A council officer from Brent has self published a book with all of its royalities donated to a Wembley-based children’s charity.
Antonella Sands, who works as an early years advisory teacher for Brent Council, has penned Dreams in Box, with all proceeds going to Rays of Sunshine, which grants wishes to seriously ill children.
The 44-year-old mother of three initially developed the idea of writing and illustrating her story for her own children.
But when her nine-year-old Jade encouraged her to share it, she drew sketches, scanned them, and self published her book on Amazon.
Her rhyming story follows the magical quest of a child who abandons her dream only to rediscover it as an adult, when it may be too late to make it come true.
Mrs Sands, said: “I am very passionate about promoting children’s dreams and their potential to achieve them.
I know that the early years are fundamental to develop our core passions and ambitions, however we often follow a different path in life.
“With “Dreams in a box” I wanted to promote children’s true potential , self -confidence and their well- being.
“The book also encourages us to listen to our inner child to pursue happiness, no matter how old you are.”
She said her desire to promote children’s dreams was behind her decision to donate all the money from the book to Rays of Sunshine, which is based in Olympic Way.
She added: “I believe every child should live a happy life, filled with positive memories. Unfortunately many children need to cope with a life limiting illness which affects them physically and mentally.
“Rays of sunshine” organizes events for them, like going to a concert or to Legoland , so seriously ill children can share some happy memories with their family and cope better with their condition.”
Jane Sharpe, CEO of Rays of Sunshine, commented: “We are so thankful to Antonella for donating her royalties from her fantastic book, Dreams in a Box, to Rays of Sunshine. The money raised will enable us to grant wishes for children living with a serious or life-limiting illness. Antonella’s Dreams in a Box celebrates every children’s unique dream, just like we do at Rays of Sunshine. Wishes can be as unique as the children themselves and whether a child wants to be a princess or a fireman for the day, go to Disneyland, visit Santa in Lapland, own an iPad, meet a favourite celebrity or a ‘real life’ mermaid, Rays of Sunshine works hard to make that wish come true. We’re so grateful to Antonella for helping us to make dreams come true for brave and deserving children.”
To order the book, priced at £5.99 click here
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