A Chatham-Kent native has written her first book, broaching the topic of how babies are created through a Christian lens to help parents tackle what can be an awkward subject.
A few factors prompted Rosemary Simmons Ellsworth to write God Even Made the Birds and the Bees.
She recalled reading another children’s book on the subject of reproduction with her three children and a niece and thinking: “It didn’t give any credit to God.”
She also researched online and didn’t find any other focused books on this specific subject.
Being raised in the church, Simmons Ellsworth said she was inspired “to write a book that was accurate, but also included God in it.”
Working in the health-care field as an X-ray technologist at Windsor Regional Hospital, she’s heard from many of colleagues who have found it difficult to have “the talk” with their children.
While her book uses anatomically correct descriptions for females and males, she said also focuses on a healthy relationship between parents and how intimacy is an important part of that.
“God intended this bonding relationship between a husband and wife,” she said.
She references plants and the growth of seeds in her book to help describe the gestation process. The book also discusses how the bodies of girls and boys change during puberty, and provides a description of how a baby develops during each month of a pregnancy.
While noting children are going to receive sex education in school, Simmons Ellsworth said she believes it’s a topic that should initially be discussed at home.
“You have your values and your reflections on it,” she said, “and then they can go into school and they already know a lot of the words.”
Simmons Ellsworth was able to write the book quickly and used a drawing of a hummingbird she did 30 years ago while in high school to use as for the cover
Still, she knew her book needed other illustrations but didn’t know where to turn.
Simmons Ellsworth found the right person while attending a funeral. Long-time friend Lee Highgate was giving a eulogy about his aunt and mentioned they had planned to work together on a book.
“When he said that, then God’s like, ‘Hello, there’s your illustrator.’”
However, she wasn’t sure if he would be comfortable with the subject until he agreed to do it.
“That was a huge, huge help to me,” she said.
Simmons Ellsworth has worked with Christian publisher Westbow Press to publish God Even Made the Birds and the Bees, which is now available through Amazon.