Today’s picture book may just be perfect for this week, when many of us are focused on family and food.

Gina Soldano-Herrle is a professional ghostwriter and author. She’s very active in the children’s writing community volunteering as a Connect Co-leader for Rocky Mountain SCBWI and a 2024 12×12 Picture Book Challenge Scholarship recipient. Her picture book, Nia’s Rescue Box, is a story about a child’s first experience with a food rescue. You can also listen to recent interviews with authors on her podcast “Getting to the Heart of Why We Write” on your favorite podcast platform.  You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Twitter, on Instagram, or on Bluesky.

NIA’S RESCUE BOX is a picture book about a young girl struggling with food insecurity and all of the emotions that go with it.  But then she learns about food waste and food rescues.  This was new to me.  I hadn’t heard of a food rescue before.  This is a game changer for the character who learns that she can help by saving food from becoming waste.  What a wonderful concept based on a real food rescue base in Colorado.

Welcome Gina!

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey?  How has that brought you to writing this picture book?

Gina: It mostly started with a journal someone gave me when I was 11. That’s when I lost my mom and some kind soul, I don’t recall who, gave me that first journal that I filled with everything. They told me to write it down and I do.

I write everything from board book to adult nonfiction and memoir, and nearly all in between. I wrote my first full length book for National Novel Writing Month in November as a freshman in college when I was 18 years old. And after some critical feedback and time, found my way back to writing picture books many years later.

I started writing picture books a couple years before having my son and with all the ones I’ve read to him, it was impossible not to create my own stories.

Nia’s story is especially important to me, though, because it’s tied to an organization that I love, Vindeket Foods. I wanted to honor food rescue in a picture book and spread the word about what organizations like Vindeket are doing because most people I talk to have no idea they even exist. They are the answer for not only reduction of food waste, but also food insecurity.

Q: I love how your story introduces the topic of food insecurity with such empathy and understanding.  What gave you the idea for this story?

Gina: My time with Vindeket Foods in Fort Collins, CO. I was a service participant there for about a year and a half before I moved. The work they do there changed how I view the world, people, food, and what one person can do. It’s a completely different way to look at the food cycle and a perfect example of not only living as a better steward to the earth, but also to build community support and resources at the same time.

Me: I had never heard of food rescues before reading your book.  In your author’s note at the beginning of the book, you mention your story was inspired by Vindeket, a real food rescue located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Why was it important to you to acknowledge them right from the start of your story when they weren’t mentioned by name within the story?

Gina: The story is about them. Even though it’s a fictional story, it’s very much a lot of my own experience. I was a service participant helping them set up and run the markets on Tuesday nights, but I was also a shopper. Vindeket kept my family fed during some difficult times and I sorely miss their support now that I’m across the country.

My intention with this book is not just to spread the word about food rescues, but also to support Vindeket. While publishing was a financial struggle for me, my intention is to share a percentage of the profits on every book with the rescue. They buy the books in bulk and sell them at the rescue too. I’m not just informing people, I’m creating an added revenue stream for a necessary community resource.

Me: I love that.  What is one thing that surprised you in writing this story?

Gina: The illustrations. I know that’s not so much about me writing the story, but the illustrator. Abi Joy Eaton, blew me away and definitely made me cry happy tears more than once. She showed me a beautiful example of how a medium in picture book illustrations can fit the content to emphasize the story being told. She used found materials and mixed media to create the art and kept that element of rescue and new purpose alive throughout the story.

Me: Food insecurity can seem like such a huge and scary topic.  Yet, kids absolutely experience this and need books like this to help them be seen.  What do you want young readers to take away from your story?

Gina: I want them to know it’s okay to talk about being hungry. That we can support each other more than we realize by offering support before it is asked for. That is often the hardest part; it was for me.

I want to inspire a new generation of food waste warriors who not only support each other and truly believe everybody should have easy access to healthy food, I also want to inspire them to take on this mission themselves. We need more food rescues in the U.S. From my own experience and my professional experience here in an Ohio nonprofit, I know there are people going hungry.

According to the Food Research and Action Center, 47.4 million Americans lived in food insecurity in 2023. This means they don’t have access to healthy food they could afford. Sometimes that means a person can’t afford any food, or other times it means they can’t afford the food they need to feel full and healthy. I was part of that 47.4 million in 2023.

The number is growing, and we need as many people as we can to change our food cycle and create change. Vindeket’s slogan is “revaluing food, and revaluing people.” That is something I have seen them accomplish countless times and it’s a mission that has grown into my everyday life.

Me: The illustrations by Abi Joy Eaton are done with such intriguing collage work.  Were there any illustration surprises for you?  Any favorites?

Gina: It was all a surprise but I have to say the one that floored me the most was her initial illustration in a community contest. We put out the logline of my book and asked for community members to send in illustrations to see if they’d be a good fit for the book. I cried so much when I saw hers. It went right to my heart and I knew it was exactly what Nia’s story needed.

Also, the final spread has a rainbow and that’s a very popular motif at my house, so it’s a favorite as well. They’re all favorites but feeling that someone understood so fully and turned my story into an actual vision floored me. 

Me: Any advice for other aspiring picture book writers?

Gina: Follow your curiosity. Be wary of feedback from others. I’d suggest getting involved in the kidlit writing community if picture books are something you want to pursue. I’ve had good experiences with SCBWI and the 12×12 Picture Book Challenge.

Critique groups are like dating. Don’t feel you have to change your story to appease someone else. Just as I hope you’d never change yourself for the same reason. Curiosity and support are the two things that have had the most impact on my writing. You may not think anyone cares about something obscure that you’re into, but passion is the reason we still read. Putting that passion on the page and having a supportive community around you throughout the process—that was life changing for me.

That is great advice.  Thank you for stopping by my blog today Gina.

But wait, dear readers! There’s more!  Gina has also agreed to giveaway one copy of her book (to US contestants only).  You can enter the rafflecopter here.