Interview with Jim Price: Inside the Mind of a Children’s Author

Jim Price is the author of ‘The Adventures of Harold from the Hood’ series. He focuses his writing on teaching kids to be accepting of others shares. Jim shares some of his knowledge and inspiration in this Author Spotlight interview.

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

I was born and raised in Springfield Massachusetts. This is the same city as another famous children’s book author, Dr. Seuss and is the location of the NBA basketball hall of fame. I am a former basketball player. I am passionate about helping our youth to have hope and know that it’s possible to overcome adversity while becoming the best version of themselves. I earned my associate degree in liberal arts from Springfield Technical Community College where I also made the National Dean’s List Publication. I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology from Western New England University. I also earned both my master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and my Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in School Counseling from Springfield College.

Currently I am a doctoral candidate at American International College. I also host my own podcast show focusing on educational issues within the U.S. school system. My children’s social skills series is for grades kindergarten through sixth grade and has been featured on ABC new NY, Studio 17 Live California, and the morning show Inside South Florida. My book series has been endorsed by a few celebrities including TV actor Andy McPhee and two-time Grammy winning producer and composer Dennis Scott.

Why did you decide to become a writer and specifically write children’s books?

One of the reasons that I decided to become a children book author stem from my experiences working as a school counselor for so many years. I am employed as a school counselor in the public school system which brings a lot of fulfillment and helps me connect with children that need the social skills tools necessary to navigate their days. This can be peer interactions at school or communicating effectively with family and friends in the communities and at home. Being able to help the youth is what drives many of my aspirations. When not writing I enjoy helping mentor the youth in any way I can. I also gain a lot of inspiration to write children’s books through my wonderful daughter Milani who has always sparked a drive to further help the youth.

Can you discuss the role your books play in educating children about issues such as diversity and social skills?

The children’s book series that I created was based on teaching social skill lessons that focus on not only social skills but also integrates concepts around diversity and inclusion and accepting other differences. I have a program where I do speaking engagements, webinars and professional development trainings on children learning social skills through literacy and how important this concept is for families and communities. Social skills are the foundation of how we express our feelings, thoughts, and emotions to others and how we respond to others social interactions with us. This is such an important aspect of children’s development and why I chose to focus on children’s social skill because it sets the foundation for social lessons that will last them a lifetime.

Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice or psychological necessity?

I tend to view writing as a psychological necessity. With regards to children’s books, children have different learning styles and have different personalities. There is no one shoe fits all approach when it comes to how our children process information such as social skills lessons. Learning social skills can help children psychologically prepare for future social situations where decisions will be made that can decide how their path of life will flow. When coming up with social lesson concepts for my books I do keep these ideas in mind, and I tend to put together a few ideas and then will build on those ideas and flesh out the stories lessons more until I feel that I have a full concept and social lesson that would be helpful for the youth and entertaining.

What recommendations would you give to someone who wants to broaden their reading horizons to read more diversely?

With regards to my recommendations, the way that my experience has been with publishing books is that as an author, we always want to have the concepts and vision of our ideas come to fruition and when publishing books you go through so many samples of possible pieces that may or may not end up in your book. Working with a publisher and dealing with the business side of the pie can teach you a lot of things. Even after getting to the point where the book is going to print, that can be a process as you wait in excitement and anticipation for notice that the book is available for sale. The best advice I was given as I was getting to the point of having my first book published was that your book does not have to be perfect. As long as the main concepts you want your readers to experience are included in the book and you do the due diligence to promote your book you can have success.

Do you have any upcoming books speaking engagements or writing projects in the pipeline?

In terms of future projects related to the series, I am looking at what social lessons can I fulfill that would be in balance with the rest of the books in my series and be helpful to families. My first book; The Adventures of Harold from the Hood: A Trip to the Park explores accepting other’s differences. The next installment is The Adventures of Harold from the Hood: Friends Like Different Things which explores with children how it’s okay to try new activities and that sometimes your friends will like different activities and games and that is okay because if we open ourselves up to different experiences, we can find that people have things in common which ties into utilizing social skills.

If you could tell your younger self anything, what would it be?

If I could tell my younger self something, I would probably say something that a mentor of mines told me when I was much younger. They said when you go through hard times and a lot of adversity, those experiences make you stronger and when you get to where you want to be in life, you will appreciate it more cause of all the things you went through to get there. That is advice that has resonated with me over the years. It’s also about getting to the point of understanding your purpose and moving towards that purpose while incorporating self-love and understanding yourself worth.