Pictured: Mother-daughter duo, Ellie and Talia Jean Campbell, with the book they published together. Photo courtesy of Ellie Campbell.

It’s no secret that many students struggle with anxiety. Whether that be work overload, family strain or maybe even monsters under the bed, learning to manage the incredible stress that comes with life at any age or stage can be tough. Eleven-year-old author, Talia Jean Campbell, hopes to help kids like herself understand that anxiety is nothing to be ashamed of, nor is it something that cannot be overcome, by publishing her own book Monster Tea Party with the help of her mother Ellie Campbell.

Talia Jean is an avid reader and has been creating her own stories since she learned to write, even going on to finish multiple series complete with her own illustrations. Her stories are immensely creative, with detailed, developed plots and a diverse array of characters. “I just love to write books, I have all my life,” Talia Jean says. “I wrote one when I was in second grade about a silly old lady and then one about a group of children who like to help animals and they have a club. And then I also have one fantasy book about fairies.”

The idea to create Monster Tea Party was born through Ellie and Talia Jean’s work in therapy, which the pair had been attending since Talia Jean was around five-years-old to help with combatting her anxiety. “She was just coming up with these super creative ideas for how to handle things that were worrying her,” Ellie says. “Our therapist said ‘You probably need to put these down on paper. You need to write them down and help other kids’. So through that we decided to write our first book together.”

The creativity and storyline was Talia Jean’s work, with a plot based around monsters living inside a young boy named Sam’s closet. While at first, the monsters are scary and mean, once Sam gets to know them he learns that they are funny and kind, and maybe even a little scared of him too.

After sourcing a printer out of England and an illustrator out of Hungary, Monster Tea Party was born, a process that took nearly a year for the mother-daughter duo. The book is a perfect way to teach children not only how to cope with anxiety in a light-hearted way, but also that going to therapy is a normal and positive part of life.

The pair will be participating in a reading of Monster Tea Party at Bookstore1Sarasota on October 14 at 11am. Registration for the event is free and includes stickers, fun printouts and delicious tea. Copies of Monster Tea Party will also be available for purchase.

Talia Jean hopes that Monster Tea Party will help other kids who struggle with anxiety by showing them that they’re not alone. “It’s giving them a creative way to treat something that seems really frightening to them,” Ellie adds.

For more information about the reading at Bookstore1Sarasota, visit sarasotabooks.com/events. To order a copy of Monster Tea Party, visit bebravepress.com.

Pictured: Mother-daughter duo, Ellie and Talia Jean Campbell, with the book they published together. Photo courtesy of Ellie Campbell.

sarasotabooks.com/events