Emma Rosa Ugarelli’s Author Blog

Leaving Rome behind, I took the train to Florence and arrived around midday. After leaving my things at the hotel, I walked toward the historic centre, and before long I found myself standing in front of the magnificent Piazza del Duomo.
Florence immediately felt different from Rome. It was busy and full of visitors, but somehow it felt more intimate and easier to explore on foot. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, and Giotto’s Campanile were impressive, each one adding something different to the beautiful landscape of the city.
From there, I continued through Florence, visiting Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio, walking through the centro storico, Piazza della Repubblica, Orsanmichele, and eventually the Uffizi area. I crossed Ponte Vecchio, with its famous jewellery shops, and then continued toward Ponte Santa Trinita, the Basilica della Santissima Trinità, Palazzo Strozzi, and Piazza San Lorenzo, where I found many shops selling sandals and shoes, but I was undecided about buying sneakers or any shoes for that matter.
The Arno River was also a beautiful part of my walk through Florence. I saw it from several different points, including the historic bridges, and it seemed to add another dimension to the city—the reflections of the buildings and bridges in the water were beautiful.
The following morning, I took the train to Pisa. The station was close enough that I could walk, and I arrived around 9:30. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was, of course, the main attraction, but the entire Piazza dei Miracoli and the Cathedral made the visit worthwhile. I walked around the city for a while, saw the Arno River again, and took some pictures. It was interesting to realize that the same river I had been admiring in Florence also passes through Pisa. I then returned to Florence in the afternoon.
Back in Florence, I continued exploring. I visited the Accademia Gallery and finally saw Michelangelo’s David in person. I also visited the Bargello Museum before taking a taxi up to Piazzale Michelangelo, where I had one of the most beautiful panoramic views of Florence. From there, I could see the rooftops of Florence, the historic centre, the bridges, and the Arno River winding through the city. It was a wonderful way to see Florence from a different perspective.
After walking back down, I wandered through the historic centre one more time, discovering little shops and some very unusual things—including a purse shaped like a guitar!
Florence gave me beautiful views, history, art, architecture, the Arno River, wonderful little discoveries, and a lot of walking. My feet, however, definitely had their own opinion about the amount of sightseeing I was doing! 
At least I had clean clothes after being able to wash them in Rome. But I have also made an important decision: these sneakers are not going to continue the journey with me. I tried to find another pair in Florence, but the ones I found were too tight. After so much walking, my feet seem to be swelling, so at my next stop I am determined to find a really comfortable pair of shoes.
Travel is not always about perfect plans or perfect feet. Sometimes it is about walking a little slower, taking a taxi when necessary, stopping for a piece of pizza, enjoying the view, and continuing the journey.
And Florence was definitely worth every step.

​We tend to take for granted what we hear, especially when the information is close to our own beliefs, opinions, and way of thinking.
When something confirms what we already believe, we often don't question it.
And sometimes, even when the absurdity is right in front of our eyes, we fail to stop and examine it.
Why?
Perhaps because thinking critically requires something that reacting does not: effort.
To think outside the box means being willing to step outside our familiar way of seeing an issue and ask:
Could I be wrong?
Could there be another explanation?
What am I not seeing?
Where is the evidence?
Have I actually verified this information?
Today we receive an enormous amount of information every day. We read, listen, watch, react, share, and respond.
Sometimes the process becomes:
Receive → Believe → React → Repeat → Diffuse
And somewhere along the way, the most important step disappears:
Think.
We become receptors and then echoes.
We repeat information because it sounds right to us, because it comes from someone we trust, or simply because it agrees with what we already believe—without taking the time to verify it.
That can be dangerous.
And now we have another challenge.
We increasingly turn to AI for answers, sometimes even for questions involving our health and medical decisions. AI can be a useful tool for finding information, organizing ideas, or helping us understand a subject. But it should not replace our own judgment, professional advice, or the responsibility to verify important information.
The danger is not the tool itself.
The danger is using any tool without thinking.
If we stop questioning because a person told us something, we are not thinking.
