Proud To Be Me

Proud To Be Me is a story about a little girl who lives a life on the farm, she has a remarkable loving spirit and positive outlook on life. At an early age Nia's parents and wise granny planted and nurtured the seed of love in Nia's little heart, in hopes that one day she will be a positive influence in a world where love and respect for human life continues to diminish, more and more each day. The story includes a song title "Be Proud of Who You Are." Nia uses the song to help her friend Caylee, to not be embarrassed but to appreciate the importance of being a farmer. Nia also shows her readers that you have a choice to be, or not to be, a friend of a bully; you must make a stand.

Nia shows her readers that love is contagious, and its power can influence the life of others no matter how negative they can be. Nia uses the power of love to help influence her friend Caylee to change her way of thinking about farming from being embarrassed to being proud, and from being a bully to considering the feelings of others. Even the farm animals are influenced by Nia's gentle nature.

Young readers need to know that great power comes from being happy in their skin and that being loveable is a vital part of their development. They also need to see examples of love. Love is contagious; a child who loves can make such an incredible difference. Our world desperately needs more peace and love. A loving heart is very powerful; its connection can spread across America, leaving a trail of lights and this source is what makes our country so great and our dreams possible.

About the Author
Burgess, Carolyn D.: - Carolyn Burgess was raised in Chicago, Illinois, and her family later moved to Memphis, Tenn., where she attended high school. Carolyn attended South Suburban College in South Holland, IL. One of the classes she fell in love with was her creative writing class. Carolyn decided to enter two of her poems to be selected for the college literary magazine, The Scriblerian. One of her poems was selected and published; and, she later received an award of recognition for excellence on April 7, 1994, in the Performing Arts Center of the college. Carolyn is a Lupus survivor. In January of 2003, her life with Lupus changed when her illness caused deformities within her fingers. Because of the severity of her illness and the pain she experienced, she had to stop working. In spite of her illness and all the hand surgeries she had to undergo, she was still determined to work toward making her dreams and goals of writing children's books into a reality. Carolyn acknowledges that she cares deeply about the world's welfare-especially the care of children and seniors. Carolyn's desire to write children's books is an inspired way of planting seeds of love in young hearts. Hoping that the power of God's love will help transform their little hearts and restore goodwill into a world where love and respect for human life continues to diminish, more and more each day. Carolyn's inspiration and compassion for others was a result of God's love and her parent's legacy of love. Carolyn has graciously entered the race of making a difference like so many others by looking for ways to help our world find the peace it so desperately needs. When Carolyn isn't writing, she spends her time balancing her spiritual life with her family life. She is a retired payroll/accounts payable manager and an active member of the Church of Christ, where she currently works as a coordinator for the church's food pantry. She feels it is a privilege and honor to serve others. Carolyn and her husband Ross are the parents of five adult children and the proud grandparents of seven grandchildren. It gives me great pleasure to introduce my first book: Proud to Be Me. Carolyn is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, since 2011.