Hillsborough Hairdresser Publishes Book With Important Life Lesson

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — What started as a story for "Kookie" LiBrizzi's three little girls has since evolved over the past 30 years. Now LiBrizzi is ready to share "A Fairy's Tale" with the world.

Hillsborough local "Kookie" (SallyAnn Rea-Fairchild's pen name), who works as a hairdresser at Legends Salon, self-published her book "A Fairy's Tale," which is now available on Amazon.

"When I was much younger, I started writing a story for my three little girls. I was a single mother at the time. Over the years this little story about fairies got shoved in a drawer or put in a box or got buried in a closet," said LiBrizzi to Patch. "Every once in a while when time allowed (which was not very often because I worked three jobs) I would blow off the dust and add to my story."

It started out as a little short story for her daughters about a beautiful family of fairies, who looked similar to Ariel from the Little Mermaid, in the forest.

LiBrizzi's girls are now in their 30s and she has two grandchildren. During COVID, she had the time to really work on "A Fairy's Tale" and that's when the story transformed.

"In the news, the Asian community was being attacked for no reason and Black Lives Matter protests were everywhere. I thought of a girl in my grade school class that people teased because she was heavy and an albino boy that I was frightened of when I was a child," said LiBrizzi. "My heart went out to these individuals that were being treated so badly and to my childhood thoughts and actions. I wanted inclusion and acceptance in my story. So I made an adopted family."

Her characters Gwendalyn became short and plump, Thalia became Black and tall, Auntie became Asian and little Rooty became snowy white.

"Although the characters changed, the one thing that did not change was the love between them. It didn't matter how they looked. Families and people come in all colors, shapes, and sizes," said LiBrizzi.

Throughout the coming-of-age story, the fairies go through a process of self-awareness where life lessons are learned.

"I hope the public would find my book interesting because it would let young people realize how it might feel if they were bullied by their own selves. Yes, it does sound strange but sometimes you are your own worst enemy," said LiBrizzi.

LiBrizzi is proud of her book which she published specifically for her grandchildren. Her one daughter even helped to design the cover making it "even more special."

"I wanted my grandkids to have something nice from me to leave them," said LiBrizzi.

For more information or to buy the book visit amazon.com/Fairys-Tale-K-LiBrizzi.

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