If we stop questioning because we read it online, we are not thinking.
And if we stop questioning simply because an AI system gave us an answer, we are not thinking either.
Thinking outside the box means looking beyond the first answer.
It means dissecting a message instead of simply absorbing it.
It means considering information that challenges our assumptions, looking for evidence, recognizing uncertainty, and being willing to change our minds when the evidence calls for it.
Perhaps one of the most important skills we can preserve in ourselves—and teach our children—is the ability to create a small space between what we receive and how we respond.
That space is where reflection happens.
That is where questions begin.
And that is where independent thinking grows.
Don't simply echo what you hear.
Stop. Question. Analyze. Look again.
Thinking outside the box is not about thinking differently just for the sake of being different.
It is about being willing to think beyond the box we have already built for ourselves.

Yuri is back for another adventure!
This time, our curious little monkey returns in Yuri and the Jungle Ribbon, the second book in his adventures.
One day, Yuri discovers something golden and shiny in the jungle. He wonders what he could do with it. Then, he sees someone wearing something beautiful on their head and decides to buy a ribbon for himself.
“That will look pretty on me too!” he thinks.
At first, Yuri loves his new ribbon. It makes him feel different and special. But soon, something begins to change.
Yuri becomes so concerned about keeping his precious ribbon clean and safe that he stops playing with his friends. Afraid of ruining it, he gradually withdraws from the activities he once enjoyed.
Little by little, the ribbon that was supposed to make him happy begins to isolate him.
And Yuri starts to miss his friends.
A Journey of Self-DiscoveryYuri and the Jungle Ribbon is a story about friendship, self-discovery, self-worth, and the importance of looking beyond appearances.
Through Yuri’s experience, children are invited to reflect on an important question:
Is the thing that makes us look special really the thing that makes us happy?
Sometimes, we become so focused on how we look, what we possess, or how others see us that we forget about the people and experiences that bring genuine happiness into our lives.
Yuri’s adventure reminds us that being admired is not the same as feeling fulfilled and connected.
A Message from the AuthorI wanted Yuri’s second adventure to explore the desire to feel special and admired, something children encounter in different ways as they grow.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying beautiful things or feeling proud of something we have. The important thing is to recognize when our attachment to those things begins to keep us from enjoying life and sharing meaningful moments with others.
Our worth does not come from what we possess or how we appear to others. It comes from who we are, how we treat others, and the relationships we build.
I hope children enjoy following Yuri through this new adventure and begin asking their own questions about what truly makes them happy.
Discover Yuri and the Jungle Ribbon Join Yuri on his adventure and discover the lesson behind his beautiful ribbon!
Visit EugarelliBooks to learn more about the story and explore the dedicated pages for my books, where you can find free resources and activities.
 Yuri and the Jungle Ribbon is available at my Emma’s Place store (emmasplace.ca) and on Amazon.
Every story is an invitation to imagine, wonder, question, and discover.

Some writers capture a particular time in history, while others manage to make the emotions and questions of that time feel universal. F. Scott Fitzgerald belongs to both categories.
Born on September 24, 1896, Fitzgerald was an American novelist and short-story writer whose work explored love, ambition, wealth, dreams, social class, and the gap between what we desire and what reality gives us.
He is best known for The Great Gatsby, a novel that has become one of the most recognized works of American literature.
But beyond the story itself, Fitzgerald's writing continues to stay with readers because of the questions it raises about human nature.
A Life and a Literary EraFitzgerald became closely associated with the Jazz Age, the period of cultural change and excitement in the United States during the 1920s. His writing captured the glamour of the era, but also its contradictions.
Behind the parties, wealth, ambition, and dreams were people searching for love, belonging, success, and happiness.
Perhaps that is one reason his work remains relevant. The world has changed considerably since Fitzgerald's time, but many of the desires and struggles he wrote about are still familiar.
“So we beat on, boats against the current…”One of Fitzgerald's most memorable lines comes at the end of The Great Gatsby:
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
The image is powerful. We are moving forward, yet there is a current constantly pulling us backward.
