Amanda Owen has dedicated her life and career to advocating for individuals with disabilities. Ashley Wedding has been writing her whole life, most recently as the editor of Owensboro Parent magazine. The Puzzle Pieces co-workers have now teamed up to co-author a children’s book titled Owen the Wonderer and the New Kid in Class.
Owen is the founder and executive director of Puzzle Pieces, while Wedding serves as the nonprofit’s public relations director.
The book, which will be the first in a three-book series, focuses on 9-year-old Owen and his curiosity about the new student in his class, McKenzie, who he learns has Down syndrome. The young boy is full of questions and learns how to include his new classmate. In the end, Owen learns McKenzie is not very different from himself and the two become friends.
Authors Owen and Wedding hope the book will be a resource for parents and teachers to begin conversations with their children and students about disabilities. A list of questions is provided in the back of the book to help guide these discussions.
“Growing up with a brother with a rare disability meant I was exposed to disabilities from the beginning, but not every child has that experience,” Owen said. “I have spent my career advocating for inclusion, but I know that reaching our children is the only way to have a truly inclusive future.”
Until accepting her role at Puzzle Pieces, Wedding had never been exposed to the disability community. In the last year she has come to understand both the victories and struggles that face Puzzle Pieces’ families. She hopes that Owen the Wonderer can help explain disabilities to children and have an impact like it has had on her own children.
“Through the process of writing this book, I have shared it with my kids, hoping to get their feedback on the story and the illustrations,” Wedding said. “I had no clue the impact it would have on them, even in the early stages. My son built a LEGO figure in a wheelchair and he played with it like it was any other figure. That’s when I had my ‘aha’ moment that this book was going to make an impact.”
Owen and Wedding said that while educating children about disabilities is certainly the goal, this book also serves as a fundraiser for Puzzle Pieces — with 25 percent of sales donated to the nonprofit.
“Puzzle Pieces was significantly impacted by COVID-19,” Owen said. “This nonprofit is my passion and helping tell our clients’ stories is now Ashley’s passion. It just made sense for us to donate a portion of the profit to the place that inspired the story.”
McKenzie, one of the book’s main characters, is modeled after a client at Puzzle Pieces with the same name. She has been attending the nonprofit since she was 7 years old. In fact, all of the characters represent someone that has touched the lives of the authors. Owen is named after Amanda and resembles Wedding’s oldest son. The bus driver and teachers are all semblances of local people. Even the settings in future books will be some of Owensboro’s most popular locations.
“Owensboro is where we are both from and where we both want to be raising our children,” Wedding said. “Owensboro is working hard to become a more inclusive community and we wanted to represent that in our book.”
Pre-sales for Owen the Wonderer and the New Kid in Class will begin March 21 in honor of World Down Syndrome Day. Two other books in the series are set to debut in 2021. To pre-order a book, you can visit piecesofme.org on March 21.