Why I Wrote a Picture Book About Feelings — And Why It Couldn't Wait

I didn't set out to write a children's book.

I set out to find the right words for a child I love — a child who was carrying something heavy inside and didn't have language for it yet. I watched them struggle to explain what was happening, and I watched the grown-ups around them — including me — struggle just as hard to help.

That's when I realized the problem wasn't the feeling. It was the missing vocabulary.

Children can't begin to manage emotions they can't name. Before a child can regulate, they need to recognize. Before they can ask for help, they need words. The Weather Inside Me was written to give children those words — in a way that feels gentle, not clinical. Safe, not scary.

The weather metaphor came naturally. Feelings really do move like weather. They blow in without warning. They pour down. They feel like they'll last forever. And then — they pass.

No feeling, however big, lasts forever. That's the message I most wanted children to carry with them long after the last page.

If your child has ever felt a storm inside and didn't know what to call it — this book is for them.

The Weather Inside Me launches May 1, 2026. Available on Amazon.

— Leana Visalli, Author · Sunny Sky Press