To me, this raises a question: Why does the past sometimes pull us back when we are trying to move forward?
Perhaps it is because there are things we have not resolved, understood, or learned to let go of.
Sometimes we may repeat the same mistakes because something from the past continues to influence our decisions. Sometimes we hold on to memories, people, experiences, or even versions of ourselves that make it difficult to truly move forward.
And perhaps the most difficult question is this:
Are we unable to move on, or are we still holding on?
We may believe that we have left something behind, but unresolved feelings and experiences can continue to shape the way we see the present and the future.
For me, Fitzgerald's metaphor is not simply about repeating mistakes. It is about the human struggle to move forward while carrying the weight of what has already happened.
“There are all kinds of love…”Another Fitzgerald quote that particularly speaks to me is:
“There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.”
I believe this is true because our feelings are connected to much more than the word love itself.
They are connected to the person, the circumstances, the time in our lives, the experiences we share, and the interactions between us.
Every relationship creates its own story.
Even when we experience love more than once, it does not mean that we experience the same love again. The people are different. We are different. The circumstances are different. The experiences are different.
And because all these elements come together only once in exactly that way, every experience of love becomes unique.
There may be many kinds of love in the world—romantic love, family love, friendship, love for a place, a culture, or even a memory—but no two experiences of love are exactly the same.
Perhaps that is part of what makes love so meaningful.
Why Fitzgerald Still MattersFitzgerald wrote about the people and society of his own time, but the emotions behind his stories remain recognizable.
We still dream.
We still desire.
We still struggle with the past.
We still search for love and happiness.
And we still sometimes discover that reality does not look quite like the future we imagined.
That is one of the gifts of literature: a story written almost a century ago can still make us recognize something about ourselves.
Fitzgerald's words remind us that although time moves forward, human emotions and questions can remain remarkably familiar.
And perhaps that is why we continue to read the classics—not simply to understand the past, but to better understand ourselves.
What do Fitzgerald's words make you think about?

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
— Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
About Emily BrontëEmily Brontë (1818–1848) was an English novelist and poet, best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. Although she lived only thirty years, her work became an important part of English literature, particularly for its exploration of love, human nature, passion, and the complexities of human relationships.
Emily was one of the three Brontë sisters who became writers, alongside Charlotte and Anne. She lived much of her life in Haworth, Yorkshire, and was known to be a private person who found inspiration in the natural landscape surrounding her home. Her poetry, like her novel, reflects her deep sensitivity to nature, human emotions, and the inner life.
My ReflectionWhen I read this quote, I don't think only about two people who love each other. I also think about what connects all of us as human beings.
We may be different in so many ways. We come from different countries and cultures. We have different experiences, personalities, beliefs, dreams, and ways of seeing the world. Yet, beneath all those differences, there is something we share.
We all have hopes and dreams. We all experience fear, sadness, happiness, and love. We all have strengths and weaknesses, virtues and flaws. We all make mistakes, learn, struggle, and try to find our place in the world. And we all have the capacity to love and to be loved.
Perhaps this is what makes us the same.
Being human does not mean being identical. It means sharing the same fundamental capacity to feel, to hope, to suffer, to rejoice, to dream, and to love.
Our lives may be very different on the outside, but deep within us, there is a common humanity that connects us.
Maybe that is what Brontë's words remind us: our differences make us individuals, but our shared humanity—our hopes, dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, flaws, virtues, and capacity to love—is what connects us.
And perhaps that is one of the most beautiful things about being human: we can be wonderfully different, yet still recognize something of ourselves in one another.

​Margaret Atwood: Looking to the Past to See the FutureFor this week's Authors of the Americas, I am very happy to feature a Canadian author: Margaret Atwood.
Born in Ottawa in 1939, Atwood is a novelist, poet, essayist, and literary critic whose work has reached readers around the world. She has published more than fifty books and is known for works including The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace, and The Blind Assassin. Her writing has explored many different subjects, including identity, society, power, memory, relationships, and the human experience.
The words I chose for this week's reflection are:
“If you can't see yourself in the future, then you have to see yourself in the past.”
