August 18, 2025 • 42 mins
What if teaching children about nutrition could be as vibrant and engaging as a rainbow? Dr. Jessica Miller transforms healthy eating education through her colorful children's book "Rico Eats a Rainbow," bringing her unique background as both educator and public health specialist to tackle childhood nutrition challenges.
Dr. Miller shares the heartwarming story behind her book's creation—initially designed as a personal gift for her nephew Rico before evolving into a powerful educational tool now used in schools nationwide. The genius of her approach lies in its positive framing: rather than demonizing certain foods, the book celebrates the colorful variety of nutritious options available to children. This strategy has earned enthusiastic endorsements from physicians who recognize its potential to address the alarming rise in childhood chronic conditions they witness daily.
As we discover during our conversation, "Rico Eats a Rainbow" does more than just teach nutrition facts—it empowers children by positioning them as knowledgeable guides who can teach their parents something new. The book cleverly models family conversations about food choices and introduces concepts like farmer's markets as accessible adventures rather than intimidating health mandates. Dr. Miller's careful attention to language—avoiding phrases like "bad foods" in favor of more balanced messaging—creates a judgment-free zone where families can learn together.
The impact of Dr. Miller's work extends beyond individual families, with teachers developing entire curriculum units around the book and pediatricians keeping copies in their offices to loan to patients. Now expanding into a series with forthcoming titles on physical activity and hand hygiene, Dr. Miller has found her calling in creating children's literature with strong public health messaging that resonates with readers of all ages. Whether you're a parent struggling with picky eaters, an educator seeking engaging health materials, or simply someone interested in creative approaches to public health challenges, this conversation offers valuable insights into how colorful storytelling can transform healthy habits.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
hey, it's jen the builder, and cory and a special
guest and a special guest yeah,I definitely want to recognize
that there are three people inthis studio and we're so excited
to bring this episode today.
But, corey, I know you've gotsome things you want to share
that I'm going to add too.
So what do you got, tell us.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So we had a really exciting Friday and I just want
to share with everyone theenjoyment that we had.
We went to LA Care this Fridayand we were able to connect and
meet with families and they hada back-to-school backpack
giveaway, and so anytime youhave a chance to give back to
the community and you get tomeet people, meet children and
(01:00):
talk children language becausethat's what I love to do the
most it just fills my heart withjoy.
So, jen, how did you feel likethe day went?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I thought it was absolutely lovely.
We did meet a lot of people.
I got to practice my Spanishand here's my takeaway.
There's a lot more Spanish Ineed to learn, so I've got a
date with I think it's do a do alinga, is that what it's called
?
Yeah, um, and just startlearning that.
(01:32):
But it was so great to meetgrandparents.
Um, there were some aunts thatrepresented their nieces and
nephews yeah and it was justgood conversation and we found
so much in common with people.
We actually met someone whojust got out of school to be a
community health worker, so thatwas really fun, and then
another one who also wanted towrite books.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So it was.
It was amazing.
Now ask me about the drive.
So we got to LA in an hour.
That was cool.
It took us three hours to getback home from la, and that's
because friday traffic insaneyeah, but ask me if it was worth
it.
I'm gonna say yes and that wedo it again in a heartbeat.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, so today we have a special guest, and I'm
gonna stop just right therebecause I remember something.
I heard her talking to someoneelse and she speaks fluent
Spanish.
I mean, like I didn't know thatA pro and I was like, oh my God
, this woman is talking Spanishand so, introducing her, I just
(02:38):
want to say that she's a friend,she's an author, a writer,
she's a doctor.
She's a friend, she's an author, a writer, she's a doctor,
she's a professional, she's inhealth care.
I think she really knows whatshe's doing.
She has a very engaging andcolorful book that's out right
(03:00):
now.
It's called Rico Eats a Rainbow.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So cute.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Amazing right.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Rico Eats a Whole Rainbow.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
And yeah, it's a whole rainbow.
But coming to the mic right now, we're going to welcome in Dr
Jessica Miller.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Right on Thank you Thank you, thank you.
It's such great energy in thisstudio and being here with you
two is such a treat, so thankyou for including me today
energy in this studio and beinghere with you two is such a
treat, so thank you forincluding me today, absolutely
Well, I'd love to read, becauseyou know we like to do the
formal intro, if you will,because we are a podcast after
all.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
So I just want to talk a little bit about Jessica.
As you mentioned, corey, she isa doctor doctor of public
health degree in healtheducation from Loma Linda
University.
She also works as a publichealth specialist, conducting
research and evaluation ofhealth services and community
programs, and is an adjunctprofessor of public health
(03:57):
sciences.
Man, jessica, wow.
And then with more than 20years of education experience
and a love for children.
So we definitely have that incommon with Jessica.
She has a Master of Arts degreein education and is credentialed
through the state of Californiaas a teacher and administrator.
Jessica, I love that you livein SoCal.
(04:18):
Yes, have you always lived here?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
I have not.
My family is originally fromMichigan, so we moved to
Southern California many yearsago.
When I go home to Michigan, Ithink they ask things like where
are you from?
So maybe I'm a California girlnow.
Maybe Michigan's always in myheart, from Detroit.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Detroit, okay, motor City.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Motor City Born and raised.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Love it, and then you enjoy traveling, reading and a
variety of outdoor leisureactivities I do, I do
well-rounded, well-rounded, andwe're so happy that you're here
let me start like this because,uh, she does love to travel and
she has said some places she'swent that I couldn't even
pronounce.
And can you just tell us a fewplaces that you've traveled to
(05:01):
that you found very interesting?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, you know, I started living in Michigan, we
would go to Canada often andit's literally just across the
Ambassador Bridge in Detroit,and so from a very young age it
was just we always went toCanada.
And then living in California,I've been to Mexico quite a bit
and when I got about college ageI went to Mexico and spent some
(05:28):
time there as an exchangestudent and you mentioned
earlier about speaking Spanishand that's really where I began
to just really develop fluencyin Spanish was just living there
, living with a beautiful familyand then studying, taking all
the formal courses as a collegestudent as well, and just have
always had a love for travel andfor languages, and so I've been
(05:51):
to just I've been to a numberof countries in Europe that have
been a lot of fun.
Maybe most recently I went toTahiti and I had a great time
there and just had a nice kindof a writer's retreat.
So now that I've startedwriting, I like to do these
getaways and these kind ofretreats where I can recharge
(06:13):
and let some creative juicesflow and come away with some
ideas for my new book projects.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Absolutely.
I love that, and we're startingto travel, so I'm getting some
tips.
You know, I had a big issuewith large bodies of water so it
took me a minute to get overthat, but I'm working through
that.
Jessica, tell us something else, that really, what's something
that you love to do outside oftraveling and the writing piece.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I like to be outdoors , ok, of traveling and the
riding piece.
I like to be outdoors, okay.
And so, you know, there's somany neat places in Southern
California to kind of find sometrails from the mountains to the
ocean.
There's so much in between, andso I've lived, you know, in
really neat places, kind of theInland Empire, but also in
Orange County.
I have some favorite placesthere where I like to, you know,
(07:04):
go hiking and go to the beach.
There are some kind of secretbeaches, I'm not going to tell
you where they are.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Those are my quiet places.
We'll wait till the podcast.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I'll tell you later.
Right, yeah, so how did yourpassion grow or where did that
come from?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
as far as public health and teaching, yeah, so
thank you for asking that,because my career really started
as a teacher and my firstteaching job was with a county
program and it was a teen momprogram.
So my first students wereteenagers who were either
(07:41):
pregnant or had recentlydelivered their babies and they
were still matriculating throughthe education system, and
that's when I knew for sure thatI really enjoyed the girls just
being really a teacher, butalso a mentor and someone who
really was counseling and ableto just help the young ladies do
(08:06):
the next thing they could do intheir lives and just keep going
and from there.
My next job was as a Spanishteacher At a high school.
Just enjoyed that for manyyears and then went on later to
(08:26):
be an assistant principal at amiddle school.
A junior high school laterstarted my own charter schools.
I was a school principal forelementary and so all of those
different experiences working onthose different levels of
education each one of thoseexperiences just got me to where
I am today and taught me what Ineeded to know.
