We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Curry Rathel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I’ve been working with critically ill children and their families for almost twenty years. In 2011, after years of seeing kids struggle with feeling like outsiders, noticing other kids staring at them, an idea came to me to write a book called, “There’s Something Different About My Hair.” The goal of this book would be to help kids who have lost their hair or have other such changes return to school and explain that they may look different, but they are still the same person on the inside. I worked with an illustrator named Bob Kelly and this book went all over the world. When I would learn about a child with an illness, I would offer to sell copies of the book and donate the proceed to this particular child. There were three young girls getting treatment at the Jimmy Everest Center and they loved the book so much that they asked to have people buy copies to ensure all kids going through treatment could have a copy. The inspiring stories and fundraising that came from one simple idea led right into the next.

A few years later, I had another realization. These same children I had been working with all deserve to have a voice, to share their stories and, perhaps most importantly, to give them a reason to smile again. So much gets taken away from children when they are diagnosed with an illness that giving them the power of choosing what their story is really about felt long overdue.

I approached Bob about a plan to work with individual children with critical illnesses to tell their unique stories and turn them into the hero of their own books. To try this idea out, we met with children receiving various treatments in Cincinnati. Five different journeys. Five unique stories to tell. Each child excited – despite treatments, surgeries, medicines, etc. to share what makes them unique. While working to write these stories, Bob approached Blue River Printing about printing coloring books, books and cover posters for each child. Eagerly agreeing, Smile Books Project was born.

To date, we have created 39 projects for children across the United States with number 40 in progress. By selling their books and donating all proceeds to each individual child, Smile Books Project has raised thousands of dollars. We have seen the impact a book has on their emotional health, physical health and the spirit to rally behind them take flight among their individual communities. In order to expand our efforts and our reach, we have also begun tackling subjects that affect large groups of children such as: diabetes, celebrating differences, bullying, kindness, camps for children with parents who have cancer, rare diseases and foster care. In addition, we have worked with several terminal adults to write a story and leave their wishes for their young children. The goal of this is to get the book finished so parents can read it with their children, create memories, and leave a tangible reminder of their parent when they are no longer with us. Yes, it is extremely difficult and sad, but it is also such a gift to help these parents share the things ONLY THEY could tell their children. To give them the piece of mind that the wishes they have for their children are now in a story. Beautiful is what it is, to be honest.

The logic behind the success of Smile Books Project is simple: give a voice, share a unique story, raise money and many times, leave a legacy.

Sarah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I was in college, I started with an “undetermined” major. I truly had no idea what I wanted to do, but I knew the Department of Communication would allow some freedom to grow and skills to put to use in many careers. During my third year, I took a class called “Careers in Communication.” Two women from the Make-A-Wish Foundation came in to speak one day. That was my moment. The one where the light bulb comes on and suddenly I knew what I wanted to do for my entire career. I wanted to make a difference for people. I began interning and eventually working for Make-A-Wish and that’s how it all began.

I have been working with critically ill children and their families in Cincinnati, Ohio for almost twenty years now. There are a few things I am very proud of, one of them being awarded the Most Outstanding Alumni Award in 2016 from Milford High School. I graduated with a B.A. in Communication from the University of Cincinnati, magna cum laude and with high departmental honors. In 2018, I was awarded Most Outstanding Young Alumni from the U.C. Department of Communications. I was chosen as one of Cincinnati’s Forty Under 40 in 2018 for my work as a Communications Manager for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati and for the creation and success of Smile Books Project.

I have spent the last several years studying and becoming certified in Trauma Informed Care. Those certifications include:

Trauma Informed Organization certified (2020)
Advanced Trauma and Competent Care (2021)
Certified Trauma and Resilience Specialist (2022)

I have the pleasure of training others and helping bring this mindset to the entire Ronald McDonald House Charities Organization. I find so much fulfillment helping others understand the life-changing impact of trauma.

In general, I feel lucky to have met, worked with and become friends and basically family with sick children and their families from around the world. It is a complete honor to have the experiences, the memories, to witness miracles, to see kids flourish when they shouldn’t be here and to have the lasting legacies of too many who still should be here with me. I don’t know if anyone in my life, including these families, will ever know just how lucky I feel to be a small part of their extraordinary lives. It may sound cliche, by my goal every day is to leave people better than I found them. My coworkers, the selfless volunteers, the inspiring families, etc. It is a humbling feeling to know that, for most people who have met me in my career, things aren’t going well for them. In fact, they are often times living their worst fears. I don’t take that for granted.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

So many people ask me how I can do what I do. How can I spend day in and day out in so much sadness. It is the most rewarding thing to be able to leave every day thinking that maybe something I did made their days better. For the children I write for, their futures may be unknown, but they are happy in the moments we share together because they are now a character in their own book! Their stories have been told, their voice has been heard, their message has been shared. I get to do that. I get to help bring moments of happiness, relief, joy…something other than sadness to their days. I never like to placate the seriousness of what is happening, but I know I can’t change the outcome for anyone. But I do know I can help make their days a little brighter.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Any time I sit down to write a story for a child, or a parent with a terminal illness, or a nonprofit with a mission worth sharing about, the goal is always to find their true meaning. What are things nobody in the world would know that you think they should? If you have to write one sentence about “your message,” what would that be and could that sentence just describe anyone, or is it unique to you? What’s your story about? The more unique, the better.

We asked everyone we work with this, and if they could be the character of their own story, what would it be about? Here are a few examples of answers we’ve received:

A little boy with a very devastating illness known as HLH has lived in a hospital room almost all of his life. He was only two, so his mom said she would love a story about the day he gets the good news that he is healthy enough to go home to Hawaii. I knew that with his disease, he isn’t able to be around live plants or flowers. His mom made a comment that he saw a rose for the first time through his window and was excited. We created a story for him called, “A Rose From Ryan.” His book details his life, the day he is able to go home, and ends with him handing his mom a red rose.

Another young child, an airway patient, loves animals and dancing. Her mom explained that she would like to be a dancing superhero that saves animals in trouble. Her story is exactly that! “Makayla’s Magical Shoes” was created for her, and she loves it and having it read to her!

I found out about a sweet woman named Emily from Cincinnati who was dying quickly from cancer. We typically work with children, but her story was so heartbreaking because she was about to leave behind three young children. A friend put us in contact with her, and I asked her to share her life, thoughts, wishes for her children, etc. with me. She did, and we turned it into a story about a superhero mom. This mom tells her children how they may not see her, but they can feel her in their heart beats every day. Emily truly loved this and called it the “greatest gift” she could leave for her children and family.

Finally, we wrote a book for a boy named Kyler from Fairfield, OH. When we met with Kyler, he was unable to speak. His form of cancer, DIPG, had taken that away. Unfortunately, he passed away while we were trying to finish it for him. So, it became about sharing his legacy with the world. But he knew it was being written and his legacy would be left for others to honor by getting a copy. After the book, we began helping his family with a project: to bring his story and our artwork to a license plate for the state of Ohio. After being passed by the House and the Senate, we are honored to see our artwork on cars across the entire state and know that each one is raising money and awareness for DIPG.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://smilebooksproject.org/
• Instagram: @smilebooksproject
• Facebook: Smile Books Project
• Linkedin: Sarah Curry
• Twitter: @SmileBooks4kids

Image Credits
Angie Lipscomb