie wasn’t just a dog. She was family. My daughter’s first four-legged best friend. The very first dog she ever read to. She was there through years of motherhood, growing, beautiful memories, life changing. She watched my baby grow. She listened to first stories. She laid nearby while I edited manuscripts or sketched illustrations. She was absolutely beautiful ❤️ It’s hard explaining to a little heart why she can’t see her best friend anymore. There have been a lot of “why” questions… and a lot of tears — from both of us. But this is part of loving, too. As a parent, I know how I walk through this grief will help shape how she walks through future heartbreaks. So we’re making space for all of it—the sadness, the confusion, the anger, the missing. Learning that it’s okay to cry. Okay to hurt. Okay to take time. Because having a heart means we feel deeply. And feeling deeply means we heal, too. H: I hurt sometimes. I have heart. I heal. 🤍 Follow: @developingbrainbooks ✨🌱✨ #developingbrainbooks

Our good boy Finny El Rio Library ❤️

https://www.instagram.com/p/DT0fvgUiSzu/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

A special Read to a Dog appreciation post for our good boy, Finny ❤️ at El Rio @pimacountylibrary 📚 The most loyal, loving reading companion. My daughter had just turned 5 when we started visiting with Finn weekly and practicing reading. To say he, his handler Ms. Kendall, and the wonderful librarian Ms. Morgen have been instrumental in helping to build my daughter’s literacy skills would be an understatement ❤️ I’m positive they’ll forever live in the core memories of my baby girl’s childhood ✨📚🌱✨ With gratitude for programs that make these opportunities possible 📚🫶🏽 #readtoadogtucson #readtoadogpimacounty Follow: @developingbrainbooks ✨🌱✨ #developingbrainbooks

I believe children need to be told this plainly and often: You are enough just the way you are ✨❤️✨

No fixing. No proving. Just being 🥰

If this speaks to you, you’ll find more affirmations like this in Ana’s ABCs: The Power in Being Me ✨🌱✨ Now on Amazon: Amazon.com/author/developingbrainbooks 🫶🏽

✨D: I am DAZZLING in my dreams✨
A reminder for little hearts (and the grown ones guiding them) that imagination is powerful, gentle, and full of possibility 💫

If this speaks to you, you’ll find more affirmations like this in Ana’s ABCs: The Power in Being Me ✨🌱✨ Now on Amazon: Amazon.com/author/developingbrainbooks 🫶🏽

Follow Developing Brain Books ❤️📚🌱