(08:49):
So as a teacher I was teachingothers, but I was also learning
all of the life lessons that Ineeded to learn along the way to
be able to be really who I amand where I am today, and so
it's a very great career ineducation.
It was during my time as anassistant principal that I
developed an interest in healthyeating and healthy meals and I
(09:14):
just made some observations.
I observed seventh and eighthgrade kids could go to the
school cafeteria and they couldget a frozen, reheated food like
product right, not a breakfastlike when I was growing up in
detroit and you could smell theright food product am.
I am the only one in this studiowho remembers being in grade
(09:37):
school and there actually werecooks in the kitchen and you
could smell the cooking smellscoming down the hall.
Yes, and you hear the clankingof utensils, yeah, and they had
the big pots and they had thehairnets on and the aprons and
you knew it was.
You know, whatever it was thatday, it had been made that day.
Yeah, children packagedfood-like products right when
(10:05):
the quality is not.
It's not our best that we couldbe offering children in schools
.
And so I just made those kindsof observations.
I would get into these tuftswith the cafeteria manager.
You know, can you get somehealthier choices?
Let's get rid of some of thesedonuts.
And you know, and and you know,the reality was that the
(10:26):
cafeterias where children wouldbuy flaming hot chips and you
know all the different kinds ofsnacks throughout the day.
Honestly, jen and Corey made alot of money, made a lot of
money was really a bit of a cashcow for the school district.
And that was upsetting to me andI just felt like it shouldn't
(10:47):
be that way and I also felt likepeople didn't listen to me.
I wasn't a registered dietitian, I wasn't a nutritionist, I
didn't have those kinds ofcredentials.
And so later, when I wasthinking about what do I want to
get a doctorate in, I thoughtabout some of the everyday work
that I was doing.
What do I want to get adoctorate in?
I thought about some of theeveryday work that I was doing.
Right In education, a lot ofpeople get doctorates and it's
(11:10):
an EDD, an educationalorganization, or you.
You know I was working withchildren with special needs.
Do I want to get a PhD inlanguage acquisition?
None of that was reallyexciting to me.
Acquisition None of that wasreally exciting to me.
And then I found a doctor ofpublic health program and I felt
like I knew what I was going todo.
(11:31):
And what I wanted to do was bethe person in the school
district who could coordinateand develop and implement health
and wellness programs forchildren, for their families,
for the community.
And that's what I developed apassion about.
If you're going to get adoctorate, you have to find
something you're passionateabout, something that really
makes you say, wow, this is, I'mexcited about this.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Good advice, great advice.
So that just brings us right tothe front door of this book
that you created and wrote, andI know for a fact that it opened
my eyes to your passion, and italso gave me an insight to what
kids should be actually lookingto do and looking to grow into.
(12:18):
Tell us about Rico Eats aRainbow.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Rico Eats a Rainbow is my children's book with a
very clear public health messagearound making strong, healthy
eating choices, and the book andthe main character is created
in the likeness of my nephew,Rico.
He was my inspiration and whenhe was about three years old,
(12:43):
you know he was that preschoolage and he loved books and loved
reading.
He would sit in my lap, he wouldsit next to me and we would
read books.
And that's that age where youget to the end of the book and
they read it again, and theydon't care if you just read the
same book over and over again.
And he loved to hear the stories.
He couldn't read the words, buthe could to hear the stories.
(13:05):
He couldn't read the words, buthe could look at the pictures
and he could repeat what I saidand he would use the same voices
that I used in the characters.
And it just made me feel like Iwanted to create a story for
Rico.
I wanted him to see himself ina book.
I wanted him to see a characterthat looked like him.
I wanted there to be acharacter named after him.
(13:26):
And that was the plan.
I was just going to write alittle story for Rico.
I was going to go down to thecopy place and I was going to
print it out and put the littlebindy thing on it and I was
going to give it to him.
That was going to be his book.
And as I got further along indeveloping it, something hit me
and I said you know what thisbook could be for all children?
(13:49):
This book could really touch alot of children.
And as the healthy eatingmessage, thank you.
As the healthy eating messagewas developing onto paper, I
just said this is going to besomething that I want to share
beyond just my family, and thenthat was just kind of it.
(14:11):
I put it on the shelf and didn'treally think about it for a
while and had to figure out okay, I've got the storyline, how am
I going to illustrate it?
And just kind of worked on someother things and stepped away
from it for a while and one dayI would say maybe a year or so
later, I came back to thatnotepad on the bookshelf and
(14:32):
pulled it out and thought aboutit again and the creative juices
started flowing and I did alittle bit more work on it and I
put it back on the shelf.
And you know, life gets busyand so just doing all of the
things.
And then there was that one dayI don't remember quite when
when I pulled it off the shelfand I said, okay, I'm going to
finish this, and just sat therewith it and just played with it
(14:55):
and had something that I wasreally happy with and just
thought it was fun.
I was excited.
And then, jen and Corey, Ididn't know what to do next,
because who just knows, like,how you wrote this neat little
thing?
Who knows how to do a book?
Nobody just knows how to do abook.
And so that was the.
You know, do a book.
Nobody just knows how to do abook, and so that was the you
(15:18):
know from.
From there you know it's.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It's a whole different world trying to figure
out how to do something you'venever done before.
Right, Let me.
Let me jump in there real quick.
What I noticed about this bookand yes, I'm selling it right
now but I noticed the colorsjust pop off the pages and
everything is so vibrant and,like I said, colorful and and
it's not.
It's not like a book thatyou've seen, like the other
(15:41):
books, it's a lot of reallydifferent images and it has to
do with what you're writingabout.
Tell us about how you came upwith the concept to make the
pages pop like that.
And then, too, what made yousay he eats a rainbow?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah.
So those are all greatquestions and thank you for
acknowledging just the vibrancyof the book and the colors.
It is very colorful really.
To match the title, rico Eats aRainbow and so of course we've
got to showcase all of thedifferent colors of the rainbow.
And it is very colorful andvery bright, vibrant in the
(16:21):
story.
You know Rico and his parents.
They're communicating with eachother.
Rico goes to visit his aunt.
Rico comes home and his mom anddad say oh, what did you do at
your auntie's house?
And Rico says oh, we did a lotof things.
We went swimming, we read books, we, you know, we had a lot of
fun.
And you know what else?
I ate a rainbow.
(16:43):
And his parents are hearing thatterm.
I ate a rainbow for the firsttime, and so now this is an
opportunity for parents toengage with their child around
this message what does it meanto eat a rainbow?
And it was a bit of a strategicmove on my part because I
(17:04):
wanted the main character in thestory to be a smart little boy
who has some knowledge, and hegets to teach his parents
something.
How fun is that for kids toknow something their parents
don't know?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
And then the parents right.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
And then the parents, of course, play along and
engage with him, and that's partof what I wanted to communicate
and really have a tool forparents, for adults to model for
them how to have conversationswith their children about
different topics, and this topicjust happens to be about making
(17:37):
healthy eating choices.
So does Rico really eat a realrainbow?
He goes on and shares with hisparents that this is really
about eating all of the colorsof the rainbow.
And then what happens in thebook?
His parents immediately engagewith him and say oh, we can find
foods in all of the colors ofthe rainbow at the farmer's
market.
Let's go for a walk, let's goto the farmer's market, and it's
(18:01):
sort of that.
There are things near our housethat we can do.
There are places that we canjust take a walk to.
It doesn't have to be a bigdeal.
Just a regular part of ourlives can be going to a farmer's
market.
Guess what?
If there's no farmer's marketnear your house, we can go to
the grocery store and we can dothis same little activity.
We can find foods in all of thecolors of the rainbow amazing I
(18:24):
totally picked up on that whenI was reading this book.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
I said, jessica, you are a smart woman and the public
health came out.
I loved, um the representationof family.
I love seeing mom and dad leanin in curiosity and gave rico a
chance to be excited and teachback what he learned.
(18:47):
That really spoke.
And I love the promotion of afarmer's market.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Um so because we love a farmer's market.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Yeah, farmer's market is the best place yeah, there's
one scene in the book where uhrico and his parents they're
talking about mom or dad sayssomething like you know, these
fruits and vegetables have a lotof nutrients what excellent
vocabulary right so of course.
What are nutrients?
(19:16):
And mom, mom and dad go on toexplain and define what are
nutrients, and it's greatvocabulary to use with children.
