Joseph Goodrich Wins Story Monsters Approved Book of the Year

Joseph Goodrich

Wins Story Monsters Approved Book of the Year

by Melissa Fales

Joseph Goodrich’s debut book helps children understand the different feelings we all experience and offers them effective, age-appropriate strategies to manage their emotions. Recently named the Story Monsters Approved Book of the Year, Ellie’s Emotional Dragons has received accolades and positive reviews since its November 2018 release by Wisdom House Books. Goodrich says he never dreamed Ellie’s Emotional Dragons would receive this much attention. “I literally wrote this book for my two kids,” he says. “It was not meant for the masses. I didn’t set out to write it for the public, but I’m so glad and so grateful that it’s been so well-received.”

Goodrich says he’s always wanted to write a book, no matter how unlikely that might have seemed when he was younger. “I wasn’t the greatest student in high school,” he admits. “I had a ton of potential, but I didn’t know how to tap into it and I was bored. I lacked direction.”

Immediately after graduation, Goodrich enlisted in the Marine Corps. “I knew that I needed to get some discipline in my life and I definitely received it,” he says. During his second year as a Marine, Goodrich started taking college classes. “I was finally ready for that level of study,” he says. “Once I tapped into that potential, there was nothing stopping me. I fell in love with academia. I basically went to college for almost 19 years straight.” Goodrich enjoyed being a student so much, he recently earned his doctoral degree in Education from Northeastern University.

At Northeastern, Goodrich first learned about emotional intelligence and mindfulness. Researching for his dissertation, he discovered an undeniable link between emotional intelligence in children and their future success. “Individual performance, no matter if child or adult, is profoundly affected by the individual’s level of emotional intelligence and their ability to deal with their emotions in various situations,” he says. Goodrich discovered a dearth of literature for children about emotional intelligence. “There are many books steered towards parents,” he says. “There are books for adults to read about teaching kids about emotional intelligence, but I couldn’t find anything that teaches this subject directly to children.”

Over the course of his 20 years in military service, Goodrich has seen what can happen when adults are unable to manage their emotions. “As Marines, we deal with tough issues like suicide, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and spousal abuse, due to the high stress nature of the job,” he says. Goodrich says military families in particular are affected by frequent moves and long separations due to deployment that can bring up many complex emotions. He believes that teaching children how to control their feelings at a young age will better prepare them to face whatever challenges they’ll face later on in life.

For my own kids to like it, that was the test. But to have other kids saying how much they like the book, that’s just the best feeling in the world.”

Goodrich was on the road for his job as a Marine Corps pilot, sleeping in a hotel when an idea came to him in the middle of the night. “I have OCD, so I couldn’t go back to sleep until I got up and wrote it all down,” he says. “I just kept writing and writing. Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. I wrote about 90 percent of Ellie’s Emotional Dragons.”

The book follows Ellie, a young elephant, whose family has just moved to a new home. Not surprisingly, she has mixed feelings about having to adjust to a new place and sometimes she feels sad, mad, scared, and happy. “As she goes through her day, the dragons come to help her get through the difficult moments,” says Goodrich. “Each dragon is a different color and represents a specific feeling. They give her advice and help her manage how she’s feeling. There are even some tips on mindfulness meditation to get kids starting to think about steps they can take to help control how they feel.”

Initially, Goodrich saw the story he drafted during those predawn hours as a book he would write for his two sons. He began working on the project, keeping it a secret from his family. “I wanted to surprise my wife and kids with the finished product,” he says.

Goodrich admits he was surprised by the steep learning curve for writing a children’s book. “I think a lot of people don’t understand that when you self-publish, it’s a huge commitment, both time-wise and financially,” he says. “If people are going to get into writing children’s books, I suggest that they definitely do their research. Talk to lots of people. Join the SCWBI. Read Story Monsters Ink. Learn as much as you can about the business. You can spend a lot of time and money and get nowhere if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Already, Goodrich has been bombarded with requests for a second book about Ellie, which he is currently working on. “It’s going to be a series,” he says. “The next book is about Ellie going to school and being bullied.” Goodrich also has another series planned designed to help kids learn emotional intelligence skills. “It’s a totally different type of book,” he says.

Goodrich says he’s still almost in disbelief when parents send him photos of their kids reading Ellie’s Emotional Dragons, or tell him that the book is their son or daughter’s favorite. “Sometimes I just think, Wow, Traci and I did that,” he says. “For my own kids to like it, that was the test. But to have other kids saying how much they like the book, that’s just the best feeling in the world.”

For more information about Joseph Goodrich and Ellie’s Emotional Dragons, visit josephgoodrich.com. •