Penelope Prime, Inventor of Rhyme - A Story About Creativity and the Inner Spark

My first story was about a kind, caring snail who moved through the sea at a very slow pace. As he drifted with the ocean’s flow—guided by love and goodness—he carried within him the power to feel peace and joy, even amidst the judgment and scowls of the urchins and the hurried unawareness of the shark.

Today, I’m preparing to welcome my second story into the world. It’s about a girl named Penelope, who has been part of my life since I was ten years old. I’m not exactly sure how she came to me, but as a child, I loved spending time reading, writing, and playing beneath the trees—and she found me there, when I was happy and free.

Penelope represents the place within me that feels connected to something beyond the material world. Her struggle begins when she asks herself, "Am I really enough?" Her journey takes her outside of herself and into a world that often tells us we need to be more, do more, achieve more, have more. It's a struggle I feel every day.

I hope the conversations adults have with the children in their lives center on this truth: within each of us, there is a special gift and a unique purpose. When we connect to that place inside, we find more happiness and freedom than we ever could by chasing bright, shiny things or fleeting feelings outside of ourselves. I spent more years living from the outside in than from the inside out, and I hope this book plants a seed in children—that such a place exists within them.

I don’t expect children to fully “get” the deeper message of this book, just as I don’t expect them to grasp the many layers of meaning in my snail story. But I do believe they will feel it—that it will resonate with some part of their young soul and gently introduce these ideas while their minds are still growing and learning. And over time, as the stories are read again and again, the adults in their lives can help bring those deeper conversations to life.

Penelope sat on my shelf for decades. When she returned to me a few years ago—while I was revisiting my old stories and daydreaming on the train—I felt an immense sense of happiness and freedom, the same kind I knew as a child. I was home. I hope that all of my readers find that same feeling of home within her story.

By following the spark within me, Penelope will be arriving in May 2026.

With Love,

Amy