Jasmine Fambro is a new author of a children’s book, “Mason’s BIG Little Feelings.” It’s a book dedicated to her son, Mason, that encourages children to find their voices, be unafraid to speak up for themselves, instill the importance of emotional literacy and dreams of a world where every child feels seen, heard, and validated. The Lithonia native possesses a Bachelor’s Degree from Bethune-Cookman University and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Health Counseling from Mercer University.
“I started to understand myself and a new nature,” Fambro explained. “Everything that I did was a push for my son and everything that I wanted and inspire it for myself, I knew that I had to push forward to do it, because I have also someone watching me.”
During our conversation, Fambro says the importance of therapy has increased over the years because the millennials that are now parents have normalized the practice. Moving forward, she says because that is what makes it okay for the younger ones, because they it was naturally introduced to them.
“It wasn’t something that if you go to therapy, you’re crazy,” explained Fambro. “But, when people are like, ‘Oh my God, this person’s angry’ or they’re exhibiting these these type of behaviors and anger is a soft surface emotion, there’s things that are underlying that you kind of needing to unpack and so on the back of the book to the dialogue with the parents as well, because it’s not just about the kids, I feel like parents can learn from this book as well.”
“Mason’s BIG Little Feelings” is a modern adaptation of the classic A-B-C book. It’s designed for ages zero to five. Fambro believes this book will cater to the children that are learning the alphabet. Additionally, she says the book will also grow with the younger readers as their reading and comprehension improves.
Plus, this book is a foundational building block for Black boys and Black girls to give themselves the opportunity to grow and explore and learn about themselves without the extra added pressure that presently exists in American society. To that end,
“I was a minority, in a private school,” Fambro said. “And I felt like I couldn’t show up as myself. And understanding how you’re having to wear two hats. Even as young as a child. I feel like I wish that I had that when I was younger, where I felt comfortable showing up as my authentic self.
“I am a BIPOC author, this is a BIPOC book and representation matters,” Fambro said. “It’s important to see yourself in the main character. When I was younger, I don’t remember many books where I saw myself in the literature. So I think that this is making space.”
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