So we want to introduce healthymessages, but we also want to
explain to kids and help themunderstand, because the goal is
really to develop a lifetime ofhealthy habits and so to have
(19:38):
little kids who are justlearning to read and who are
excited about books, find acharacter they can identify with
and then come up with a at theend of the book.
Now can we go home and eat ourrainbow, home and eat our
(20:00):
rainbow.
And you know this book has beenadopted as curriculum in health
education programs.
Schools are using the book aspart of their healthy living
curriculum and I've seenteachers of preschoolers engage
their children, and so we haveseen activities where the adults
will bring different foods ofthe different colors of the
rainbow and do taste tests forchildren and children are I like
(20:24):
cucumbers?
You know and it's just amazingto see when you try.
You know, don't just assume, oh, my child doesn't like
vegetables.
Let your child participate inthe selection of vegetables, the
preparation of vegetables, thecooking of vegetables and see
what happens.
And I think for many parentswho may need a little help,
(20:46):
because sometimes the dinnertable can get a little crazy or
they might just feel like youknow their children have their
favorites or are picky eaters.
Well, how can we address that?
Let's engage, let's haveactivities that can be fun to do
and can create conversationsthat can help cement the
(21:07):
thinking about how we eat andthe choices we make.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
I'm so glad you said that.
Well, all of that, but youmentioned that the book is
already being used as curriculum.
It's being used in schooldistricts and I was just about
to say, right before you got tothat piece who do we call?
How do we get this book allover the world, in every school
district?
Right, because, again, younailed it on the head earlier
(21:34):
when you said that we have foodlike products in our, in our
school system, and now it'sinfiltrating all over the world,
in every place where you getfood like products.
So amazing product that you gotright here and I just hope and
wish nothing but the best.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Thank you for saying that, and I think that I'm
getting traction a little bit ata time.
I think, you know, the processhas been a little bit slow, but
every connection that I've madehas been a very meaningful
connection.
And so when I've met schoolprincipals and they've said, oh,
we love the book, we'd love foryou to come and meet our
(22:15):
students, those are the thingsthat I love, because I feel like
one student at a time one childat a time gets to hear the eat
a rainbow, healthy eatingmessage and that's one child
that will always have beenexplained what it means to make
healthy choices and given anopportunity to do that.
(22:38):
And you know, as an author, wedo think about things like book
sales, right, but I'm in theposition where I'm an educator
and I was an educator before Iwas a children's book author and
so I'm really interested in howmany children and their
families can I reach and can Iteach.
(22:59):
And we give away a lot of books.
We support schools, we supportcommunity organizations with
book donations and, you know,with showing up to events and
being present and talking withthe families and talking with
the children and engaging withthem, showing up and doing story
(23:20):
time right to have anopportunity to be a real person
behind a book.
And you know, what I learned isthat kids and parents are so
excited to meet an author.
Whenever I'm out and I'mhanding out my book and someone
said you wrote this book.
And I turned to the back and ithas my photo in it.
Somehow that means somethingthat I didn't know it meant that
(23:42):
much.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
It means you're the real people.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I'm the real people and so it's so nice to connect
with, to connect withindividuals.
So I see people, I see children, I see their families and when
I'm handing a parent a copy ofmy book, I always say I hope
you'll have a really nice storytime with your kiddos and read
it together.
So not so much go send them togo read a book, but read it
(24:07):
together and talk about themessage that's in the book.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
I love that.
Jen has that messaging, too,when she offers a book to
someone.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
The fuzzy furry first .
Yeah, we're on the same page.
We really wanted our books forstory time with families and
leaning in with the questions.
What are some things that welearned here?
So it's the book that keepsgiving.
And I wanted to mentionsomething about your book Rico
Eats a Rainbow.
(24:36):
I love that you didn't saydon't eat candy, don't eat chips
.
What you did instead was, Ibelieve you said it's not as
healthy, and so you're givingfree will and choice and I would
never tell you.
But this is the kind of personI am.
I almost see the rainbow as atool, if you will.
(24:56):
So if I was a little kid, evenas adult in my health journey,
this is going to help me.
What choices did I eat maketoday to eat in the green
section, and was it a healthierchoice than you know?
And just kind of go through therainbow of representing my
fruits and vegetables for theday?
But I just think the nuancesare brilliant.
(25:19):
It's not just about eating yourvegetables.
There's so much more in thisbook.
So, jen, what?
Speaker 3 (25:24):
you just described is another tool and activity for
parents, right?
So you can take the wordrainbow, blow it up in a big
font, print it out and put it inyour eating space with a box of
crayons and ask your child okay, color the letters that
(25:48):
represent the colors that youhave eaten today.
And if our goal is to eat arainbow, then let's put it where
we can see it and do it everyday or do a tally mark or
whatever.
But I think this is anopportunity.
If children are saying, oh, canI have chips, Mom gets to say,
well, let me think about it.
Did you eat your rainbow today?
(26:09):
What colors did you eat?
Well, let's make a little bitmore progress on eating our
rainbow and let's see where weare later.
And it's not no, you can neverhave chips or cookies or fill in
the blank, but it's creatingthat understanding of these are
foods that are nutrient rich andare good for your body.
(26:32):
And I'm happy you said that,Jen, because in my first draft
of the book I had drafted outsomething like oh, cookies and
candies are bad for you, right?
That's not the messaging thatwe want to send, and so that was
sort of a placeholder.
For how do I go back and findthe right language to use to
(26:54):
communicate this very importantmessage?
Because we don't want to shameparents.
We don't want parents to feellike, if you give your kiddo you
know a cookie or some favoritesnacks, that you've not made
good choices as parents.
We want people to feel likethey have the information that
they need to overall, on aday-to-day basis, make healthy
(27:16):
choices for themselves, fortheir children, for their
families.
And it's the education piece,not the shaming and making
people feel bad about theirchoices, but creating a space
where we feel safe, like we canlearn what are the right choices
to me.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, yeah I'm just I would just say it's why I love
meeting the authors or thecreator behind the work, because
there's so much passion thereand, um, I really want to
promote this book and just putit out there that, if you need,
not, if you need, it's soimportant.
(27:55):
I'm just going to speak thetruth and make it a very
personal thing.
Growing up in a certain type ofhousehold, in a certain culture
, we didn't have this kind ofeducation, and so, years later,
there's the repercussions andthe consequences of that, and
you know, we know that it is apandemic obesity in our country
(28:18):
and in the foods that we eat.
And if this is going to keepsomeone from experiencing the
long-term effects of obesity andmaking the wrong choices, this
is something worth promoting,because our kids deserve to know
the truth and deserve to makehealthier choices, and then we
support families to do that.
I think there's a lot moreaccess to healthier food now
(28:41):
than there was before.
At least there's a lot moreeducation, right, and so I
remember what food banks lookedlike back in the day and what
they look like now.
They definitely make sure toput produce in there.
Granted, you want to eat itquick because it might go bad in
a few days.
But the fact is is that justbringing up community awareness
(29:02):
and supporting your work andyour passions in this is so
important to Corey and I.
And support I want to talkabout support later as an author
, but Corey, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Absolutely, yeah, support, support, support.
What I'm really getting fromthis now is I see all the legs
and bridges to other books,other projects, other
partnerships, other things.
It's just going to multiply.
I don't know how much you wantto talk about that, but feel
(29:33):
free to share whatever it is and, before I forget, make sure you
tell us where we can find you,the book and your information.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
I will.
Yeah, I want to talk about allof those things.
And, jen, when you werespeaking about the health
component, it just reminded meearly on in my publishing of the
book, like right after Ipublished and I was sharing with
people in my professionalcircles and personal circles, I
shared the book with a group ofphysicians and their medical
society read the book and saidwow and wrote a letter of
(30:13):
endorsement for me and said, asphysicians, we applaud you on
this book and this message andwe would like to see more books
with this content in thecommunity.
And that's directly related towhat the physicians see in their
practice.
Right, the data is real wherewe have high numbers of children
with chronic conditions.
(30:33):
Right, numbers that we justhaven't seen historically.
We're at our highest for typetwo diabetes, for obesity, for
other chronic conditions thatare directly tied to our diet,
what we put in our bodies.
And so I've seen the excitementon other physicians.