“Si no puedes verte a ti mismo en el futuro, entonces tienes que mirar hacia el pasado.”
The connection between the past and the futureFor me, these words remind us that our past and our future are deeply connected.
We cannot move forward without carrying something from where we have been.
Our experiences shape us. The things we have lived through, the decisions we have made, the mistakes we have committed, the people we have encountered, the moments of happiness, and even our struggles and suffering all become part of our story.
Sometimes, we may wish to forget the difficult parts.
We may want to simply close the door on the past and continue walking.
But I believe that looking back can sometimes help us understand ourselves better.
What can our past teach us?When we look honestly at our past, we can begin to recognize our own behaviour.
Why did I make that decision?
Why did I react that way?
What was I feeling at that moment?
What did I learn?
Would I make the same choice today?
These questions are not about judging ourselves or remaining trapped in regret.
They are about reflection.
Sometimes, we need to look backward to understand something about ourselves that we could not see while we were living through it.
Our struggles can also teach usI believe that even difficult experiences can teach us something.
This does not mean that suffering is good or that we should be grateful for painful experiences.
It means that, when we have had time to process them, we may be able to learn from what happened.
Perhaps a difficult experience taught us about our strength.
Perhaps it showed us something about the way we treat others—or the way we allow others to treat us.
Perhaps it made us reconsider our priorities.
Perhaps it revealed a part of ourselves that we had never taken the time to understand.
Our experiences can become lessons when we take the time to reflect on them.
Looking back is not going backwardThere is an important difference between looking back and living in the past.
Living in the past can keep us from moving forward.
But looking back with awareness can help us move forward with greater understanding.
When we reflect on where we have been, we can recognize patterns.
We can see choices that helped us and choices that did not.
We can understand what we want to carry with us and what we want to leave behind.
And perhaps this is where the past becomes useful—not as a place to stay, but as a place from which we can learn.
Seeing the path aheadSometimes we say that we want to know where we are going, but perhaps we also need to understand where we are coming from.
Our past gives us context.
It tells us something about the person we have been and the experiences that have helped shape the person we are today.
And when we understand that person, we may be able to see more clearly the person we want to become.
The future is not simply something that happens to us.
Every decision we make today contributes, in some way, to the direction in which we are moving.
That is why reflection matters.
What do we carry forward?I don't believe that we need to carry everything from our past into our future.
Some things are lessons.
Some are memories.
Some are values.
Some are relationships.
Some are mistakes we don't want to repeat.
And some things simply need to be left behind.
The important thing is to recognize the difference.
Perhaps our past is like a map.
It cannot tell us exactly where we must go, but it can show us where we have already been.
And when we understand where we have been, we may be able to choose our next direction with greater clarity.
For me, that is the message I take from Margaret Atwood's words:
Our past helps us understand where we have been, so we can see more clearly where we are going.
We cannot change yesterday.
But we can reflect on it.
We can learn from it.
And we can use what we have learned to walk more consciously toward tomorrow.
Sometimes, to see the future more clearly, we first need to look honestly at the road behind us.

My European AdventureAfter years of dreaming about it, I finally decided to take a solo adventure through Europe. More than 30 days, several countries, countless walks, and many unexpected moments became part of a journey I will never forget.
I invite you to come along with me as I share the places I visited, the things I discovered, the little mishaps, and the memories I brought home.
And this is where my adventure begins…

I took the plane from Barcelona to Rome. I was tired, but happy. I was beginning a new chapter of my adventure: traveling through Italy.
My first destination in Italy was Rome.
I was curious and excited to discover the city, although I was still dealing with one small problem: my sneakers! They were still bothering me, but by this point I had become a professional at carrying Band-Aids. I had tons of them in my bag, so I decided that between the sneakers and the Band-Aids, we would somehow survive Italy together.
I was also becoming much more experienced with European taxis. One thing I had learned during my travels was that Uber was not always the easiest option. In some cities, it seemed much better to download the local taxi app. I was also becoming more familiar with Google Maps, although Rome definitely put my new skills to the test.
