Mommy-Daughter duo, Mina and Maliyah London have published their debut children’s book, “Dancing On The Moon”, a story that instills children everywhere to dream big.
If you can dream it you can make it happen, and that’s exactly what this book teaches. “Dancing on the Moon” is centered around Nala, a little girl with dreams and an imagination so big, the other kids at her school can’t even believe it. She’s determined, however, to let that stop her confidence.
The Londons wanted the book to relate to real life issues.
“You know, sometimes you want to be something in life, and if people around you are discouraging you, it may stop you from going through with it. So, I wanted this book to encourage kids to go for their dreams, and influence them to not let anyone stop them,” explained Mina.
Mina co-wrote this book with her five-year-old daughter, Maliyah. She shared that Maliyah has always been an avid storyteller, which is how this book came about.
“She’s always making up stories, especially at bedtime for her two little brothers. That’s something that she naturally loves to do,” said the author. “So, one day, we were kind of going back-and-forth, piggybacking off of each other, and I said ‘You know what—this sounds like an amazing story. Like, we should tell more kids about this story, they’ll love it. And she was all for it, and super excited.”
Maliyah spent a lot of time and effort putting together this story with her mom. Mina shared that the book was a not only a project for the two to do together, but a lesson it itself.
“I wanted Maliyah to know that her dreams and visions mean something. You know, whatever she thinks of, she can accomplish it. I wanted her to see her work in live form, so she could know what she was thinking could come true.”
Mina is passionate about instilling in children that their dreams can come true—no matter how big, small, or crazy they are. She also believes this is something every parent should be teaching their children to instill confidence. She hopes that “Dancing on the Moon” can be used as a tool to assist them in this process.
“We really did do this book from the heart,” she emphasized. “We just wanted to share our story with other parents and kids, and it was really fun. It’s also led us to connect with other women and children, and build a sort of tribe.”
Mina also hopes parents can find their own spark to fulfill their dreams when reading “Dancing on the Moon”.
“I had always wanted to write a book when I was younger, but never know that I’d be writing one with my own daughter. So, I think for me, it just came full circle once I saw that storytelling is something she loves to do, too. I want to encourage parents to live their dreams, too, even with your kids. Like, your kids can inspire you, as well. I always preach to my kids to live their dreams, but I felt like I needed to live by example, and you know, show her through my actions.”
Neither Maliyah nor Mina plan to end this journey any time soon. They are currently working on more books, and eventually planning to get into animation. They also shared that this won’t be the last time you see Nala, either.
“Dancing on the Moon” is available on Amazon, ITunes, and Walmart!
