• About Me

    Hi, I’m Krista.

    Strategic communicator and storyteller.

    I am the wife of a very talented musician who takes me around the world in pursuit of excellence. Mama to Jakob, Audrey and Ella, who just happens to have Down Syndrome.
    And an aspiring disciple of Jesus, defender of the oppressed, writer, graphic designer and photographer.

    I write and speak on navigating through the fog of life…you know, when things don’t go exactly as planned and am fuelled by a passion to amplify the voices of those on the margins…
    oh, and coffee…lots of coffee.

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“This Is Ella” Book

This is Ella is now available for purchase on Amazon or from the Friesen Press Bookstore.

THE BACKSTORY

I originally wrote “This is Ella” for my Ella’s kindergarten class in Vancouver, British Columbia. The start of school can be scary for any parent but it was especially nerve-wracking for us because we had made the decision to enroll Ella into a very large French Immersion school which, subsequently had very few children with Special Needs (and even fewer with a cognitive delay – if any). While not wanting to single her out too much, I was also very aware of the fact that children are quick to notice some things about Ella that are a little bit different. Even our son, who was seven at the time and knew Ella away from her neuro-typical peers, would say things like, “Ella resembles Bea” (another little friend of ours that has Down syndrome) or he would inquire as to when Ella would be able to say certain words as her speech was quite delayed.
We knew that that our son would not be the only child to take note of the differences once Ella was in school and suspected that for some, those differences might be scary.  That being said, we also knew then and continue to believe that Ella is more the same than different. She wants to be accepted and included just like any child and just because she has trouble saying some words, doesn’t mean that she can’t be a good friend.

Over the years, many parents of children with Down syndrome who were approaching the school years asked our Down syndrome community about how to educate teachers, parents and classmates about their child’s diagnosis. Our book was often referred to and I have had the privilege of sharing it many times over. For this reason, I decided that it was time to make it an open resource available to anyone who needed it. I approached my friend Celia about bringing Ella to life in illustrated form and here we are!


THE PROJECT

The purpose of the book is to promote inclusion and the foundational premise is that children with Down syndrome are more the same than different. Not only that, but also that children with any exceptional need or diagnosis have something to contribute. This book is a grassroots project and I am simply crowd-funding for the funds to make it happen.
The funds will be used for the cost of illustrations (approx. $3500), publishing and first run (approx. $7000), postage (to mail the book, approx. $1000) and promotion (approx. $1500). It is my hope that this book will be a part of every classroom as well as every home.


THE ASK

Thank you to everyone who supported the book on Kickstarter. The campaign will ran March 21st through April 21st, 2017 and not only did we meet our goal but we EXCEEDED it! I am so grateful!  To learn more about the campaign you can refer to my Kickstarter page 

 WHERE TO BUY THE BOOK

This is Ella is now available for purchase on Amazon or from the Friesen Press Bookstore.