Review & Author Interview |A Day to Stay Home

The world through a child’s eyes can be magical. Each day is a new adventure, with more to explore. Whether they are exploring the woods on a hike, having a playmate with a friend, or taking a walk through a museum, children see the world in a completely different way than we do. Their life is made of adventure. 

Some days, however, you have to stay home. 

The stay at home orders of 2020 left many children at home with only their imaginations. In “A Day to Stay Home”, co-authors Johanna Halley and Janae Seabloom (known collectively as Hannah Bloom books), show us how the imagination children are blessed with helped them to cope with the changes of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“A Day to Stay Home” is not just another children’s book about the pandemic, though.

This is a book about imagination. While the pandemic of 2020 and its resulting stay at home orders clearly inspired the book, the story makes no direct reference to the pandemic. This gives “A Day to Stay Home” a timeless quality that allows its meaning to stretch to any day at home, whether it be a rainy day, a sick day, or just a day inside. The text is poetic and repetitive, matching well with the images created by Hannah Grace Smith to convey the spirit of childhood creativity and imagination. 

This is a book to add to your collection and treasure for every day you stay at home. 

This book would make a great rainy day read, as it lends itself well to indoor activities and pretend play games. It could be a great help to a child struggling with boredom on a sick day or during situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, when people cannot leave their home. 

I had a chance to talk to co-authors Janae Seabloom and Johanna Halley about the book.

Here is what they had to say.

Author Q & A | Hannah Bloom Books

Your book speaks well to the many children confined to their homes this year during the pandemic. Was the book entirely inspired by the “stay at home” orders of 2020, or did the idea originate before that? 

Johanna: We actually were working on another book idea when the “stay at home” orders were put in place.  “A Day to Stay Home” was definitely inspired by this time, so we decided to quickly switch gears on our plans and get it out first. My daughter has always had a strong imagination and once we were home during lockdown I was able to see it in a different light. She got very into pirates and treasure hunts during quarantine, and would ask every day what kind of adventure we were going to have that day. The phrase “Today is a day to stay home” became part of our everyday language. 

How did you two meet, and what made you decide to work together on this project?

Janae: We have been friends since childhood! We also work together as co-teachers at a local private preschool. Our first book concept came from playing with a student at preschool and then my own children. I immediately texted Johanna and said “I have an idea for a book, but I need your help to work out the details!”. We texted back and forth that whole day (amidst our craziness) and completed the concept for a book. We are truly a team bouncing ideas off of each other and keeping ourselves in check! 

What was your favorite game of pretend as a child?

Both: Being friends since childhood has meant our memories of playtime often involve each other. We played dress-up and “house” all the time. We would hide in different places around Janae’s house, like in the closet underneath the stairs. Johanna’s childhood home was across the street from an elementary school playground, so we had a great outdoor play set up! It’s fun to look back and remember that we loved to plan and create together, even as children. That then carried over into our teens and eventually, adulthood.  We are both the type of people that always need to be working on some sort of creative project, so it makes for a productive friendship! 

Our world is changing and the use of technology has drastically changed how our children play. Do you think today’s children have lost sight of the power of imagination, given the advances in technology? Or does the technology take imagination further?

Johanna:  I think it certainly can take imagination further if used in the right way. One example we both love is letting our kids watch the show “Doc McStuffins”. It’s not particularly educational, but our kids learn how to play with their toys in a different way. It’s great! But we definitely see our kids get cranky and bored when they watch too much. It was very tempting to let our kids watch a lot more tv during lockdown (let’s be honest, we all did it!), but what we really appreciated about that time was being forced to more carefully observe our children’s playtime. We got to join in the fun a lot more than we usually do!

What can we expect to see from Hannah Bloom books, moving forward? Are there plans for more books?

Janae: We have many ideas for books but, as mentioned, we were working on one specifically before we switched gears. The working title is If the Zoo Came to You.  Self-publishing A Day to Stay Home has opened our eyes to all that goes into a book, so we are going back to the drawing board a little with our “Zoo Book”. We are excited to get working on it again! Getting our feet wet with A Day to Stay Home and just starting out in the self-publishing world, we found we can improve in many areas. We are also currently working to get our website up and running! 

For more about Janae and Johanna’s books, check out their website at www.hannahbloombooks.com. You can also follow them on Instagram for regular updates about upcoming books and promotions.

For more children’s books inspired by the 2020 pandemic, please check out our COVID 19 Book List. If you enjoyed this interview, please subscribe to our blog for regular updates on author interviews, reviews, and more.