FEARLESS Publisher Arian Simone interviewed DeShawn Snow regarding her upcoming children’s book series “Lil Shawnee.” Snow discussed how little girls will be able to relate to the “Lil Shawnee” books and why girls having good self-esteem is important to their development and accomplishing their goals in life. She also spoke about how the character Shawnee is loosely based on her life.
DeShawn Snow, who you may recognize as a television personality, businesswoman and philanthropist, plans to release a children’s book series called “Lil’ Shawnee” on May 1st.
The series follows a young fifth grade girl namedShawnee(which is Snow’s nickname and is loosely based on her life), who struggles with low self-esteem and social experiences that are common for elementary school girls.
Snow appeared on the first season of the BRAVO series “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” and encouraging girls and helping them build their self-esteem are what she has always been passionate about and is the key focus of her DeShawn Snow Foundation.
She is self-publishing the “Lil Shawnee” series through Carpenter’s Son Publishing and it is available for pre-order on Amazon.com.
The “Lil Shawnee” book series is illustrated by David Allen Perrin III, and they consist of titles such as “The Rumor: And The Truth Shall Set You Free,” which is where Shawnee faces the meanest of school bullies and the threat of humiliation, “Keeping Up With the Joneses: And How Love Is All You Need,” which is about Shawnee learning that what looks wonderful in the eyes of others is often not what it appears when viewed up close and “Taking Center Stage: And How to Really Shine From Within,” about Shawnee and her best friends learning that you cannot perform your way to success or happiness.
“I definitely want to have a big impact,” says Snow about how she wants the books to affect young ladies.
“My whole mission is to empower, encourage and enrich the lives of young girls. The “Lil Shawnee” book series provides empowering and encouraging messages for girls, grades 3-6. The characters and the situations they go through are all relatable, so any girl in middle school or toward the end of elementary can relate. It’s [Shawnee] an African-American character and she has multi-racial friends, so it gives minority children something they can identify with and look up to. And it shines a positive light on the African-American family and girls to build a child’s self-esteem.”
Snow adds that another key feature of the book is good friendships.
“The benefits of good friendships are that they are vital to a girl’s happiness and success in life. So it not only encourages girls to have a best friend, but several best friends so that they don’t lose themselves should the friendship end or fade. We’ve all been through that, having friendships that don’t last. True friendships have a foundation of respect, so with the mutual respect and equity of friendships, is developed patience and nurturing.”
Also featured in the book series along withShawneeand her friends, are her parents. The book has a strong parental influence which is mainly seen in Shawnee’s father who is active in her life.
“This [strong parental influence] enables girls to achieve their full potential to avoid developing and overcoming negative feelings about themselves. Parental acceptance is vital to them in emotional development.”
Along with parental influence, Shawnee has the guidance of Nevaeh, who is her spiritual guide and gives her advice.
“She provides a sprinkle of heavenly advice and a ‘you –can-do-it’ message that helps girls overcome negativity and to face their fears,” said Snow of the character Nevaeh.
Snow’s message is that it doesn’t matter what you’ve been through, what you’ve been labeled or the mistakes you’ve made, you can have life and have it abundantly. As a mother of all boys, but with having nieces and friends with daughters, she realizes how important it is to catch girls at a young age because of what they are exposed to.
Aside from the “Lil’Shawnee” book series, Snow is the CEO and President of DeShawn Snow Enterprises [DSE] and DeShawn & the Boys Productions [DBP]. She is in the process of developing projects and organizing charities.
To learn more about the “Lil’Shawnee” book series log onto:
Will you be purchasing the “Lil’ Shawnee” book series for the young girls in your life?
By: Brittney Fennell with reporting by Arian Simone
