everything you need to know
Three super funny (and useful) books teach you everything you need to know when you’re 8, 9 and 10! A wonderful project inspired by (and written with) my very own child. Released just as the pandemic hit, the series sadly never got its due.
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A couple of years ago, my 8-year-old daughter came to me with a question.
“Is it okay to look at my poop?” she asked.
I laughed, of course, because poop is hilarious. Then I realized it wasn’t a silly question at all. I informed her that not only is it okay to look at your poop, it’s probably something you should do every day. We had a fascinating (and surprisingly mature) conversation about all the colors poop can be—and what they might mean. I came away from the conversation feeling awfully proud of myself.
Not long after, we were discussing strangers—and whether 8-year-olds should talk to them. I knew the answer to that one right off the top of my head!
“Nope,” I told her. “Kids your age shouldn’t talk to strangers.”
“Okay,” she said. A pause followed. “But what exactly is a stranger?”
She’d been warned countless times not to talk to strangers—yet she didn’t really know what one was. The guy at our neighborhood deli—was he a stranger? What about her classmate’s mom?
The truth was, I hadn’t really thought it through. I’d been giving her the same answers my parents gave me decades ago, and a lot of them were no longer relevant. The day my kid asked me when she could have her own Instagram account, I knew I was in uncharted territory.
I started writing the Everything You Need to Know series as a ninth birthday present for my daughter. Kids need to absorb an enormous amount of information when they’re 8, 9 and 10—and some of the stuff is pretty darn serious. I wanted to give my daughter answers that made her feel empowered and confident—not frightened or daunted. I hoped by the end, she’d be curious and keen to learn even more.
When my kid turned ten, she became my trusted collaborator. By that point, she knew “everything” (as she would happily tell you), and she kept lists of stuff younger kids need to learn (as well as things she just thought kids should know—like how to make edible boogers, what to do if you see a ghost and the right way to fart in public).
We hope our Everything You Need to Know books will make 8, 9 and 10 the best years EVER!