I have some pediatricians in mycircle, who one has a library
(30:58):
in her practice and she has manycopies of the book that she
loans out to families and askthem to read the book and talk
about it, and so that's the kindof reception that I didn't even
know to anticipate.
I was just writing a bookbecause this was a message that
I was passionate about, but tomeet others along the way who
(31:18):
share that passion and say wesupport this work, and so it led
to the next book in the series,which is my Rico Builds a
Healthy Heart book.
That's the second book.
It's about physical activityand I'm currently in the
illustration phase of that book.
There's a third book in theseries, and that's one that came
(31:39):
to me when I was off on one ofmy writer's retreats, and it's
about hand washing.
What parent doesn't need help?
getting their little ones to gettheir hands washed right, and
so it's just been a fun book,and so what I thought was one
book has turned into achildren's book series with a
very strong public healthmessaging across it.
(32:02):
Right, and so it's just, I foundthis joy in this writing space
and I never knew I wanted to bea writer or be an author.
Sometimes, when people ask me,you know what do you do?
I forget to say I'm achildren's book author, because
that's not the thing that I dothe most or have done the
longest.
But I'm shifting that mindsetand when I introduce myself, how
(32:25):
do I want people to see me?
Who do I want to tell peoplethat I am?
And I really like to say youknow, I'm Jessica, I'm a
children's book author, and thenlater on they can figure out oh
, she's a doctor of publichealth or oh, she was an
educator.
But you know what?
I have these amazing books andbook ideas and I'm going to put
(32:45):
together this beautiful seriesthat I want parents to be able
to have and children to love.
I don't know, y'all, if you'reold enough to remember back when
it was the Sweet Pickles books,and I remember that because it
was my first book series and itwas a book subscription.
And so I want to say, aboutonce a month I got another book
(33:07):
in the mail, and that was when Iwas an early reader and those
were.
It was awesome.
Like people think,subscriptions are new, but I
remember being a little girlgrowing up and I had a book
subscription service.
I got a new book in the mailevery month and I had this
beautiful collection of booksand I still collect books and I
(33:27):
just want children to feel aboutmy books the way I have felt
about books my whole life.
I want them to see themselvesin the characters.
I want them to, I want it tomake sense and I want them to
want to read and want to learn.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Yeah, and I want to say this to you, jessica, and
I'm just expanding your visionbecause even as an adult reading
this and this is part of ourmessage to take the elevator,
there's no limit to time, and ifyou've been someone who maybe
hasn't incorporated eating arainbow, you can do it at any
(34:04):
age.
You know, it doesn't mean like,oh, this isn't for me, it's for
kids.
I think the beauty in this isit's for everybody.
Even the parents go eat arainbow at the farmer's market
too, you know, and make it afamily thing, and I think that
really speaks to children too,when they say, hey, mom, dad or
grandma, grandpa, auntie,uncle's doing this with me, and
(34:25):
I think that's the strength andcommunity strength and family as
well and they go to school andtell their friends my family is
doing this, and then their,their friends, want to do it as
well, so it's endless right Ithink teachers, kinder, first
grade teachers, second gradeteachers also get a lot of you
know response from the book andthey've created entire lessons
(34:48):
around my book and
Speaker 3 (34:50):
so they, they do.
And then you know, of course,kinder teachers, first grade
primary teachers are so creativeand so amazing.
They will take the book anddevelop an entire unit that they
teach over a whole semester,and so for the message to be
able to find a place and thenpractice it right and reinforce
(35:10):
it um over time.
I think it's great and I lovewhat you said, and I do get
responses from adults when I'msharing the book oh, I need this
too.
Yeah, my whole family needsthis, and that I never thought
that that's why I was writingthe book, and the book has
served such a such a uniquepurpose in that way, and so for
me to be able to touch a life orchange a mindset or change a
(35:32):
habit, I can do that year afteryear after year with this book.
The book is now out there inthe universe and it's touching
people and I just love that.
Somewhere right now, someoneOut where?
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Where can we get it?
Where can we find thisgreatness?
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Yeah, it.
You know the book is availableat any book seller, so
bookseller of your choice.
So if you want to get the bookfrom Amazon, you absolutely can.
If you want to get it fromBarnes and Noble, any small
independent bookstores, the bookis available and booksellers
can get it.
So if you want to get it andyou want to you're used to
(36:13):
having things delivered to yourhouse tomorrow.
You know you can use um, your,your amazon to purchase the book
and it'll be at your house.
Yeah beautiful.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Well, we definitely want to do rico eats a rainbow
giveaway to our subscribers andfollowers.
So there there'll be moreinformation on that.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Right, cory, we'll make that happen and we'll set
that up in a couple of weeksyeah, kids are back in school,
so I think this is a good time,nice and so we'll just purchase
what five, ten books and go fromthere yes, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
that's five, ten kiddos and their families who
are going to have a chance toread a really nice story with a
strong healthy eating message,and I love that you're willing
to do that and support thecommunity that way.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Absolutely Support the community and support you,
because that's important.
We got to support one another.
We got to support writers andauthors, especially people you
know and you say you care aboutthem, you say they're your
friends.
But you know a lot of timeswhat we find and and I've
experienced this even withfamily members where they'll say
, you know, uh, I heard youwriting books and I'm like, yeah
(37:22):
, when did, when are you goingto get one?
And they're more looking for meto give them one.
But what?
What people don't understand isthat giving a book away is
great if you're furthering acause, but just someone that
wants a book that really takesmoney out of our pocket as
authors, yeah, you know what'sso powerful is in for for anyone
(37:46):
to say you know, this issomething that I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
And then everyone's next question is how can I
support you?
What can I do to support you?
And what I've noticed, you know, over the years working on my
book project.
There are some people whoimmediately understand, and they
just have it within themselves,that whatever it is you're
doing, whatever it is you'reselling, I want to support it.
(38:11):
I want to buy it.
Give me one, give me five, giveme 10, but I'm going to support
you.
So I don't.
I want to buy whatever it isyou're selling as a way to
support what you're doing.
And then I've experiencedsomething quite different than
that.
I've experienced people who sayoh, you're writing a book, well
(38:31):
, send me a copy, yeah send me asigned copy and it's like, oh
okay, yeah, you just wait, andit's not quite the enthusiasm.
That is helpful as a creator,that is helpful as a creator.
(38:53):
And then there's also, you know, I think, what I find with some
of the elders in my family,where I just want to show them
what I've been working on.
I just get that copy, I sign it, I put it in the mail and they
get to open the mail and seethis thing that they're, you
know, the young person in theirfamily has spent their time
developing and they're so proudand maybe they would not have
been able to kind of justquickly figure out how to get it
(39:16):
themselves.
So I just want to get it to youbecause this is for our family,
this is for our community and Ijust want as many people as
possible to see it andexperience it.
And I think we've got.
You know, I've got.
I've had so much support alongthe way.
I've had friends who haveintroduced me to people who.
(39:43):
It was so great that I met them,because that created a space
for me to get to another levelin my book project.
Right, there have been peoplewho have bought copies.
I have one friend who buys acopy of my book and every time
there's a baby shower that'spart of the baby shower gift to
build the newborn's library, andso my book is in newborns
libraries all around, you know,all around the country.
I've shared the book, you know,in other countries as well, and
(40:06):
so it's just finding.
I think we all could askourselves just to think a little
bit more carefully about how wecan show our love and support
to others at whatever phasethey're in, whatever projects
they're working on, and then usas authors.
It's just great if you just buya copy of our book, there's a
child somewhere in your circlewho's somewhere right.
(40:28):
Just buy one copy and that justmeans the world to us as authors
.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Jen, I know we got to wrap up, but I got to ask this
one question because, from onefrom two authors to one author,
how does it feel, how does itmake you feel, to know that your
work is living on and it willbe here long after you're gone?
Speaker 3 (40:49):
I don't sit and think about it that way, but now that
you mention it, that is soincredible and what a gift to me
to be able to create something,put it out in the world, put it
out in the universe, and itjust keep going and going and
going and I love that.
And giving, and giving andgiving.
(41:09):
And how wonderful for thisgeneration, the next generation,
the one after that.
Somewhere someone's going topull a Rico eats a rainbow, or
Rico builds a healthy heart, orRico book series, and the same
with the fuzzy, furry forestright.
