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Madi Franquiz is a published children's author, editor, poet, internationally recognized public speaker, and founder of an international women's empowerment organization called Becoming 31. Her recent book "Izzie Goes Digging," skyrocketed towards the top of the Amazon bestsellers list. She knows the memorable characters in Priyah's story will capture the hearts of children everywhere.
As a result of early childhood pain, Madi learned that success was a way to earn respect and admiration. Success can bring you out of poverty and can silence the bullies at school, but the sad truth is success cannot bring you passion and purpose. At the age of 22, Madi found herself ultimately unfulfilled realizing that many of the important decisions she made in life were based on how others would view her. After years of struggling with insecurity, and in the midst of an identity crisis, Madi knew something had to change. In August of 2019, her life was radically transformed forever. She would never be the same.
When Madi created Priyah, she thought about the messages that she needed to hear most as a child. Messages of comparison are prevalent for young people today. Priyah's story was created to combat those. Madi firmly believes that every child was created on purpose for purpose, and imbued with special gifts to impact the world around them. It's when we use our special gifts for the betterment of others that we truly change the world.
Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite
Part of the Realm of Becoming Series, Priyah and the Magic Pen by Madi Franquiz and Kelly Miller is a charming story about talent, friendship, and self-esteem. Priyah is a gifted artist who lets her imagination soar on the pages by drawing different things that strike her imagination. However, she wishes she could be more like her friends. Mahala is a gifted chemist. Henry is a talented poet who gets inspiration from nature. Gus is a brilliant inventor of machines. Fernando is a strong builder of different infrastructures. As Priyah begins to question her self-worth, she begins to lose heart over the sketches that she makes and thinks they are nothing compared to the things that her friends can do. But one by one, her friends will come knocking at her door to ask for her help with problems that they cannot solve by themselves.
Priyah and the Magic Pen is a wonderful little story with a magical journey that gives an important reminder to young readers. Learning that a friend has an edge on a particular thing can make a child feel insecure. It leads to a child questioning their self-worth and diminishes their self-esteem. Madi Franquiz and Kelly Miller focus on this part of growing up by creating two-line verses on every page that, with an economy of rhyming words, say plenty about friendship and comparisons. It is a story that doesn’t preach. Rather, it guides young readers to decide what they want to achieve and how to do it. The magical element in this story emphasizes that each person has a different way of using talent and helping others. Windha Sukmanindya’s vector-style illustrations are appealing. It’s a sweet little tale with a strong and big message that I recommend to parents and teachers as part of their discussion activities with kids.