Rome has so many little streets and alleys that sometimes you can stand at one corner and find five different ways to go. Google Maps tells you where to go, but then you have to turn around, look carefully, and figure out which of those five streets is actually the one you need!
My Mysterious Hotel
When I finally arrived at my hotel, I had my first little scare.
There was no obvious hotel sign. There was only a large, old door.
For a moment, I thought, Oh no… did I get scammed?
Fortunately, I had booked the hotel through a company I trusted and had carefully read the reviews before making the reservation, so I knew it was supposed to be real.
I started asking questions and looking very carefully around the building. Eventually, I discovered that the hotel was actually inside that enormous old door, on the third floor.
When I finally entered, I looked around carefully and found a tiny sign explaining that the hotel reception was on the third floor.
Thankfully, there was an elevator!
When I reached the third floor, there were two people there—but neither was the receptionist. An older man was looking at his clothes, and he spoke only Italian.
Until that moment, I had managed quite well with my English and Spanish, but now I was definitely out of my comfort zone.
My Italian is a little rusty. After all, my ancestors are from Italy, so you would think I should feel completely comfortable speaking Italian. But knowing a language and actually having the courage to speak it are two different things!
I can understand some Italian, and I know enough to get by, but I become a little shy when I have to speak it. Suddenly, all those Italian words that I thought I remembered seem to disappear from my mind!
The old man told me to wait.
So I waited.
And waited.
About half an hour later, the receptionist finally arrived. She gave me the keys, and I left my things in the room.
I was ready to explore.
My First Taste of Rome
One of the first things I discovered was a laundry. This was wonderful news because, after so many days of traveling, I really needed to wash my clothes!
After that, I was starving.
I called a taxi and headed out for my first exploration of Rome.
I visited Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon.
It was unbelievable.
The number of tourists was enormous. I had already visited several European cities filled with tourists, but Rome was on another level. There were people everywhere.
Even the taxi ride became part of the adventure.
The driver became very frustrated with people crossing the streets without looking. He got upset several times, and suddenly the traffic felt like another part of the Roman experience.
After walking around, I stopped to eat some pasta. Of course, I was in Italy—so pasta had to be part of the experience!
I decided that I would return to the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon another day, hopefully when there were fewer people.
The Vatican
The next day, I went to the Vatican.
I visited the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica.
The lines were unbelievable.
I went early because I thought that arriving early would help me avoid the crowds. Instead, I somehow ended up being sent to the end of the line three times because I was too early!
It was a little annoying at the time, but once I was finally inside, all of that disappeared.
The art, the architecture, the history, and the atmosphere were simply extraordinary.
And it wasn't only the Vatican.
The entire experience of Rome felt out of this world.
Standing in front of the Trevi Fountain, walking through the ancient Colosseum, exploring the Roman Forum, seeing St. Peter's Basilica, admiring the art inside the Vatican Museums, and simply walking through the streets of Rome all created moments that I knew I would remember forever.
There are places you visit and enjoy, and then there are places that seem to reach something deeper inside you.
For me, Rome was one of those places.
The beauty, history, art, architecture, and atmosphere touched my soul. It is difficult to explain exactly why some places affect you so deeply, but Rome did.
After leaving the Vatican, I ate at a restaurant across from it and then continued exploring.
I strolled along the Tiber River and visited Castel Sant'Angelo.
By then, I was tired, and I decided to return to my hotel early. As I mentioned before, the area around my hotel felt a little sketchy to me, so I didn't want to be walking around there at night. This time, I took a taxi, and I was getting much better at knowing where to find them and how to use them.
By six o'clock, I was safely inside my hotel.
Trevi Fountain at Six in the Morning
The following day, before going to the Colosseum, I decided to try something different.
I woke up very early—around six in the morning—and went back to the Trevi Fountain.
This time, it was completely different.
There were still quite a few people, but nothing compared with the crowds I had seen the day before.
I could actually see the fountain, take pictures, and enjoy the moment without being surrounded by a sea of tourists.