It'll live on forever onpeople's bookshelves and
people's hearts, and childrenwill have interacted with all of
(41:31):
the characters that we havecreated and I never really
thought about it like that kindof impact.
So thank you for saying it thatway.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
I love the human work , the human connection and just
the heart for all.
That's good.
Jessica, it's been amazinghaving you here.
Thank you, great job on RicoEats a Rainbow and we wish you
continued success throughout theseries.
I can't wait for Builds aHealthy Heart.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
I'd love for your listeners to find me somewhere
out there.
So Rico Eats a Rainbow oninstagram, yes, on facebook that
is the title of the book atgmail and for some people like
to reach out directly.
So I look forward to hearingand connecting further with your
community and circle oflisteners beautiful indeed yes
(42:25):
yes, well, you know us to takethe elevator.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
We say, look up and let's elevate.
hey, it's jen the builder, and cory and a special
guest and a special guest yeah,I definitely want to recognize
that there are three people inthis studio and we're so excited
to bring this episode today.
But, corey, I know you've gotsome things you want to share
that I'm going to add too.
So what do you got, tell us.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So we had a really exciting Friday and I just want
to share with everyone theenjoyment that we had.
We went to LA Care this Fridayand we were able to connect and
meet with families and they hada back-to-school backpack
giveaway, and so anytime youhave a chance to give back to
the community and you get tomeet people, meet children and
(01:00):
talk children language becausethat's what I love to do the
most it just fills my heart withjoy.
So, jen, how did you feel likethe day went?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I thought it was absolutely lovely.
We did meet a lot of people.
I got to practice my Spanishand here's my takeaway.
There's a lot more Spanish Ineed to learn, so I've got a
date with I think it's do a do alinga, is that what it's called
?
Yeah, um, and just startlearning that.
(01:32):
But it was so great to meetgrandparents.
Um, there were some aunts thatrepresented their nieces and
nephews yeah and it was justgood conversation and we found
so much in common with people.
We actually met someone whojust got out of school to be a
community health worker, so thatwas really fun, and then
another one who also wanted towrite books.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
So it was.
It was amazing.
Now ask me about the drive.
So we got to LA in an hour.
That was cool.
It took us three hours to getback home from la, and that's
because friday traffic insaneyeah, but ask me if it was worth
it.
I'm gonna say yes and that wedo it again in a heartbeat.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, so today we have a special guest, and I'm
gonna stop just right therebecause I remember something.
I heard her talking to someoneelse and she speaks fluent
Spanish.
I mean, like I didn't know thatA pro and I was like, oh my God
, this woman is talking Spanishand so, introducing her, I just
(02:38):
want to say that she's a friend,she's an author, a writer,
she's a doctor.
She's a friend, she's an author, a writer, she's a doctor,
she's a professional, she's inhealth care.
I think she really knows whatshe's doing.
She has a very engaging andcolorful book that's out right
(03:00):
now.
It's called Rico Eats a Rainbow.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So cute.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Amazing right.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Rico Eats a Whole Rainbow.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
And yeah, it's a whole rainbow.
But coming to the mic right now, we're going to welcome in Dr
Jessica Miller.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Right on Thank you Thank you, thank you.
It's such great energy in thisstudio and being here with you
two is such a treat, so thankyou for including me today
energy in this studio and beinghere with you two is such a
treat, so thank you forincluding me today, absolutely
Well, I'd love to read, becauseyou know we like to do the
formal intro, if you will,because we are a podcast after
all.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
So I just want to talk a little bit about Jessica.
As you mentioned, corey, she isa doctor doctor of public
health degree in healtheducation from Loma Linda
University.
She also works as a publichealth specialist, conducting
research and evaluation ofhealth services and community
programs, and is an adjunctprofessor of public health
(03:57):
sciences.
Man, jessica, wow.
And then with more than 20years of education experience
and a love for children.
So we definitely have that incommon with Jessica.
She has a Master of Arts degreein education and is credentialed
through the state of Californiaas a teacher and administrator.
Jessica, I love that you livein SoCal.
(04:18):
Yes, have you always lived here?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
I have not.
My family is originally fromMichigan, so we moved to
Southern California many yearsago.
When I go home to Michigan, Ithink they ask things like where
are you from?
So maybe I'm a California girlnow.
Maybe Michigan's always in myheart, from Detroit.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Detroit, okay, motor City.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Motor City Born and raised.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Love it, and then you enjoy traveling, reading and a
variety of outdoor leisureactivities I do, I do
well-rounded, well-rounded, andwe're so happy that you're here
let me start like this because,uh, she does love to travel and
she has said some places she'swent that I couldn't even
pronounce.
And can you just tell us a fewplaces that you've traveled to
(05:01):
that you found very interesting?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, you know, I started living in Michigan, we
would go to Canada often andit's literally just across the
Ambassador Bridge in Detroit,and so from a very young age it
was just we always went toCanada.
And then living in California,I've been to Mexico quite a bit
and when I got about college ageI went to Mexico and spent some
(05:28):
time there as an exchangestudent and you mentioned
earlier about speaking Spanishand that's really where I began
to just really develop fluencyin Spanish was just living there
, living with a beautiful familyand then studying, taking all
the formal courses as a collegestudent as well, and just have
always had a love for travel andfor languages, and so I've been
(05:51):
to just I've been to a numberof countries in Europe that have
been a lot of fun.
Maybe most recently I went toTahiti and I had a great time
there and just had a nice kindof a writer's retreat.
So now that I've startedwriting, I like to do these
getaways and these kind ofretreats where I can recharge
(06:13):
and let some creative juicesflow and come away with some
ideas for my new book projects.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Absolutely.
I love that, and we're startingto travel, so I'm getting some
tips.
You know, I had a big issuewith large bodies of water so it
took me a minute to get overthat, but I'm working through
that.
Jessica, tell us something else, that really, what's something
that you love to do outside oftraveling and the writing piece.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I like to be outdoors , ok, of traveling and the
riding piece.
I like to be outdoors, okay.
And so, you know, there's somany neat places in Southern
California to kind of find sometrails from the mountains to the
ocean.
There's so much in between, andso I've lived, you know, in
really neat places, kind of theInland Empire, but also in
Orange County.
I have some favorite placesthere where I like to, you know,
(07:04):
go hiking and go to the beach.
There are some kind of secretbeaches, I'm not going to tell
you where they are.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Those are my quiet places.
We'll wait till the podcast.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I'll tell you later.
Right, yeah, so how did yourpassion grow or where did that
come from?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
as far as public health and teaching, yeah, so
thank you for asking that,because my career really started
as a teacher and my firstteaching job was with a county
program and it was a teen momprogram.
So my first students wereteenagers who were either
(07:41):
pregnant or had recentlydelivered their babies and they
were still matriculating throughthe education system, and
that's when I knew for sure thatI really enjoyed the girls just
being really a teacher, butalso a mentor and someone who
really was counseling and ableto just help the young ladies do
(08:06):
the next thing they could do intheir lives and just keep going
and from there.
My next job was as a Spanishteacher At a high school.
Just enjoyed that for manyyears and then went on later to
(08:26):
be an assistant principal at amiddle school.
A junior high school laterstarted my own charter schools.
I was a school principal forelementary and so all of those
different experiences working onthose different levels of
education each one of thoseexperiences just got me to where
I am today and taught me what Ineeded to know.
(08:49):
So as a teacher I was teachingothers, but I was also learning
all of the life lessons that Ineeded to learn along the way to
be able to be really who I amand where I am today, and so
it's a very great career ineducation.
It was during my time as anassistant principal that I
developed an interest in healthyeating and healthy meals and I
(09:14):
just made some observations.
I observed seventh and eighthgrade kids could go to the
school cafeteria and they couldget a frozen, reheated food like
product right, not a breakfastlike when I was growing up in
detroit and you could smell theright food product am.
I am the only one in this studiowho remembers being in grade
(09:37):
school and there actually werecooks in the kitchen and you
could smell the cooking smellscoming down the hall.
Yes, and you hear the clankingof utensils, yeah, and they had
the big pots and they had thehairnets on and the aprons and
you knew it was.
You know, whatever it was thatday, it had been made that day.
Yeah, children packagedfood-like products right when
(10:05):
the quality is not.
