We encouraged Maria de Mondo, an author we brought into the Agency after her bestseller Yo, ego (published by Harper Collins), to do a children’s book. She has two girls and we thought she would be the ideal person to explain how important it is to have self-esteem since an early age.

Through Casilda’s story, we will learn how the opinions of others should affect us in order to love ourselves. ¿Por qué estás triste, Casilda? is an effective tool for parents to help their children strengthen their character and personality. There is a sentence that I love in the book Wonder: “You can’t blend in with the group when you were born to stand out”. An invitation to avoid comparing yourself and striving to be like everyone else; a phrase that encourages you to be authentic. Just like Casilda, who, in this story, is worried and saddened because her friend does not like the sneakers she has bought, and her parents help her to understand how much we need the opinions of others and how they should affect us. We must have respect for all opinions, and listen to them, but we must be convinced of what we think, and thus act accordingly: those outside opinions  must “influence” us in a fair and appropriate manner. This is an ideal book to enjoy with the little ones at home, offering them tools through a simple story to face daily situations that, badly handled, can make a day bitter without any sense. Children who know how to manage their main emotions are happy children, and we must help to reinforce their emotional learning.