JUNE MONTHLY ROUNDUP

From Mimi’s notepad 6.30.2026

Halfway through 2026!!

While it isn’t really the end of the year for most people, each summer the girls and I pause to think about how far we’ve come since Viviana proposed this project on October 7, 2023. We do that at our annual business meeting which we held in Mexico earlier this month.

Our book business, Fancy Pants Publishing, LLC., starts its new year on October 1. Fancy Pants is our publishing business through which we create and deliver The Little Jesus Chronicles®. Check out our stats!

• Published 8 stories in English in paperback and hard cover

• Published 8 stories in Spanish in paperback and hard cover

• Published 2 activity books in English

• Published 1 activity book in Spanish

• Issued 38 ISBN numbers

• Produced 140 Wolfie stuffies

• Sold 1844 books

• Gifted 109 books

• Hosted book shows in 4 states (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri)

• Hosted pop-up convos (and gifted books) in 3 countries (US, Canada, and Mexico)

As for plans for our next business year, we will continue hosting faith-based events we think will give good visibility to our books. Now that we have our ® status (see last month’s Roundup), we want to push a little more towards mainstream channels.

We also are expanding our focus to include faith-based education associations. This requires more work as the reading metrics for each book is calculated. All 8 story books are currently submitted to MegaMetrics system for assessment. The MegaMetrics Lexile score provides a number that corresponds with an elementary grade which is helpful to teachers and librarians. It’s not a free service, however, so we hope that it goes well and produces a solid return on our investment. We also are working on lesson plans and program options for libraries.

Did you see that we’ve sold 1844 books? We couldn’t believe our eyes!

1844!

We’d like to hit 2000 by our official book birthday in October. Spread the word to your friends and family who might be shopping for birthday gifts, holiday gifts, or good, clean, reading fun. It’s easy when you shop online at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and Amazon. You can always order directly from us via our online store.

We have a little studio in Fort Smith that you are welcome to visit. We’re open by appointment, so let us know if that works better for you.

Onward we go! Keep reading to see how we spent our month.

Pipeline Update

Little Jesus and Friends’ Activity Book - Spanish

Our Spanish version is NOW AVAILABLE! In the advertisement above, Little Jesus is saying “Look, Wolfie. Look!” As with its English version, this activity book is intended to supplement the learning and fun of books 1 - 3, Lonely Puppy, Bethlehem Birthday, and Carpenter’s Woodshop.

Little Jesus and Friends’ Activity Book 2 - Spanish

Our second Spanish activity book is almost finished as well! It will support books 4 - 6, Wiggly Tooth, Marketplace Thief, and Muddy Masterpiece. We expect it to be available by late summer.

Story Book 9

Our last book in the regular series should be ready later this year. This book explores Little Jesus’ family tree, honey, and dealing with bullies. The book is unofficially named “Sweet Lesson of Grace” though we often change our minds a dozen times when working on titles.

Little Jesus and Friends’ Activity Book 3 (Both English and Spanish editions)

Our third activity book will move into production after story book 9 is released. It will support books 7 - 9, Fishing Adventure, Cousin Campout, and book 9.

On the Road Again!

It seems summer is a busy time for conference goers. We had to pick and choose the ones that we felt would best fit our mission and were within our budget. Many of the really fancy conferences that you see advertised with famous ministers or recording artists or actors have an exhibitor cost starting at $10,000! Yes, we’d love to go to those but practicality reminds us that we are on a different kind of mission. Maybe someday we’ll be at those venues. In case you are wondering, our event budget is $1000 plus lodging and fuel.

We have to remind ourselves that we do all the legwork ourselves. It’s simply Jill, Steve, and me — with the occasional help of our little creators Olivia and Viviana. Contacting potential partners? That’s us. The website? That’s us. Packing and hauling and cleaning up? That’s us. Frankly, I think we are doing incredible work for being a little family-owned and family-operated enterprise. Being small and nimble also means we have more opportunities to connect to the people we feel called to serve.

And we are sharing our mission everywhere we go! While in Mexico, Olivia (sporting her Little Jesus shirt) and Jill visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and Tepeyac Hill where she appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531. Olivia finds the lives of saints to be fascinating and wants to become one herself. She hopes to witness a miracle someday. Here’s a video from their visit. Look at all those families visiting the Shrine! We need to get our books into their hands!

Yes, we are back on the road again with two events planned in July.

Coralville, Iowa

Our team is headed to Iowa to show our books at the 61st Biennial National Convention of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas®.

This is our very first truly national event. Shucks (that’s some Iowa corny humor for you), we are giddy!

The Catholic Daughters of the Americas® (CDA) was founded in New York in 1903, as a charitable, benevolent, and patriotic sorority for Catholic ladies. There are more than 75,000 members in the Americas including members in 45 US states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

Catholic Daughters of the Americas® embraces the principle of faith working through love in the promotion of justice, equality, and the advancement of human rights and human dignity for all.

While this is a private event, we are happy to meet by appointment with people who want to see our books. If you know anyone in the Coralville area, pass along this newsletter or our contact information.

Wichita, Kansas

Just a few days after Iowa, we are headed to Kansas! We will be showing our books at the Midwest Catholic Family Conference in Wichita July 31 - August 2. The 2026 theme is “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Now if there was ever a theme that resonates with me, this is it. I have often wondered if this journey we began in 2023 was foolhardy. Afterall, it has consumed every corner of our lives. But when it’s all said and done, we are walking a path that is laid before us. Whenever we are troubled, we simply rest and allow the answers to be revealed.

Back to Wichita. Hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, Midwest Catholic Family Conference is a large event and will likely be our largest to date. Attendance last year was nearly 3500 people — a significant chunk of whom were kiddos. We’re super excited though also a bit nervous!

Like our event in Iowa, this is also a private event. Your friends and family in the Wichita area can still reach out to us to schedule some time to visit us and learn about our ministry. Here is our contact information.

Finally, Happy 250th Birthday to our United States of America. We are so fortunate in many ways but especially with the freedom to live by our faith.

Bless you all!

And God Bless America!