It's not our best that we couldbe offering children in schools
.
And so I just made those kindsof observations.
I would get into these tuftswith the cafeteria manager.
You know, can you get somehealthier choices?
Let's get rid of some of thesedonuts.
And you know, and and you know,the reality was that the
(10:26):
cafeterias where children wouldbuy flaming hot chips and you
know all the different kinds ofsnacks throughout the day.
Honestly, jen and Corey made alot of money, made a lot of
money was really a bit of a cashcow for the school district.
And that was upsetting to me andI just felt like it shouldn't
(10:47):
be that way and I also felt likepeople didn't listen to me.
I wasn't a registered dietitian, I wasn't a nutritionist, I
didn't have those kinds ofcredentials.
And so later, when I wasthinking about what do I want to
get a doctorate in, I thoughtabout some of the everyday work
that I was doing.
What do I want to get adoctorate in?
I thought about some of theeveryday work that I was doing.
Right In education, a lot ofpeople get doctorates and it's
(11:10):
an EDD, an educationalorganization, or you.
You know I was working withchildren with special needs.
Do I want to get a PhD inlanguage acquisition?
None of that was reallyexciting to me.
Acquisition None of that wasreally exciting to me.
And then I found a doctor ofpublic health program and I felt
like I knew what I was going todo.
(11:31):
And what I wanted to do was bethe person in the school
district who could coordinateand develop and implement health
and wellness programs forchildren, for their families,
for the community.
And that's what I developed apassion about.
If you're going to get adoctorate, you have to find
something you're passionateabout, something that really
makes you say, wow, this is, I'mexcited about this.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Good advice, great advice.
So that just brings us right tothe front door of this book
that you created and wrote, andI know for a fact that it opened
my eyes to your passion, and italso gave me an insight to what
kids should be actually lookingto do and looking to grow into.
(12:18):
Tell us about Rico Eats aRainbow.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Rico Eats a Rainbow is my children's book with a
very clear public health messagearound making strong, healthy
eating choices, and the book andthe main character is created
in the likeness of my nephew,Rico.
He was my inspiration and whenhe was about three years old,
(12:43):
you know he was that preschoolage and he loved books and loved
reading.
He would sit in my lap, he wouldsit next to me and we would
read books.
And that's that age where youget to the end of the book and
they read it again, and theydon't care if you just read the
same book over and over again.
And he loved to hear the stories.
He couldn't read the words, buthe could to hear the stories.
(13:05):
He couldn't read the words, buthe could look at the pictures
and he could repeat what I saidand he would use the same voices
that I used in the characters.
And it just made me feel like Iwanted to create a story for
Rico.
I wanted him to see himself ina book.
I wanted him to see a characterthat looked like him.
I wanted there to be acharacter named after him.
(13:26):
And that was the plan.
I was just going to write alittle story for Rico.
I was going to go down to thecopy place and I was going to
print it out and put the littlebindy thing on it and I was
going to give it to him.
That was going to be his book.
And as I got further along indeveloping it, something hit me
and I said you know what thisbook could be for all children?
(13:49):
This book could really touch alot of children.
And as the healthy eatingmessage, thank you.
As the healthy eating messagewas developing onto paper, I
just said this is going to besomething that I want to share
beyond just my family, and thenthat was just kind of it.
(14:11):
I put it on the shelf and didn'treally think about it for a
while and had to figure out okay, I've got the storyline, how am
I going to illustrate it?
And just kind of worked on someother things and stepped away
from it for a while and one dayI would say maybe a year or so
later, I came back to thatnotepad on the bookshelf and
(14:32):
pulled it out and thought aboutit again and the creative juices
started flowing and I did alittle bit more work on it and I
put it back on the shelf.
And you know, life gets busyand so just doing all of the
things.
And then there was that one dayI don't remember quite when
when I pulled it off the shelfand I said, okay, I'm going to
finish this, and just sat therewith it and just played with it
(14:55):
and had something that I wasreally happy with and just
thought it was fun.
I was excited.
And then, jen and Corey, Ididn't know what to do next,
because who just knows, like,how you wrote this neat little
thing?
Who knows how to do a book?
Nobody just knows how to do abook.
And so that was the.
You know, do a book.
Nobody just knows how to do abook, and so that was the you
(15:18):
know from.
From there you know it's.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It's a whole different world trying to figure
out how to do something you'venever done before.
Right, Let me.
Let me jump in there real quick.
What I noticed about this bookand yes, I'm selling it right
now but I noticed the colorsjust pop off the pages and
everything is so vibrant and,like I said, colorful and and
it's not.
It's not like a book thatyou've seen, like the other
(15:41):
books, it's a lot of reallydifferent images and it has to
do with what you're writingabout.
Tell us about how you came upwith the concept to make the
pages pop like that.
And then, too, what made yousay he eats a rainbow?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah.
So those are all greatquestions and thank you for
acknowledging just the vibrancyof the book and the colors.
It is very colorful really.
To match the title, rico Eats aRainbow and so of course we've
got to showcase all of thedifferent colors of the rainbow.
And it is very colorful andvery bright, vibrant in the
(16:21):
story.
You know Rico and his parents.
They're communicating with eachother.
Rico goes to visit his aunt.
Rico comes home and his mom anddad say oh, what did you do at
your auntie's house?
And Rico says oh, we did a lotof things.
We went swimming, we read books, we, you know, we had a lot of
fun.
And you know what else?
I ate a rainbow.
(16:43):
And his parents are hearing thatterm.
I ate a rainbow for the firsttime, and so now this is an
opportunity for parents toengage with their child around
this message what does it meanto eat a rainbow?
And it was a bit of a strategicmove on my part because I
(17:04):
wanted the main character in thestory to be a smart little boy
who has some knowledge, and hegets to teach his parents
something.
How fun is that for kids toknow something their parents
don't know?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
And then the parents right.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
And then the parents, of course, play along and
engage with him, and that's partof what I wanted to communicate
and really have a tool forparents, for adults to model for
them how to have conversationswith their children about
different topics, and this topicjust happens to be about making
(17:37):
healthy eating choices.
So does Rico really eat a realrainbow?
He goes on and shares with hisparents that this is really
about eating all of the colorsof the rainbow.
And then what happens in thebook?
His parents immediately engagewith him and say oh, we can find
foods in all of the colors ofthe rainbow at the farmer's
market.
Let's go for a walk, let's goto the farmer's market, and it's
(18:01):
sort of that.
There are things near our housethat we can do.
There are places that we canjust take a walk to.
It doesn't have to be a bigdeal.
Just a regular part of ourlives can be going to a farmer's
market.
Guess what?
If there's no farmer's marketnear your house, we can go to
the grocery store and we can dothis same little activity.
We can find foods in all of thecolors of the rainbow amazing I
(18:24):
totally picked up on that whenI was reading this book.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
I said, jessica, you are a smart woman and the public
health came out.
I loved, um the representationof family.
I love seeing mom and dad leanin in curiosity and gave rico a
chance to be excited and teachback what he learned.
(18:47):
That really spoke.
And I love the promotion of afarmer's market.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Um so because we love a farmer's market.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Yeah, farmer's market is the best place yeah, there's
one scene in the book where uhrico and his parents they're
talking about mom or dad sayssomething like you know, these
fruits and vegetables have a lotof nutrients what excellent
vocabulary right so of course.
What are nutrients?
(19:16):
And mom, mom and dad go on toexplain and define what are
nutrients, and it's greatvocabulary to use with children.
So we want to introduce healthymessages, but we also want to
explain to kids and help themunderstand, because the goal is
really to develop a lifetime ofhealthy habits and so to have
(19:38):
little kids who are justlearning to read and who are
excited about books, find acharacter they can identify with
and then come up with a at theend of the book.
Now can we go home and eat ourrainbow, home and eat our
(20:00):
rainbow.
And you know this book has beenadopted as curriculum in health
education programs.
Schools are using the book aspart of their healthy living
curriculum and I've seenteachers of preschoolers engage
their children, and so we haveseen activities where the adults
will bring different foods ofthe different colors of the
rainbow and do taste tests forchildren and children are I like
(20:24):
cucumbers?
You know and it's just amazingto see when you try.
You know, don't just assume, oh, my child doesn't like
vegetables.
