Perfect You Author Holly Skelton Interview – review of the children’s book Perfect You and interview with the book’s author, Holly Skelton.
Holly Skelton is a Michigan author and has written Perfect You, a children’s book that encourages children to discover their talents so that they can live a life of purpose and happiness. A Perfect You helps children discover that God has blessed them with gifts and talents that make them totally unique and able to serve the world in a very special way. With your talents, the possibilities are endless! I interviewed Holly to find out how she came to write this helpful book for children.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Have you lived in Michigan all your life?
Perfect You Author Holly Skelton – I have. I joke that my life has taken place along I-94 and I just keep migrating East! I grew up in Cereal City USA (aka Battle Creek) before going to undergrad at Albion College, then on to U of M in Ann Arbor and I currently live in Plymouth with my husband and 3 little girls. I don’t see any more moves in our futures so my eastward journey may end here :)
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – When and how did you decide to become an author?
Perfect You Author Holly Skelton – For my middle daughter’s 1st birthday I wanted to give her a special keepsake book to mark the occasion. Because she was the second girl in our family and I knew it would be easy for people to make assumptions that she would be just like her older sister, I wanted the book to emphasize how God made us each uniquely and perfectly and that we all have different talents and gifts that we are blessed with. Not able to find this message out there, I decided to write the book myself. After friends and family read it, they encouraged me to move forward and pursue publishing it – thus my career as an author was born!
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Did your life and career experiences guide you in developing the theme for your book?
Perfect You Author Holly Skelton – If you read my book bio I talk about having a diverse work history. My Master’s is in engineering and I have worked in several different engineering roles, but I never fit the stereotypical engineering profile. In order to try and find my niche I worked as a wedding planner, managed a banquet facility and did fundraising for a non-profit. While I enjoyed each of these jobs for different reasons, I think I have found my true purpose as an author/blogger/speaker. In the past I focused more on what would make a good job, not necessarily what skills did God give that I could use to help other people. I think this is why I never really clicked with any of my previous jobs, because there was always a part of me that I felt I was neglecting that could be really useful. So I wrote Perfect You to A) let kids know that they are exactly how they were meant to be B) to encourage kids to figure out what they are good at and C) to apply those things that you are good at to helping others.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – How does your book encourage children to help others?
Perfect You Author Holly Skelton – I believe we are at our happiest and best when we are doing something that we are good at and it is bringing joy to someone else. Perfect You encourages children to help others by figuring out what they are good at, then thinking about how they can use that talent to help others. In the book it gives the example that if you are good at building and imaging things maybe you could be an architect, or if you are creative maybe a great chef and these are awesome long term goals. But as for today, maybe your child is good at baking with you and you could bring muffins to an elderly neighbor, or maybe your child is great at coloring and you could make thank you cards for your local police station. There are lots of ways that even young children can take the things they are good at and enjoy and use them to help others.
Lisa LaGrou of Oakland County Moms – Do you have any more books in the works, and if so, do they have a specific message?
Perfect You Author Holly Skelton – As I have been out sharing Perfect You and through my blog and talking with others, I see a real need for addressing with children the idea of serving others. Volunteering has a profound impact on adults and children and is an amazing way for kids to learn empathy, compassion and appreciation for what they have. Perfect You is intended for younger children and is an awesome stepping off point to talk to your kids about this concept of serving others, so my next books are geared toward middle elementary kids and have a ‘service’ theme in a fun presentation that I hope kids will enjoy!
You can order Perfect You and find out more about Holly Skelton through her website, http://www.hollyskeltonbooks.com/.