‘Build Brave Kids’: Seaford Children’s Author Tackling Big Themes In Book Series

SEAFORD, NY — For John Cavanagh, writing a children’s book was always a dream. The 29-year-old moved to Seaford two years ago after growing up in Farmingdale and found inspiration from his own life when he sat down to write his first children’s book, “Riddler Rabbit Makes a Friend.” As he approaches the rollout for his second book, Cavanagh said he has a bigger goal in mind with his writing: building what he calls “brave kids.”

When the time came to write, Cavanagh said he wanted to tell stories that showed kids how to handle things he didn’t know about when he was their age. In his first book, Riddler Rabbit experiences a panic attack on the first day of school, something Cavanagh said is not uncommon among young kids. By showing kids what a complex condition like anxiety can look like, Cavanagh said he hoped to help kids be more supportive of classmates and friends experiencing it.

“I always wanted to write a children's book. It was always something that was important to me. And I figured that this was the topic nearest and dearest to me, and it's also a topic, I feel, that maybe people don't want to discuss with young children,” Cavanagh said. “At the same time, I think it's important to. And I think it's important to have that realization, at a young age, what anxiety might look like. In the book, I call it out for what it is: I call it a panic attack, I describe the symptoms, and I also go over how to cope with it, because it's something that I wish I had when I was that age. Even if you don't have anxiety, you might be able to, after reading this book, help another child that does. So that was my inspiration behind it.”

The inspiration for Riddler Rabbit’s anxious journey through the first day of school, which culminates with Riddler making a friend, came from Cavanagh’s life. He has lived with anxiety since he was young, something he’s fairly open about.

“Since I was a young kid, it's been something that I've been dealing with. I didn't recognize what it was at first, but as I got older, in my teenage years, when it started to get worse, I realized what was going on,” Cavanagh said. “And, with my doctor, we were able to figure it out. But I had that realization that I’d had it a lot longer than I even realized, and that the symptoms were there. And I've struggled with it ever since.”

While he admitted that some parents or teachers might not want to discuss anxiety with kids — or might not know how to do so — Cavanagh told Patch that he felt the discussion was important to have. While “anxiety” might sound pretty complicated, the Farmingdale native said the complex condition boils down to a simple experience a lot of kids understand: Fear.

“A lot of kids experience fear at some point, so it's not something that kids won't experience. And there's just a lot of different forms of anxiety that parents don't even realize, like separation anxiety,” Cavanagh said. “So, I think it's important to call it out. It's important to really dive into the different forms of anxiety that young children can have.”

When asked where the mission to teach kids these big lessons comes from, Cavanagh said he hopes to teach kids to be problem solvers.

“Part of my mission, really, is to build brave kids,” Cavanagh said. “I use that slogan a lot, because, if we're able to call it out for what it is and we're able to dive into how we can solve the problem, there's nothing more brave than that.”

As for his second book, Cavanagh said he’ll be self publishing another volume in the Riddler Rabbit anthology, this time focusing on a different lesson he thinks is important for kids.

“It's called ‘Riddler Rabbit Takes a Stand.’ It'll be out in September, and that book is going to focus on the main theme of empathy. It's going to introduce some new characters, which I'm excited about, and it's going to be a story where Riddler has to learn about empathy, and is put in a situation where he has to stand up for one of his new friends,” Cavanagh said. “I think that empathy is a very important topic as well. We could all use a little bit of that right now, and I think that teaching kids empathy is super important. And that's what I'm trying to get at, with a lot of my children's books. It's to teach themes that are important for them. It’s teaching them these themes that they can really learn from, and make them better people.”

While the labor of independent publishing is a costly one that requires a great deal of self promotion, Cavanagh said he wouldn’t do it any other way. It’s a labor that’s easier, he said, because he loves it.

“You have to really love it and you have to say to yourself, ‘you're probably not going to make money from it.’ But I love it,” Cavanagh said. “I've been able to talk to so many different teachers and therapists that have benefited from my book. I've been able to talk to so many people at book signings I do, and it's just been totally worth it to me. And I really enjoy it.”