I’m sure you’ve all experienced meeting someone for the first time who had a confidence about them that left you feeling good inside. There’s something about being engaged in conversation with a person who feels happy in their own skin; who’s able to voice an opinion as well as listen to one; willing to share their knowledge, accept criticism, and who isn’t afraid of being wrong. This is someone with strong self-esteem.

Well that’s a pretty good description of Julie Woik, a 25-year resident of Sarasota, Florida, and the author of the successful value-based children’s book series, The Life and Times of Lilly the Lash®. Although the circumstances that led to the creation of her series is rather an odd one, it’s her belief in a strong self-worth, that set her on the path to provide an entertaining way for children everywhere to learn life lessons and build good character.

For most people, a late night trip to the bathroom doesn’t result in a literary endeavor. But for Woik, in May 2006, it was just exactly that. While strolling down the hall to her destination, she wiped her cheek to find a fallen eyelash. In that very second, Lilly the Lash was born, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“It’s been three years since this all began,” says Woik. “The first two books in the fifteen book series are here, and Lilly’s a huge hit!” Julie goes on to explain how the overwhelming response from parents, grandparents, educators, and most importantly, the children themselves, have fueled this project from the very beginning. “The books are written in rhythm and rhyme, which is always fun to read. And the spectacular cinematic-like illustrations by Marc Tobin, will allow you to enter a whimsical world of fantasy you’ve never quite experienced before. I know it seems strange to have an eyelash as a main character, but with this winning combination, it absolutely works.”

Each book in the series teaches an important value or life lesson. Book one, The Garden Gathering, deals with SELF-IMAGE and learning to like ourselves just the way we are. Book two, The Toy Store, focuses on the importance of developing friendships through the value of SHARING. Each storyline follows Lilly the Lash on an adventure to a new location, where she discovers someone in need of learning a lesson. Only ever seen by the reader, Lilly conjures up a plan to send someone else into the story to help the one in need, resolve the issue. “Similar,” adds Julie, “to what happens in real life.”

But there’s so much more! There are three individual programs associated with each book in the series. Classic Classroom Lesson Plans (Pre-K to 5th Grade plans written to the Florida Sunshine State Standards) and Diverse Directions Lesson Plans (devoted to various behavioral issues), all of which can be downloaded for FREE on Lilly’s website lillythelash.com. The third program is the Girl Scout Patch Program. Although Lilly’s books are clearly for boys and girls, the Girl Scout Council of Gulf Coast Florida was so impressed by Lilly and her concept, they asked Woik to create a patch and program for each of the books in the series. Only the Girl Scouts can earn the patches, but the crafting activities in the programs can be utilized by teachers at school or parents at home. Again, these activities are available absolutely free!

And yet...there’s still MORE. Each book in the series donates a percentage of the profits from the book sales to a worthy cause. The first book helps Breast Cancer, the second helps Lung Cancer, the third will be Cystic Fibrosis, the fourth will be Autism, and so on and so forth. “I figured that if Lilly turned out to be a success, people would eventually buy the whole series. Together we could be part of making a real difference. I may be the one writing out the checks,” Julie explained, “but it’s the customer who’s making it happen. How cool is that?”

Visit Lilly’s website to get personalized copies of the books and reserve Julie for the next Author Visit at your child’s school. She’s got a presentation that’ll leave them laughing and loving to learn! For more information visit lillythelash.com