Last week I had the greatest pleasure of meeting Kelly Clarkson. Kelly was visiting NYC to talk about her new children’s book River Rose and the Magical Lullaby. We had lunch in the private dining room of the Good Housekeeping offices. It was such a special experience and one that I will not be likely to forget. As we lunched, Kelly spoke about her inspiration behind the book. She was so down to earth, funny, genuine and true. I laughed out loud at her stories and life experiences which every parent can relate too.

Kelly is a grammy award winning artist and has sold millions and millions of albums worldwide. One would think this would be enough to keep a new mom busy but Kelly has different ideas. Kelly and her family have been touring all over the world one night she stayed awake thinking maybe she should document all of her young daughter’s adventures so that maybe one day she could read about them herself. She inherited her strong passion of reading books from her mom who is a school teacher and Kelly said this book is actually the thing that her mom is most proud about!

The main character in the story is a fun loving little girl who dreams big. She is a combination of Kelly’s personality and that of her daughters. Kelly took her own daughter, River, to the Central Park zoo as her first “zoo” experience and as a parent myself I completely understand how special those first times can be!

As I read the book to my own three children, I could see their eyes light up at the beautiful illustrations on each page. I loved how the text was meaningful and not overly drawn out with lengthy words. It is such a sweet story and leaves kids hanging on to every page.

I’m also a Texas girl myself so the fact that I was able to speak to Kelly and even talk about a common bond was so exciting! I have a feeling this is not the last book for Kelly. She has many adventures in her future and I can’t wait to read about them!

A huge thank you to Good Housekeeping and editor and chief Jane Francisco for hosting such a beautiful afternoon with Kelly.

Rover Rose and the Magical Lullaby can be purchased at Amazon & harpercollins.com

XOXO,

Suzanne