The idea of this book for children had been brewing in my mind for a few years now. The idea came to me when the media was filled with news of humans’ hatred, and violence against one another. That’s when I thought that the lack of awareness about one another is one of many reasons humans go against humans. Childhood is where you are learning the most, and so this book for children. 

About the art in the book: I was in Guadalajara, Mexico in November of 2021. Walking over the weekend, on the streets of Guadalajara Centro market, I saw a man drawing caricatures of people. So I approached him to make my caricature. I was impressed by him so much, that I thought, he would be the best person for the art you see in the book. It was quite a process in explaining to him what I wanted as I didn’t know how to speak on Spanish. So I used Google Translate. I then bought a large sketch book for him, with a lot of color pencils from the market. After about three days of back and forth, the artist had my sketchbook filled with the pictures you see in the book. I noticed that the artist was very good at creating sketches from seeing real things, and so I sent him pictures of what I wanted and asked him to create his versions of the art. And so came about the pictures in the book.

What’s in a name: During that same visit, I met a 2yr old girl in an Indian restaurant being a toddler, had her mom on her feet. So I started a dialog with her and the mom. That chat brought two moms to a friendship of a lifetime. During that same visit I met with a beautiful family of four, a young couple with beautiful boys. The young couple is related to a very dear friend of mine in the US. While dining with the family I observed their 6yr old and his innocence and curiosity as a child. Months would pass, these two kids showed up in my meditations, and inspired by this I picked the 2yr old and 6yr olds’ first names, and there came my pen name ‘Emma Matteo’.

I hope not only children, adults read this book to their children, and gain an insight on the diversity we bring, yet preaching the same message of love, peace and harmony. Wish you happy reading of ‘My First Book of World Religions’. Yes, the book is now out, and yes, this is my first children’s book. There will be another two to follow, as the child grows to become a young adult!