Let your child participate inthe selection of vegetables, the
preparation of vegetables, thecooking of vegetables and see
what happens.
And I think for many parentswho may need a little help,
(20:46):
because sometimes the dinnertable can get a little crazy or
they might just feel like youknow their children have their
favorites or are picky eaters.
Well, how can we address that?
Let's engage, let's haveactivities that can be fun to do
and can create conversationsthat can help cement the
(21:07):
thinking about how we eat andthe choices we make.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
I'm so glad you said that.
Well, all of that, but youmentioned that the book is
already being used as curriculum.
It's being used in schooldistricts and I was just about
to say, right before you got tothat piece who do we call?
How do we get this book allover the world, in every school
district?
Right, because, again, younailed it on the head earlier
(21:34):
when you said that we have foodlike products in our, in our
school system, and now it'sinfiltrating all over the world,
in every place where you getfood like products.
So amazing product that you gotright here and I just hope and
wish nothing but the best.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Thank you for saying that, and I think that I'm
getting traction a little bit ata time.
I think, you know, the processhas been a little bit slow, but
every connection that I've madehas been a very meaningful
connection.
And so when I've met schoolprincipals and they've said, oh,
we love the book, we'd love foryou to come and meet our
(22:15):
students, those are the thingsthat I love, because I feel like
one student at a time one childat a time gets to hear the eat
a rainbow, healthy eatingmessage and that's one child
that will always have beenexplained what it means to make
healthy choices and given anopportunity to do that.
(22:38):
And you know, as an author, wedo think about things like book
sales, right, but I'm in theposition where I'm an educator
and I was an educator before Iwas a children's book author and
so I'm really interested in howmany children and their
families can I reach and can Iteach.
(22:59):
And we give away a lot of books.
We support schools, we supportcommunity organizations with
book donations and, you know,with showing up to events and
being present and talking withthe families and talking with
the children and engaging withthem, showing up and doing story
(23:20):
time right to have anopportunity to be a real person
behind a book.
And you know, what I learned isthat kids and parents are so
excited to meet an author.
Whenever I'm out and I'mhanding out my book and someone
said you wrote this book.
And I turned to the back and ithas my photo in it.
Somehow that means somethingthat I didn't know it meant that
(23:42):
much.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
It means you're the real people.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I'm the real people and so it's so nice to connect
with, to connect withindividuals.
So I see people, I see children, I see their families and when
I'm handing a parent a copy ofmy book, I always say I hope
you'll have a really nice storytime with your kiddos and read
it together.
So not so much go send them togo read a book, but read it
(24:07):
together and talk about themessage that's in the book.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
I love that.
Jen has that messaging, too,when she offers a book to
someone.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
The fuzzy furry first .
Yeah, we're on the same page.
We really wanted our books forstory time with families and
leaning in with the questions.
What are some things that welearned here?
So it's the book that keepsgiving.
And I wanted to mentionsomething about your book Rico
Eats a Rainbow.
(24:36):
I love that you didn't saydon't eat candy, don't eat chips
.
What you did instead was, Ibelieve you said it's not as
healthy, and so you're givingfree will and choice and I would
never tell you.
But this is the kind of personI am.
I almost see the rainbow as atool, if you will.
(24:56):
So if I was a little kid, evenas adult in my health journey,
this is going to help me.
What choices did I eat maketoday to eat in the green
section, and was it a healthierchoice than you know?
And just kind of go through therainbow of representing my
fruits and vegetables for theday?
But I just think the nuancesare brilliant.
(25:19):
It's not just about eating yourvegetables.
There's so much more in thisbook.
So, jen, what?
Speaker 3 (25:24):
you just described is another tool and activity for
parents, right?
So you can take the wordrainbow, blow it up in a big
font, print it out and put it inyour eating space with a box of
crayons and ask your child okay, color the letters that
(25:48):
represent the colors that youhave eaten today.
And if our goal is to eat arainbow, then let's put it where
we can see it and do it everyday or do a tally mark or
whatever.
But I think this is anopportunity.
If children are saying, oh, canI have chips, Mom gets to say,
well, let me think about it.
Did you eat your rainbow today?
(26:09):
What colors did you eat?
Well, let's make a little bitmore progress on eating our
rainbow and let's see where weare later.
And it's not no, you can neverhave chips or cookies or fill in
the blank, but it's creatingthat understanding of these are
foods that are nutrient rich andare good for your body.
(26:32):
And I'm happy you said that,Jen, because in my first draft
of the book I had drafted outsomething like oh, cookies and
candies are bad for you, right?
That's not the messaging thatwe want to send, and so that was
sort of a placeholder.
For how do I go back and findthe right language to use to
(26:54):
communicate this very importantmessage?
Because we don't want to shameparents.
We don't want parents to feellike, if you give your kiddo you
know a cookie or some favoritesnacks, that you've not made
good choices as parents.
We want people to feel likethey have the information that
they need to overall, on aday-to-day basis, make healthy
(27:16):
choices for themselves, fortheir children, for their
families.
And it's the education piece,not the shaming and making
people feel bad about theirchoices, but creating a space
where we feel safe, like we canlearn what are the right choices
to me.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, yeah I'm just I would just say it's why I love
meeting the authors or thecreator behind the work, because
there's so much passion thereand, um, I really want to
promote this book and just putit out there that, if you need,
not, if you need, it's soimportant.
(27:55):
I'm just going to speak thetruth and make it a very
personal thing.
Growing up in a certain type ofhousehold, in a certain culture
, we didn't have this kind ofeducation, and so, years later,
there's the repercussions andthe consequences of that, and
you know, we know that it is apandemic obesity in our country
(28:18):
and in the foods that we eat.
And if this is going to keepsomeone from experiencing the
long-term effects of obesity andmaking the wrong choices, this
is something worth promoting,because our kids deserve to know
the truth and deserve to makehealthier choices, and then we
support families to do that.
I think there's a lot moreaccess to healthier food now
(28:41):
than there was before.
At least there's a lot moreeducation, right, and so I
remember what food banks lookedlike back in the day and what
they look like now.
They definitely make sure toput produce in there.
Granted, you want to eat itquick because it might go bad in
a few days.
But the fact is is that justbringing up community awareness
(29:02):
and supporting your work andyour passions in this is so
important to Corey and I.
And support I want to talkabout support later as an author
, but Corey, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Absolutely, yeah, support, support, support.
What I'm really getting fromthis now is I see all the legs
and bridges to other books,other projects, other
partnerships, other things.
It's just going to multiply.
I don't know how much you wantto talk about that, but feel
(29:33):
free to share whatever it is and, before I forget, make sure you
tell us where we can find you,the book and your information.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
I will.
Yeah, I want to talk about allof those things.
And, jen, when you werespeaking about the health
component, it just reminded meearly on in my publishing of the
book, like right after Ipublished and I was sharing with
people in my professionalcircles and personal circles, I
shared the book with a group ofphysicians and their medical
society read the book and saidwow and wrote a letter of
(30:13):
endorsement for me and said, asphysicians, we applaud you on
this book and this message andwe would like to see more books
with this content in thecommunity.
And that's directly related towhat the physicians see in their
practice.
Right, the data is real wherewe have high numbers of children
with chronic conditions.
(30:33):
Right, numbers that we justhaven't seen historically.
We're at our highest for typetwo diabetes, for obesity, for
other chronic conditions thatare directly tied to our diet,
what we put in our bodies.
And so I've seen the excitementon other physicians.
I have some pediatricians in mycircle, who one has a library
(30:58):
in her practice and she has manycopies of the book that she
loans out to families and askthem to read the book and talk
about it, and so that's the kindof reception that I didn't even
know to anticipate.
I was just writing a bookbecause this was a message that
I was passionate about, but tomeet others along the way who
(31:18):
share that passion and say wesupport this work, and so it led
to the next book in the series,which is my Rico Builds a
Healthy Heart book.
That's the second book.
It's about physical activityand I'm currently in the
illustration phase of that book.
There's a third book in theseries, and that's one that came
(31:39):
to me when I was off on one ofmy writer's retreats, and it's
about hand washing.
What parent doesn't need help?
getting their little ones to gettheir hands washed right, and
so it's just been a fun book,and so what I thought was one
book has turned into achildren's book series with a
very strong public healthmessaging across it.
