Anyone Can Be Chief—Including Children

I’m excited to announce pre-sale availability of Casey’s Kite, a picture book created to offer children a simple and powerful path to be the best they can be—and to be chief of their own lives. Parents and teachers who want to introduce their children to the idea of leadership at an early age now have the book they need.

But just as with Oh, the Places You’ll Go and The Giving Tree, Casey’s Kite also offers important reminders that are helpful to people at every age, particularly today.

Casey’s Kite’s central themes are rooted in the Serenity Prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Readers will meet a young girl who loves to build kites. But unlike many others who fly store-bought kites that look alike, Casey chooses to build her own kite with a shape and colors that she chooses. Like Casey, her kite is unique, and her courage to be different is admired by many of her friends.

But one kite-flying day a storm arrives quickly and the strong winds destroy many kites as Casey’s friends frantically tried to reel their kites in. But Casey made a different choice as she let out her line and allowed the wind to guide her kite. Her kite didn’t crash.

Casey had decided to surrender to a wind she couldn’t control. As she repairs her kite, she realizes it’s stronger than ever.

As Casey’s confidence grows, she enjoys both helping others with their kites as she learns from them at the same time. Casey’s wisdom about true leadership grows as she alternates between teaching and learning.

The Casey’s Kite book project is dedicated to teachers and families who empower every child with:

  • Courage to fly their kite every day
  • Serenity to surrender to winds they can’t control, and
  • Wisdom to build their kite to fly its own direction.

In their honor, Family Reach will receive 100% of all author proceeds from the book.

Family Reach is a national organization dedicated to eradicating the financial barriers that accompany a cancer diagnosis in children. For 42% of patients, this means depleting their entire life savings within two years of treatment. Family Reach works with more than 400 top-tier hospitals and cancer centers to reach families before they hit these critical financial breaking points. They allow cancer patients to focus on what really matters—their health.

Children have much to learn, and much to teach. We all do. When children start on a path toward courage, serenity, and wisdom early in life, the world becomes a better place.