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Mila the Maker and the 200-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle by Rachel Loftspring Genres: Children's
Format: eARC
Source: Provided by author for honest review
Goodreads
Mila is a special kid who loves to make things. In fact, she loves to make things so much, she’s called Mila the Maker. One day, Mila gets a brand new jigsaw puzzle with a lot of pieces- 200! But event with so many pieces, Mila knows exactly what to do. She has a plan!
Or does she?
Find out what happens when Mila’s plan doesn’t go as expected. When nothing seems to work, and Mila gets really, really mad. (Warning: things may get messy.) And discover, along with Mila, a great little trick that can help you when things get hard.
Julie’s Review:
Mila the Maker and the 200-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle is a book that teaches kids perseverance and the power of the pause when emotions get heavy.
Mila loves to build puzzles and she even has a system for how to break it into steps, including sorting pieces. But when she receives her first 200 piece puzzle, it seems to get the best of her. Mila’s mom teaches her how to feel her feelings, pause and rest, then decide on the next best step. This is a trick we all can learn: from kids to adults!
The book is told in lovely rhymes with lovely illustrations. The rhymes are fun and easy to read for younger readers or great as a read aloud for soon-t0-be readers. Mila and her world are bright and colorful to represent the fun experiences she has with all her puzzles.
This book is recommended for all young elementary readers, but especially those who experience big emotions and and are working on developing a growth mindset.
Author Interview
What inspired you to write this book?
Kids experience such big emotions. As a parent, I realized that an important, lifelong skill I could teach my kids is the power of emotions and how to appropriately wield them.
To manage big emotions, I teach my kids a 3-step process: (1) stop whatever they’re doing and take several deep breaths; (2) feel the emotions; and (3) think through the next best action.
I wrote this book to share with others what works for my family.
Describe Mila the Maker and the 200-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle in 10 words or less for people just learning about it.
Story about managing big emotions within the context of puzzle-making.
At what point did you decide to be an author, and what was your path to publication?
I lived in Argentina for a year between college and law school (I earned a chef’s degree in Buenos Aires) and remember taking notes because I thought someday it may make a good story for a book. I didn’t really have a fully formed understanding of why I felt that way, just a compulsion to write.
In law school, there was a literature class taught by the prolific author of legal thrillers, Lisa Scottoline. I made sure to get into that class. I could not believe my professor was a real-life author! I wanted to figure out how to be like her. Also, it was the most fun class of law school.
I wrote my first manuscript as a new attorney — a young adult coming of age novel that takes place on a distant planet. It was terrible! It’s living on some old hard drive someplace. I should find and delete it.
In an early iteration, Mila the Maker was a stack of stapled printer paper with stick figure illustrations. My kids loved it, and I wondered if perhaps other kids would like and benefit from the story as well. And thus began the years-long journey from first putting pen to paper to publishing. Fortunately for us all, that process also involved bringing on the wonderfully talented illustrator, Amelina Jones. No more stick figures!
It’s exciting – and a bit terrifying – to have this book out there for all to read.
Do you have any odd writing habits?
The process of getting Mila the Maker to print took years, in part because I worked on it while also practicing law full time and raising two kids. Each summer, my husband and I take our children to Michigania, which is a family camp for University of Michigan alumni (he’s the alum, I’m the beneficiary). The camp is located on a beautiful lake in Northern Michigan, and it is a magical week where the kids are completely entertained, and we have the time and space to disconnect.
There is a library at Michigania with old, comfy chairs and mismatched tables that overlooks the lake. It’s there that I was able to make significant progress on the book. One year, I tweaked the idea. Another year, I finalized the language. Another year, I edited. This year, I worked on marketing leading up to the book’s release.
Perhaps the key to book making is doing it while overlooking a beautiful lake!
Is there anything you would like people to take away from your book?
My hope is children (and parents!) read this book and feel validation for the big emotions we all experience and supported in ways to move forward.
As it says in the book:
Stop what you’re doing, take a deep breath.
Pause and feel all the feels.
Do not react, thank how to act.
Decide what next action’s ideal.
About the Author
Rachel Loftspring is a Fertility Law Attorney who finds immense joy in helping hopeful parents build their families through surrogacy and gamete donation. When she’s not practicing law, Rachel is an author. Her debut children’s book, Mila the Maker and the 200-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, is a story about big feelings. Her work is inspired by her own children, Mila and Levi, who fill her life with laughter and creativity. Coffee fuels the rest. She resides with her husband and kids in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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