Elizabeth Weiss Verdick (left) and Olivia Rae Heerman (right). Photos: Tiffany Bolk Photography
A mother/daughter duo release the final book in their series.
For Elizabeth Weiss Verdick, watching her daughter, Olivia Rae Heerman, follow in her footsteps of becoming a published author is a dream come true. Collaborating on a children’s book together is even better. The mother-daughter duo from Woodbury recently released Hi, Worry, Bye, Worry!, the sixth and final children’s book in the Little Laugh & Learn series from Free Spirit Publishing.
“I’ve published more than 50 children’s books, but this one is extremely special,” Weiss Verdick says of writing with her daughter. Heerman agrees. “This was such a wonderful experience,” she says.
Weiss Verdick has been writing since the 1990s, and says she always knew her daughter would someday be a good writer. Growing up, Heerman watched her mother publish both fiction and nonfiction books for children of all ages, leading Weiss Verdick to think she’s “had it in her since she was little,” she says.
Heerman, a 2015 Woodbury High School graduate, admits she didn’t originally seek out a career in literature. With her sights set on work in the medical or veterinary field, she says she quickly realized it wasn’t for her. “I wasn’t emotionally strong enough for that kind of career,” she says. Heerman pivoted to focusing on majoring in English, eventually pursuing librarianship. For the past six years, she’s worked as a children’s librarian at Park Grove Library in Cottage Grove, which is currently closed for renovations. In the meantime, Heerman is working in the temporary library space at the Cottage Grove Service Center and at Woodbury’s R.H. Stafford Library. “I always knew I wanted to make my home in this area,” she says. “I love our culture in Minnesota. We take good care of our kids in how we raise them and how they experience life in schools and in our libraries.”
The Little Laugh & Learn series focuses on helping early-elementary aged children navigate feelings. Hi, Worry. Bye, Worry! serves as a guide to managing anxiety, something both women are familiar with. “When you write for children, you must tap into the child you once were,” Weiss Verdick says. “I grew up with anxiety, and I remember that clearly. Olivia was similar in a lot of ways, even though I tried hard as a mom to give her all the tools she would need for her social and emotional development.”
During the writing process, the women say they reminded each other of experiences they had as mother and daughter. “It felt really good to go back there,” Weiss Verdick says. “We were able to incorporate what it’s like to be children today. Brainstorming together was a lovely process.”
The book, released last August, has already gained positive feedback from readers and their families. Heerman says the Park Grove Library inspired some of its pages—library programming such as worry jars are featured in the book. “Families love that they can come pick up kits to create worry jars to help children manage their feelings,” she says.
And while this book is the final in the series, the duo is just getting started. “We have a lot of ideas for more books for different age groups,” Weiss Verdick says. “There’s no stopping us now.”
Elizabeth Weiss Verdick
Facebook: Elizabeth’s Books for Kids
Olivia Rae Heerman
Instagram: @the.childish.librarians
