First-time author Susan Swiat discovered her passion for writing nine years ago when her six-year-old grandson B.J. refused to eat any vegetables.

The original idea for the book occurred to Susan when her husband Krystof was tending his vegetable garden. “We asked B.J. to help in the garden and after a short time we realized he was able to identify the vegetables.”

Grandpa’s Garden: Motivating a reluctant eater to enjoy Vegetables through Gardening is a rhyming story, perfect for children 2-7 years old. When Susan reads the story to younger kids, she leaves out the last words so they can fill in the blanks. “The way I wrote this story was the way I read to my children. I liked the cadence of it.”

Excerpt: “B.J. doesn’t like any vegetables. At all! He won’t even try them. That is, until he sees his grandfather beginning to plant his vegetable garden in the spring.”

The story highlights how important and influential a relationship can be between a grandparent and grandchild.

“I love the intergenerational aspect of grandchildren working with a grandparent, so it is not as if they are being forced to eat a vegetable, but instead learn naturally through the process,” said Susan.

She thought of the story right away and literally wrote it in a couple of weeks. However, she found one aspect of the writing process challenging. “The difficult part of writing was bringing it to life,” said Susan.

Susan tried to get a traditional publishing company to show interest in her story, but there were no responses. “I couldn’t get anyone to illustrate it either, so after 6 months I was so frustrated I put my book away in my drawer.”

Until one day Susan was asked by her grandson when she would publish her book. “I decided to find a way to do it. It was like cosmic intervention!” said Susan. She finally decided to go the route of self-publishing, as many authors have done in recent years.

Susan found the illustrators for her book at a festival. QBN Studios had her send photos of grandpa and their five grandchildren, ages 2-15, working in the garden at their Bullville home. The illustrations were based off of those pictures. “QBN Studios were very helpful as they understood the characters that I desired. It was a very long process, like birthing a baby because it took about nine months!”

“Everyone’s response has been amazing. A lot of my grandson’s friends and their families have purchased the book and wanted him to sign it because he’s the main character. He actually read the book with me at his cousin’s school,” said Susan. A teenager now, B. J. is delighted that his grandma’s story came to fruition.

Authors become very driven and passionate about their writings and Susan is no exception. “This has been a legacy project for me. I was excited because it has been in the back of my mind for so long. I’m proud of myself that I followed through and brought my book to completion! I cannot tell you how many people said that this has inspired them, that they also had ideas for children’s books, but didn’t follow through,” said Susan.

Susan has been donating copies to local libraries, doing pop-up book signings, and working on a fundraiser to have parents purchase personalized copies of her book at the Montgomery Nursery School, where her four-year-old granddaughter attends preschool. Proceeds will go towards the school. Recently she read her book to all five kindergarten classes at Montgomery Elementary School where her five-year-old granddaughter attends kindergarten, as well as donated a copy of her book to the school’s library. Several more library events are planned for the spring. She would like to do a reading at any local school that is interested and asks for those to contact her at her email address: susanswiat@gmail.com. “I have been delighted with responses so far and this has certainly been a dream come true for me,” said Susan.

“I like reaching out to other parents who have had difficulty with their children eating vegetables or those parents whose children are picky eaters.”

Susan is a retired pediatric physical therapist who has worked with young babies and toddlers her whole career. She currently teaches at “Yoga on the Wallkill” in Montgomery, “Grassroots Yoga” in Wurtsboro, and classes at Garnet Hospital for the employees. She also hopes to continue her writing career.

“I would love to write another children’s book as my other grandchildren want to know when I will write a book for them!”

Grandpa’s Garden: Motivating a reluctant eater to enjoy Vegetables through Gardening is available through Amazon in paperback and hardcover. The author will also be at the Pine Bush Library on March 27 at 10 a.m. for a reading and book signing.