APRIL MONTHLY ROUNDUP

From Mimi’s notepad 4.30.2025

Greetings!

Spring is well underway! What do we love most so far this spring?

All the new friendships we are making with people we are meeting while sharing our Little Jesus stories far and wide.

When we ask questions “did Little Jesus lose his teeth” and “do you think Little Jesus had a dog,” we are amused and excited to see people young and old pause to consider Jesus as a person beyond Bible stories. That was the challenge Viviana give us on October 7, 2023 — to imagine what it was like for Little Jesus growing up.

As for news from April:

We officially released Book 4 Little Jesus and the Wiggly Tooth. It is the book that connects to our origin story.

We completed the edits for Book 5: Little Jesus and the Marketplace Thief which releases July 1.

We shifted into translation mode for Book 6: Little Jesus and the Muddy Masterpiece.

Sketches for our second activity book are underway. This second activity book will be based on stories 4 - 6 — the books we affectionately call Wiggly Tooth, Marketplace Thief, and Muddy Masterpiece (respectively). This book will be out in time for Christmas.

We landed another real estate deal putting us in another bricks-and-mortar store in Oklahoma.

We booked more events for 2025 — and we’d love to book more!! Remember, this could be book fairs at schools, book readings with the Littles, leading read-alongs at Youth programs, vendor booths at conferences, etc. So if you think we are a fit for your event, reach out to us!

Road tripping in May has us in Van Buren at Chapters on Main. Come meet Olivia, Jill, and me! We’d love to hear your ideas about our books.

Little Jesus and Friends’ Activity Book - NOW AVAILABLE!!

Imagine my happiness recently at a local restaurant when I saw 2 little boys at the adjacent table sharing one of our LJ and Friends Activity Books! That’s right, one fellow was pushing a crayon through the maze while the other colored an image. Our activity books are good in all sorts of settings! Grab some and stash them in your cars and backpacks. Keep them handy for quality entertaining.

Our activity books are geared to Littles in lower elementary grades but everyone loves them. Coloring pages. Mazes. Crossword puzzles. Matching games. Tic-tac-toe. Dots and Boxes. Brain teasers and creativity enhancers. Oh my!

Our first activity book follows the first three story books: Lonely Puppy, Bethlehem Birthday, and Carpenter’s Woodshop.

These activity books are available at online bookstores around the world and also in specialty shops in some of our favorite places. And here is the link to our page on Amazon.

Book 4: Little Jesus and the Wiggly Tooth

Story 4 released on April 5 and is already a fan favorite.

One review on Amazon said “We picked this book up at a local pop up market, and it is a hit! The kids love knowing Jesus lost his baby teeth just like them! This was such a great idea!” Thank you, Kathryn!

Isn’t that fun? Little Jesus was like us! Not many of us — ok, none of us as far as I know — ever bothered to ask the question “how did Little Jesus lose his first tooth?”

Our story picks up on Yom Kippur which gives us all a chance to learn a little more about this particular Jewish holy day.

And yes, Imma, Abba, and Wolfie are in this story. It also features guest appearances by Viviana and Olivia (my co-authors) and their mother Imma Lu (fashioned after my late mother, Linda Lucille).

Other than the obvious “this book is perfect for everyone” let me add — this book is perfect for kids who have their first loose tooth. Or have just lost a tooth. Or have a snaggle tooth smile already. How fun to use this story to help Little Jesus be more relatable to us all.

And if you know a pediatric dentist, who not gift them a couple for their waiting room! How special would that be!

This link will pop you over to our Amazon page. Remember, if you’d prefer to shop local or with your favorite big chain, indie and online bookstores offer our books through a distribution company called IngramSpark.

On the Road Again (Just can’t wait!)

We usually plan one event each month. After all, we have proper jobs that need our attention, too! However, April presented three opportunities we just couldn’t resist!

First, we were presenters at WordWrights in OKC where I had the chance to share our origin story, explain our bookmaking process, and talk about running our small family-owned business. My daughter, Jill Auten, was on hand as was her daughter, my co-author Olivia Francine. We had a delightful time talking about creating in the God-centered space with like minded people. (Video here!)

As soon as we finished with WordWrights, we hurried to Belle Isle Library for the Oklahoma Authors Fair. Olivia is our Oklahoma author while I am the Arkansas author and Viviana is our Virginia author. Our booth was busy with old friends who stopped by and new friends just learning about our mission. (Video here!)

On April 25, we hosted a booth at the Eastern Oklahoma State Spelling Bee Around 200 kiddos and their families were on hand for the competition. We set up a second table for the Littles to color pictures from our Little Jesus and Friends’ Activity Book. It was beyond fun to hear them describe what kind of dog they thought Little Jesus would have or that they didn’t know Little Jesus had a cousin named James! (Video here!)

What’s on the schedule for May? Thanks for asking!

We will be at Chapters on Main Bookstore and Coffee Shop, an independent book store in Van Buren, on Saturday, May 17. Olivia and I (along with her mommy Jill) will be hosting a meet the authors and book signing from 11 am - 2 pm. Chapters is located at 816 Main Street, Van Buren AR 72956. There is plenty of parking out back or across the street.

Real Estate!

Yes, that’s right. Our footprint in Oklahoma continues to grow.

We are now available at St. Thomas More Books and Gifts! They have our full collection — and loads of extra awesome stuff. We really appreciate Angela for including our little family in their family business. And if you want to see the video about this, check it out here!

If you think our books are a good fit for your favorite bookstore, reach out to that shop’s owners and managers. We are delighted to have conversations and share our vision with all who listen.

We hope you enjoyed these video elements I included above. We want so much for you to feel connected to us and connected to our mission.

We appreciate all of you, our Little Jesus fans! Share the news and share this newsletter!

Lastly, for the Catholics in our Little Jesus fan-family, we pray for those working with the Conclave to name the next successor of Peter and the Popes.