From the Vatican to Vons Grocery Store!

A photo recently popped up on my feed of me at the Vatican in Rome, Italy, in 2009, holding copies of two of my books found in the Vatican bookstore—translated into Italian.
The What is God Like? and Who is Jesus?, were the first books that I had accepted for publication after over four straight years of rejections. They began what became the "Little Blessings" series with Tyndale House. I knew that these books (and others in the series) were published in over twenty languages around the world, but I had no way of knowing where or in which cities. I also found copies in a small bookstore in Florence, Italy. I can’t express the deep joy I felt in knowing that words I’d first scribbled on a notepad at my kitchen table in Illinois had found their way into the hands of children around the world.
The publishing world has changed a lot since I began writing children’s books thirty years ago. There are fewer actual bookstores for people to browse, fewer places where books can be found. Occasionally, I have found my books in pharmacies, airports, and even the homes of celebrities (remember the TV show, “Cribs?”) but getting them on bookstore shelves has become rare for me these days, in part because bookstores themselves are rare.
In recent years, while shopping for groceries, I’ve checked out the magazine and book rack at the front of the stores. Never once have I seen one of my books on display. I’ve wondered, “How does one get their book on the bookshelf of a grocery store?" I imagined a child spotting my book while the parent stood in the checkout line, and pointing it out to said parent, and the parent saying, “Oh, what a lovely book! Put it in the cart!”
This week, a new friend in the area where we now live spotted my most recent book, See What God Made: A Creation Story Lift-the-Flap Book. Where? At the local Vons grocery store! What a thrill!
From the Vatican to Vons. This sums up my long writing career. I love that my books can be found from the Vatican in Rome, Italy, to the local Vons. I am delighted by both.
But the greatest honor is that one of my books can be found on the nightstand next to a child’s bed: your child, or grandchild, perhaps, as well as mine.
Happy reading, everyone!
Kathy

In Vons, Pasadena CA