Hi there! My name is Marie Chandler, author of Be My Dream Books! Book 1 was inspired by my daughter, Morgan, and my husband, Nolan. Morgan is almost 4-years-old, and Nolan is a United States Marine. Nolan has always been a big dreamer. His endless interests have taken him down countless roads to achievement in several unrelated areas from soccer, to aviation, law school, and to the Marine Corps. One day, he came home and talked with me about yet another big venture that had sparked his interest. As he paced and spoke, I found myself motivated and inspired to take pencil to paper regarding one of my own ideas that had been sitting in my mind for quite some time.
I grew up struggling with ADHD, periodic periods of depression and a single parent household. Though my mom, as a psychologist, was wonderful at protecting my mental health and defending my needs, that didn’t stop my confidence from being hindered when society, other kids and even teachers acted like I couldn’t, or wouldn’t, achieve career success.
I wanted to create a series that followed different characters through a dream of becoming successful in a career or goal that society may tell them is out of reach because of some quality or characteristic about them. Whether it’s your gender, race, disability, family background or dynamic…society has something to say about it. But, all of these qualities are simply factors that make up who we are. These factors should never dictate what we believe we can achieve.
Though I did go to law school in order to become a Children’s Rights Attorney, the military move-around has put that area of practice on pause. In undergrad, I got my Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development with a concentration in Social and Community Context. I studied developmental trajectories of children, adolescents and emerging adults through application of theory and research into practice with diverse community settings. I also learned about how social and emotional development is impacted by experiences and society’s influence. I combined my desire to inspire children with what I had studied. Thus, Be My Dream Series was born. Inspiration is always flowing, and I have a long list of characters to come. Now to think of something for my little baby, Westley!
Please join me in sharing these books to build confidence in children. Let children recognize themselves in a story, and continue the collection of books as they gain perspective and acceptance of those different from them as well!