(32:02):
Right, and so it's just, I foundthis joy in this writing space
and I never knew I wanted to bea writer or be an author.
Sometimes, when people ask me,you know what do you do?
I forget to say I'm achildren's book author, because
that's not the thing that I dothe most or have done the
longest.
But I'm shifting that mindsetand when I introduce myself, how
(32:25):
do I want people to see me?
Who do I want to tell peoplethat I am?
And I really like to say youknow, I'm Jessica, I'm a
children's book author, and thenlater on they can figure out oh
, she's a doctor of publichealth or oh, she was an
educator.
But you know what?
I have these amazing books andbook ideas and I'm going to put
(32:45):
together this beautiful seriesthat I want parents to be able
to have and children to love.
I don't know, y'all, if you'reold enough to remember back when
it was the Sweet Pickles books,and I remember that because it
was my first book series and itwas a book subscription.
And so I want to say, aboutonce a month I got another book
(33:07):
in the mail, and that was when Iwas an early reader and those
were.
It was awesome.
Like people think,subscriptions are new, but I
remember being a little girlgrowing up and I had a book
subscription service.
I got a new book in the mailevery month and I had this
beautiful collection of booksand I still collect books and I
(33:27):
just want children to feel aboutmy books the way I have felt
about books my whole life.
I want them to see themselvesin the characters.
I want them to, I want it tomake sense and I want them to
want to read and want to learn.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Yeah, and I want to say this to you, jessica, and
I'm just expanding your visionbecause even as an adult reading
this and this is part of ourmessage to take the elevator,
there's no limit to time, and ifyou've been someone who maybe
hasn't incorporated eating arainbow, you can do it at any
(34:04):
age.
You know, it doesn't mean like,oh, this isn't for me, it's for
kids.
I think the beauty in this isit's for everybody.
Even the parents go eat arainbow at the farmer's market
too, you know, and make it afamily thing, and I think that
really speaks to children too,when they say, hey, mom, dad or
grandma, grandpa, auntie,uncle's doing this with me, and
(34:25):
I think that's the strength andcommunity strength and family as
well and they go to school andtell their friends my family is
doing this, and then their,their friends, want to do it as
well, so it's endless right Ithink teachers, kinder, first
grade teachers, second gradeteachers also get a lot of you
know response from the book andthey've created entire lessons
(34:48):
around my book and
Speaker 3 (34:50):
so they, they do.
And then you know, of course,kinder teachers, first grade
primary teachers are so creativeand so amazing.
They will take the book anddevelop an entire unit that they
teach over a whole semester,and so for the message to be
able to find a place and thenpractice it right and reinforce
(35:10):
it um over time.
I think it's great and I lovewhat you said, and I do get
responses from adults when I'msharing the book oh, I need this
too.
Yeah, my whole family needsthis, and that I never thought
that that's why I was writingthe book, and the book has
served such a such a uniquepurpose in that way, and so for
me to be able to touch a life orchange a mindset or change a
(35:32):
habit, I can do that year afteryear after year with this book.
The book is now out there inthe universe and it's touching
people and I just love that.
Somewhere right now, someoneOut where?
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Where can we get it?
Where can we find thisgreatness?
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Yeah, it.
You know the book is availableat any book seller, so
bookseller of your choice.
So if you want to get the bookfrom Amazon, you absolutely can.
If you want to get it fromBarnes and Noble, any small
independent bookstores, the bookis available and booksellers
can get it.
So if you want to get it andyou want to you're used to
(36:13):
having things delivered to yourhouse tomorrow.
You know you can use um, your,your amazon to purchase the book
and it'll be at your house.
Yeah beautiful.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Well, we definitely want to do rico eats a rainbow
giveaway to our subscribers andfollowers.
So there there'll be moreinformation on that.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Right, cory, we'll make that happen and we'll set
that up in a couple of weeksyeah, kids are back in school,
so I think this is a good time,nice and so we'll just purchase
what five, ten books and go fromthere yes, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
that's five, ten kiddos and their families who
are going to have a chance toread a really nice story with a
strong healthy eating message,and I love that you're willing
to do that and support thecommunity that way.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
Absolutely Support the community and support you,
because that's important.
We got to support one another.
We got to support writers andauthors, especially people you
know and you say you care aboutthem, you say they're your
friends.
But you know a lot of timeswhat we find and and I've
experienced this even withfamily members where they'll say
, you know, uh, I heard youwriting books and I'm like, yeah
(37:22):
, when did, when are you goingto get one?
And they're more looking for meto give them one.
But what?
What people don't understand isthat giving a book away is
great if you're furthering acause, but just someone that
wants a book that really takesmoney out of our pocket as
authors, yeah, you know what'sso powerful is in for for anyone
(37:46):
to say you know, this issomething that I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
And then everyone's next question is how can I
support you?
What can I do to support you?
And what I've noticed, you know, over the years working on my
book project.
There are some people whoimmediately understand, and they
just have it within themselves,that whatever it is you're
doing, whatever it is you'reselling, I want to support it.
(38:11):
I want to buy it.
Give me one, give me five, giveme 10, but I'm going to support
you.
So I don't.
I want to buy whatever it isyou're selling as a way to
support what you're doing.
And then I've experiencedsomething quite different than
that.
I've experienced people who sayoh, you're writing a book, well
(38:31):
, send me a copy, yeah send me asigned copy and it's like, oh
okay, yeah, you just wait, andit's not quite the enthusiasm.
That is helpful as a creator,that is helpful as a creator.
(38:53):
And then there's also, you know, I think, what I find with some
of the elders in my family,where I just want to show them
what I've been working on.
I just get that copy, I sign it, I put it in the mail and they
get to open the mail and seethis thing that they're, you
know, the young person in theirfamily has spent their time
developing and they're so proudand maybe they would not have
been able to kind of justquickly figure out how to get it
(39:16):
themselves.
So I just want to get it to youbecause this is for our family,
this is for our community and Ijust want as many people as
possible to see it andexperience it.
And I think we've got.
You know, I've got.
I've had so much support alongthe way.
I've had friends who haveintroduced me to people who.
(39:43):
It was so great that I met them,because that created a space
for me to get to another levelin my book project.
Right, there have been peoplewho have bought copies.
I have one friend who buys acopy of my book and every time
there's a baby shower that'spart of the baby shower gift to
build the newborn's library, andso my book is in newborns
libraries all around, you know,all around the country.
I've shared the book, you know,in other countries as well, and
(40:06):
so it's just finding.
I think we all could askourselves just to think a little
bit more carefully about how wecan show our love and support
to others at whatever phasethey're in, whatever projects
they're working on, and then usas authors.
It's just great if you just buya copy of our book, there's a
child somewhere in your circlewho's somewhere right.
(40:28):
Just buy one copy and that justmeans the world to us as authors
.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Jen, I know we got to wrap up, but I got to ask this
one question because, from onefrom two authors to one author,
how does it feel, how does itmake you feel, to know that your
work is living on and it willbe here long after you're gone?
Speaker 3 (40:49):
I don't sit and think about it that way, but now that
you mention it, that is soincredible and what a gift to me
to be able to create something,put it out in the world, put it
out in the universe, and itjust keep going and going and
going and I love that.
And giving, and giving andgiving.
(41:09):
And how wonderful for thisgeneration, the next generation,
the one after that.
Somewhere someone's going topull a Rico eats a rainbow, or
Rico builds a healthy heart, orRico book series, and the same
with the fuzzy, furry forestright.
It'll live on forever onpeople's bookshelves and
people's hearts, and childrenwill have interacted with all of
(41:31):
the characters that we havecreated and I never really
thought about it like that kindof impact.
So thank you for saying it thatway.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
I love the human work , the human connection and just
the heart for all.
That's good.
Jessica, it's been amazinghaving you here.
Thank you, great job on RicoEats a Rainbow and we wish you
continued success throughout theseries.
I can't wait for Builds aHealthy Heart.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
I'd love for your listeners to find me somewhere
out there.
So Rico Eats a Rainbow oninstagram, yes, on facebook that
is the title of the book atgmail and for some people like
to reach out directly.
So I look forward to hearingand connecting further with your
community and circle oflisteners beautiful indeed yes
(42:25):
yes, well, you know us to takethe elevator.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
We say, look up and let's elevate.
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