DREAMS DO COME TRUE

THIS IS NASHVILLE

By Dawn Burns

PHOTOS BY LELE FAIN PHOTO AND COURTESY OF DAWN BURNS

Growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher, and I played school with my cousins and siblings. As the oldest, they remind me to this day of how bossy I was! One thing that came with my desire to be a teacher was a love of children’s books. I can look back on my childhood and have such fond memories of going to our small-town library, a reading performance of Dr. Seuss’, The Lorax, and begging my mom for book fair money to purchase a copy of Stone Soup.

PHOTOS BY LELE FAIN PHOTO AND COURTESY OF DAWN BURNS

Writing was also something I enjoyed during school! I looked forward to learning new vocabulary words each week and our daily journaling. I won a writing contest at my elementary school, wrote for my high school newspaper, and entered other writing competitions. I also student-taught English Language Arts and didn’t realize the impact these opportunities made on me until later in life.

Over the years, I finally became a real-life teacher and didn’t have to teach my family members anymore! After having my children and moving to the Nashville area from South Carolina, I took a more parttime role in education serving as a literacy tutor and substitute parttime. Since I had more time at home, I began writing about Nashville and kid-friendly places on my website, thenashvillemom.com

Through my blogging, I also began freelance writing for local publications and just seemed to be writing all the time. All of my writing sparked an interest to write my own children’s book. I had been collecting them for many years and enjoyed reading them to my own children.

I began jotting down notes about what I would write about in a journal. I had wanted to write a book for a few years but kept putting it off. Each January, it would be my goal for the year and then slowly would fade into the background again and again! However, in January 2021, I decided to finally make it happen and my book, soon to be titled This is Nashville, was finally becoming a reality. I took the notes that I had been hiding away for years and put them in a draft, researched illustrators, and put together a plan. Once I connected with Nashville resident Candler Reynolds, the illustrator of my book, we worked on the draft and the images. The process took about nine months from draft to publish!

PHOTOS BY LELE FAIN PHOTO AND COURTESY OF DAWN BURNS

This is Nashville is a children’s book that features favorite and treasured places around Music City. It highlights places like the Ryman, Cheekwood, parks, and more. It is a keepsake book that makes a great gift for both locals and visitors and, as a way to give back, a portion of the proceeds benefit Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. My book can be purchased online at the-nashville-mom.myshopify.com

While I’m not in the classroom full-time, I have been able to host reading and writing workshops with local schools. That has been such a joy for me to share my love of reading and writing with students. It has also been such an honor to partner with local businesses, museums, and bookstores. I am thrilled to see my books in the store, host book signings and school events, and ship books all over the country one even went around the world to Israel!

I am so thankful for everyone who has purchased a copy, supported my dream, and encouraged me in this process. In addition, I have written a children’s coloring book for one of my other favorite towns, Fairhope, Alabama, and have another project in the works for this year, so stayed tuned!

DAWN BURNS is a freelance writer and shares kid-friendly events, restaurants, travel tips, recipes, and things to do in Nashville on her website thenashvillemom.com. She also hosts an online book club. Burns resides in Nashville with her two children and you will find her eating her way through Nashville with kids in tow, trying new things, and enjoying all that Music City has to offer. Follow her on social media at @thenashvillemom and join her book club at @thenashvillebookclub.