Tutti and the Terrible Yellow Leaves follows a frustrated raccoon who awakens to find his favorite green leaves have all turned yellow. What was the inspiration for your story?

The idea for this book came to me when my son was about 4 years old, and we were going through a period of frequent tantrums and aggressive behaviors. Since I had studied developmental psychology, I knew the roots of this behavior and how to deal with it. At the same time, as a parent coach, I noticed that this problem is one of the biggest concerns among parents with kids aged 2-5 years. They would come to me completely devastated and lost: “I don’t know what I did wrong and why my sweet boy became so aggressive recently! He never saw violence in our family or elsewhere. I have no idea where he learned it and how to teach him to express his emotions in a peaceful way. So far, nothing has worked.”

At some point, I realized that I could create a story that could be therapeutic and teaching for both parent and child. This is how Tutti came into my mind.

The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Katerina Azarkina?

Since the idea for this story came to me, I knew it had to be a picture book. Illustrations can be very helpful in evoking emotions, helping kids and their parents tap into these emotions while reading a book. That is why, when I was searching through illustrators on different platforms, I not only looked at their style and the colors they use, but I also paid attention to my own feelings. I was looking for a specific response in my body. This is how I recognized ‘my illustrator’ when I came across Karerina’s profile. She also loved my story when I sent it to her, and this is probably another reason why the illustrations came out so beautifully.

What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?

I wanted to lead parents and their kids through a whole cycle of frustration and help them see that different responses we can choose in different situations. Tutti, the Raccoon, was frustrated because he didn’t like how leaves on the trees changed their color. He wanted to hit a tree, he demanded it to become green again, he was pleading and threatening… But the tree remained unchanged; nothing happened. Throughout our lives, we will have to deal with many situations that don’t go the way we want them to go. Our ability to process our feelings and choose the healthiest response is crucial for our emotional well-being. Sometimes it’s time to fight for what we want, and sometimes it’s time to cry and grieve. I wanted to show that tears are not something we should avoid by all means but rather one of the best ways to overcome situations which we can’t change.

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?

While my illustrator was working on this book, the ideas for the next ones started bombarding me. When I wrote the fifth story about Tutti, I had to say ‘STOP’ to my inner author! It was simply too hard and too expensive to self-publish so many books, considering that I made them in multiple languages.

By now, there are five books in this series. Each one is designed to help parents and their kids solve some of the most important problems in families with kids under 7 years old:

Tutti and the Terrible Yellow Leaves: A story about the ability to cope with aggression, frustration, and accepting situations that don’t go the way we would like them to. It’s about tears and tantrums. And at the same time, about the ability to find the good in any situation.

Why Tutti Doesn’t Like to Go to Bed: A book that creates a sense of connection with mom and helps to overcome bedtime anxiety so your child can fall asleep with a smile on her face.

Tutti Goes to School: It’s not just about school but about any separation. This book can help the child not to feel lonely in separation and to part with loved ones more easily when there is a need to do so.

Tutti, the One and Only: A therapeutic story about competition, believing in oneself, and the ability not to give up even when at first something does not work out. It’s about unconditional acceptance and self-love.

Tutti and the Vanillaberries: This is a story about one of the most difficult emotions – defensive alienation (in other words, ‘resentment’). It teaches how to repair connection when conflicts, upsetting situations, or long separation happen in relationships, or when we unwillingly hurt feelings of our loved ones.

Author Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Find out what helped Tutti not to hit the tree when he had an impulse to do it, and how the wise forest elf helped him to overcome his frustration.

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/02/03/choose-the-healthiest-response/