Transcription

VO: This author went from here.

PeTika Tave: I have to live for my son or die for food.

VO: To here.

PeTika Tave: When we're out and about selling the books in public that we get lets me know that these books are needed some people are like “I wish I had this when I was a kid”.

VO: This is the story of PeTika Tave who couldn't accept children struggling the way she did so she did something about it.

 PeTika Tave: Okay, I am PeTika Tave and my business is Baya Books and More which stands for as beautiful as you are books and more. So I make affirmation books for children to teach them that they are enough to love themselves inside and out just the way they are and I wanted to give parents a way to talk to their kids about themselves about how they're feeling because so often we take for granted those conversations and as a teacher I get to see other sides of children that parents don't necessarily see because who they sent to school is different from who they present themselves as. And then when they go home, we have sweet little Timmy back, but you don't know what sweet little Timmy did when he was at school with his other peers, 

VO: But PeTika understands the struggles of these kids as more than just a teacher 

PeTika Tave: When I grew up I was six feet tall in the eighth grade but I was also 300 pounds. And I liked to crack jokes and I liked to show that I was happy and fun on the outside but inside I was hurting. My life was consumed about how I looked how you know much I weighed. The doctor was like she's obese. You have to put on a diet. And those conversations, even though I had everything else going for me, it really hurt. And so by the time I ended up at the age of 22 I was over 425 pounds. My peak was 427. And at that moment, I realized that I had to do something because I was also, I had a son at that time as well. I joined Weight Watchers and I was able to lose almost 200 pounds. It allowed me to meet The Duchess of York. And then I was taken on this whirlwind tour of New York and I won their 2006 Inspiring Stores of the Year because my journey really resonated. Then of course, I was able to maintain that weight loss then I got pregnant with my daughter. I gained 100 pounds then and I knew that I wanted my daughter to love herself just the way she was no matter how big, how small, how short, how tall she was. I wanted her to know that she was enough. And so I wrote poems to her while I was carrying her. So that's what I did and I made my first picture book Beautiful as You Are, and it is just the confirmation to girls, the affirmation to girls that you are beautiful inside and out just the way you are and you have to appreciate that. That's what makes us unique. And it has discussion questions and the space for them the right what they love about themself and it did so well I was put on the local news and everything and it did so well people like okay, we got to have one for boys. And so I said, okay, we’ll title it brilliant as you are. So that explains why I have two different versions of the book. One day I was at a vending event and someone came up. She was like, I want to make puzzles for your books. I said, okay. And so she's a local artist and she does handcrafted wood stuff and she created this just magnificent puzzle that goes along my books that says I am brave or I am beautiful and I will stand proud, walk tall, be confident, love myself, and I sell those as a bundle with my books and people buy those like nobody's business because it's a teaching tool. Well, tell me how you stood tall today. What does that mean? Tell me what made you proud of yourself today? Give me an example. I want to make sure parents check on their children's mental health because it's so important. I was a great student in school, but I suffered a lot because, no fault of my parents, I hid how I was truly feeling inside. So I wanted to create books that help them have that conversation and I also have puzzles, affirmation puzzles, that are teaching tools to have conversations each week, each day, however often they need to have it, to check on their child and make sure that they love themselves as much as they should 

VO: Patika and Buya Books have gotten so much notoriety that she's been asked to make appearances to spread the word. 

PeTika Tave: Oh my goodness, we need you to read to the children at Wolfson Children's Hospital. So right now I'm actually in the middle of a 200 book campaign where I'm gonna read to the children at Wolfson Children's Hospital on February 14, and my goal is to donate up to 200 books so the kids can take home the affirmation books because you know, they're going through a lot just being patients there and I'm just so thankful that, this goes back to the vending, I meet so many people that want my story, the books, to be shared, to make sure that I do something where those kids get those books and I'm just so thankful for that. 

VO: You can't help but be moved by PeTika Tave's story. So reach out to her and make sure these incredible books and puzzles are at your next event.