And, of course, I made a wish.
Standing there so early in the morning, I felt like I had finally discovered a quieter side of Rome.
After that, I continued walking through the city.
I explored Via del Corso, Piazza Venezia, and Piazza di Spagna. I walked through the streets, taking in everything around me, and then continued with my visit to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill.
There was so much to see and so much history everywhere I looked. Rome really does feel like a city where the past and present exist together.
You don't simply visit history in Rome.
You walk through it.
By the time I finished, I was ready for another Italian necessity:
pizza!
Walking… and Walking Some More
After eating, I was exhausted from all the walking and decided to take the bus back.
Simple, right?
Not quite.
I couldn't find the bus number I needed.
While I was waiting and trying to figure it out, I noticed two cute little cars and took a picture. Then I thought, You know what? I can walk.
So I walked again.
At this point, my feet were probably wondering what they had done to deserve this trip.
And yes…
Those sneakers were still bothering me!
Which made me wonder:
Could my feet actually grow from one day to another?
I know that sounds ridiculous, but after walking kilometer after kilometer every day, my feet certainly felt bigger!
Maybe it wasn't my feet.
Maybe it was the sneakers.
But I wasn't ready to admit defeat.
One More Fountain and the Pantheon
Somehow, I ended up near the Trevi Fountain again.
It wasn't planned, but I didn't mind. Since I was there, I decided to make the most of the opportunity and go to the Pantheon.
This time, I made the line to enter, and it took at least an hour.
But it was worth it.
Even with the crowds and the long lines, standing inside these ancient places made me stop and think about how many generations had walked through the same city.
That is one of the magical things about Rome.
You don't simply look at history from a distance.
You become part of the experience by walking through it.
My Last Morning in Rome
Before leaving Rome and heading to the train station for my next destination, Florence, I had one more place to visit.
I went to Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
There, I was also able to visit the tomb of Pope Francis.
It was a quiet and meaningful way to end my time in Rome before continuing my journey through Italy.
Rome was a little crazy.
There were too many tourists, complicated streets, confusing taxis, long lines, a mysterious hotel entrance, and enough walking to make my feet protest every day.
But despite all of that, Rome was unforgettable.
It was beautiful, overwhelming, historic, lively, and full of surprises.
And perhaps that is what travel is really about.
Not everything goes according to plan.
Sometimes you get lost.
Sometimes your hotel looks like a scam.
Sometimes the taxi driver scares you.
Sometimes you wait in the wrong line three times.
Sometimes you cannot find the bus.
Sometimes you are too shy to speak the language of your own ancestors.
And sometimes your sneakers make you question whether your feet have suddenly grown.
But then you stand in front of the Trevi Fountain at six in the morning, make a wish, walk through the Colosseum, stand in St. Peter's Basilica, admire centuries of art at the Vatican, or enter a centuries-old basilica—and you realize that every little difficulty becomes part of the story you will remember forever.
Rome gave me plenty of stories.
It gave me history, art, beauty, surprises, challenges, and moments that touched my soul.
And even though my feet were begging for mercy, I was ready for the next chapter of my Italian adventure:
Florence.

Every story has a beginning.
Sometimes it begins with an idea. Sometimes with a dream. And sometimes, it begins with a memory that stays quietly in our hearts for many years.
For me, Kenny and His Great Invention began with a little penguin—and with two very special people who were part of my family's life when I was beginning my journey in Canada.
Meet Kenny, a Little Penguin with a Big DreamKenny is a little penguin who dreams of doing something extraordinary: he wants to build a spaceship and travel into space.
With imagination, determination, and the help of his friend Louise, Kenny works on his invention. Together, they discover that big dreams can become possible when we are willing to work together and support one another.
But Kenny's journey is not only about building a spaceship.
When he enters a competition, something unexpected happens. Another friend becomes jealous and wants the recognition that comes with winning. Instead of celebrating Kenny's efforts, the friend secretly damages his spaceship so Kenny will fail.
The plan works. Kenny doesn't win, and the friend takes the prize.
But there is an important lesson hidden in that victory: winning does not always bring happiness.
The story allows children to think about what happens when jealousy becomes more important than friendship, and why the way we treat others matters more than simply being the winner.
The Lessons Behind Kenny's AdventureAlthough Kenny and His Great Invention is an imaginative story about a penguin and his spaceship, it also opens the door to conversations about important social and emotional values.
Children can explore ideas such as:

• Friendship — being there for others and celebrating their achievements.
• Cooperation — understanding that working together can help us accomplish more.
• Jealousy — recognizing difficult feelings and learning how to handle them.
• Honesty — understanding why telling the truth matters.
• Responsibility — accepting responsibility for our actions.
• Forgiveness — recognizing that people can make mistakes and learn from them.
• Sportsmanship — understanding that competitions are not only about winning.
• Respect — treating others fairly, even when we want to succeed.

These are lessons that children encounter in many everyday situations: playing games, working on school projects, participating in sports, making friends, and learning how to manage difficult emotions.
The Real Story Behind Kenny
But there is another story behind Kenny and His Great Invention—one that is very personal to me.
When I was beginning my life in Canada, Ken, a wonderful Canadian scientist, and his wife Louise became friends with my family.
Moving to a new country is a major transition. Among all the unfamiliar things, having people who offer kindness, generosity, and friendship can make an enormous difference.
Ken and Louise were those kinds of people.
Ken loved penguins. One day, they gave my children a large penguin, and my children named him Kenny.
At the time, none of us could have known that this penguin would eventually become the inspiration for a children's book.
Years later, when I began creating Kenny's story, that memory came back to me.
The little penguin who had once been part of my children's daycare became Kenny, the dreamer who wanted to build a spaceship.
And Louise became part of his story too.
From a Memory to a Children's Book
There is something special about the way memories can travel through time.
A gift can become a story.
A friendship can become inspiration.
And a simple childhood toy can eventually become a character who carries a message to new generations.
Writing Kenny and His Great Invention allowed me to bring together imagination and memory. It also gave me an opportunity to honor two people who had shown kindness to my family during an important chapter of our lives.
For me, this book became a quiet way of saying:
Thank you.
Thank you for the friendship.
Thank you for the kindness.
And thank you for the little penguin who eventually became Kenny.
What Matters More Than Winning?
One of the ideas I especially wanted children to take from Kenny's story is that winning is not always what matters most.
Competitions can be exciting. Dreams are important. Achieving a goal can make us proud.
But our achievements should not come at the expense of other people.
How do we behave when someone else succeeds?
How do we respond when we feel jealous?
Can we be happy for a friend?
Can we accept losing without becoming dishonest?
Can we recognize when we have made a mistake?
These questions are just as important as the competition itself.
Kenny's adventure gives children an opportunity to think about these situations in a way that is engaging, imaginative, and age-appropriate.
A Story of Dreams, Friendship, and Gratitude
Every time I think about Kenny and His Great Invention, I remember that the story is connected to something much bigger than a spaceship.
It reminds me that the people we meet along the way can leave lasting impressions on our lives.
Sometimes we don't realize the importance of a moment until many years later.
A simple gift.
A friendship.
A gesture of kindness.
A penguin named Kenny.
And eventually, a book.
That is the journey behind Kenny and His Great Invention.
I hope that as children get to know Kenny, they enjoy his adventure and his dream of traveling into space. But I also hope they discover the values woven into his story: friendship, cooperation, honesty, respect, responsibility, forgiveness, and the importance of being a good sport.
Because sometimes, the greatest achievement isn't winning the competition.
It is becoming the kind of person others can trust and call a friend.
Discover KennyKenny and His Great Invention is available in English and Spanish.
Through EugarelliBooks, I share my children's books, writing, reflections, and other creative work.
For parents, caregivers, and educators, Emma's Place offers free bilingual educational resources designed to encourage children's imagination, curiosity, creativity, and love of learning.
Sometimes a story begins with an idea.
And sometimes, it begins with a memory, a friendship, and a grateful heart.