{Guest post By Idan Ravin}
I wrote It Takes Patience, with the hope it inspires children to find their ‘voice’, adults to rekindle their past and soak in the nostalgia, and families to connect meaningfully during these challenging times. The story is told through the eyes of seven-year-old Patience, multiracial and living in a small town in Appalachia, as she learns resilience, creativity, passion, and self-reliance through her own self-discovery.
The book is particularly meaningful as it explores diversity, offers a creative outlet for children, emphasizes mindfulness and their empowerment, features a strong matrilineally focused home, and promotes the lesson of self-improvement through struggle, resilience, and passion. A portion of proceeds from the book will be donated to help fight Coronavirus and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Inspiration
I grew up in an observant Jewish home, eating foods we’ve all seen at the deli, like blintzes, knishes, matzo balls, and kugel. My family rarely went out to eat and there weren’t a thousand cooking shows playing on our six-channel television, so I hadn’t seen or tried much else.
I moved west for law school and became a typical law student, studying too much, exercising too little. One night, my stomach was rumbling so loudly I was getting shushed by the law librarian. I headed to the grocery store to push my cart through the aisles, looking for something that would satisfy me.
I stopped in front of a boxed cornbread mix. Never had cornbread, but the recipe seemed simple. I was pretty sure I couldn’t screw it up even if I hadn’t baked before. My cornbread came out sweet and moist, filled my belly, and worked just right with my tight law school budget. I was hooked after that. Boxed, pre-made, gourmet, you name it, I loved it.
Find Your Cornbread
My transition from practicing law to training NBA and WNBA players was called unconventional, improbable—even inspiring. I’d found my passion, and suddenly I was bombarded by media, friends, the general public, all wanting a blueprint to success. I’d managed to intersect my personal and professional life, and now everyone wanted the answer to the Holy Grail: how do you monetize a passion?
“Find your cornbread,” I’d tell them, but they never understood, so I’d explain it like this:
Find something you love, regardless of how silly it might sound to others, and put your all into it. For me, it was training basketball players. For Patience, it’s baking cornbread. It’s not about chasing money, fame, applause, a return on your investment of time; those are just trappings with a sneaky tendency to sabotage dreams. Find something you’re really devoted to—and then work tirelessly to achieve it.
Patience & Family
We’re all a mishmash of community, ethnicity, and experience. Me—parents from Israel and Russia; Hebrew—my first language; the professional athletes I’ve trained—Chinese, Korean, West Indian, Croatian, Nigerian, Serbian, Slovenian, Italian, Puerto Rican, and American, among others. We came together because of our love for the game. Like sport, preparing and sharing food can forge meaningful connections, bringing people together who might have not had a chance to meet. I hoped that seeing the magic Patience creates in the kitchen would inspire readers to appreciate the magic that happens when we put love in our food and food in the people we love.
I wanted to find a community to reflect our cultural melting pot and to center the story around a home, with a strong matrilineal voice and connection, similar to how I grew up. I picked the Melungeon from Appalachia to reflect our collective diversity and my reference point for Patience and her family. Melungeon refers to a community of European, African, and Native American ancestry living in the southeastern United States, including central Appalachia. Their identity inspired me and gave context to my cornbread metaphor. Like the Melungeon, I deliberately created Patience and her family to be multiracial because Patience is all of us, and It Takes Patience is written for everyone.
About Idan Ravin
Once upon a time, I was an unhappy lawyer sitting behind a big desk staring at a big pile of work I didn’t want to do. Over time, I gradually discovered something I loved, pivoted from the law, and create a new life for myself.
These days, I train many of the best basketball players in the world and have been given the nickname “The “Hoops Whisperer” because I can engage, inspire, and develop these athletes. My unlikely transition from practicing law to training NBA & WNBA superstars & celebrities, along with my unconventional methods, hopefully, have been a source of inspiration, and even became the subject of lengthy features in the Wall Street Journal, Men’s Journal, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, the New York Post, the New Yorker, the Boston Globe, and Forbes, among others. I’ve also been featured on television & radio, such as “The Revolution” & “Extreme Makeover Body Edition” on ABC, NBA Inside Stuff, NBA Inside Access, NBA Fit, NBA Real TV, ESPN, Nike/Brand Jordan commercials & documentaries, Playboy Radio, CBS Sports, ESPN Radio, NPR.
Hoping to inspire people to do what they love, I penned, The Hoops Whisperer, published by Penguin Books, which became a best seller and featured in the Boston Globe, the New York Post, Men’s Fitness, SLAM, among others. My debut children’s book, It Takes Patience, draws on more than a decade of experience training basketball superstars, while offering inspiration and wisdom for children and parents alike.
Along with my professional sports, I’ve become an active investor, keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and spokesperson for global brands. I also like to learn and have a Master of Science in Kinesiology, a law degree (Juris Doctor), a Bachelor of Science in Finance, and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
Connect with Idan via his website or on social media @ittakespatiencebook, @idanwan
life wouldn’t be again the same. The negro roving seller is the unexpected dream of the hard reality, which she should face. Being confused between two worlds, she must make a decision about her life. However, she ignores that fate has dark plans for her. Years later, when her son refuses her love and her grand daughter’s life will be in danger because of the bombing substances, a young negro appears again in her life to show her that the past is still alive and the old wrong actions are waiting for their justification. “Between two worlds” is a romantic and middle-grade book for children aged 10+ and teens alike.
Peggy Fourka is no stranger to children’s publishing. She has illustrated more than 200 books and has written a number of children’s fictional stories, including “Adventures on the Island of Bullies,” which was a best-seller in Greece and Cyprus and was produced into a theatrical play in 2015. The book and musical taught children about friendship, love, and respect. Fourka’s latest book “Heaven’s Alphabet”, also published by Psichogios Publications, focused on the alphabet through Christian faith. In 2018, Fourka fulfilled another passion when she started teaching Byzantine Iconography to children. Mrs. Fourka and her husband Michael, enjoy spending time with their 9-year-old son, George, who is not only the artist’s inspiration but brings the color into her life.
Demetra Socratous is a primary school teacher, a drama facilitator, a human rights and peace trainer. She has obtained her degree in the Science of Education and a minor degree in French Studies from the University of Cyprus (2004). She received a Master’s degree in Drama and Theatre in Education (University of Warwick, 2007) and a second Master’s degree in Arts and Culture Management (Rome Business School, 2017). She was the Coordinator of the ‘Youth and Culture’ Workshop of Pafos 2017 Cultural Capital of Europe, as well as the co-Coordinator of the Cyprus Youth Network of the European Cultural Parliament. A short video on her voluntary work has been posted on the European website for the European Year of Volunteerism 2011.
alone and at last to realize by herself that we must accept the responsibilities. We should correct our mistakes with the same magic way that we may play with the stars one night. A beautiful little girl, good and strange, learns that the sky has his own rules in order the day to follow the night, the sun to follow the moon and we should enjoy their colors in any case. The fairytale ” Polichromes Haroumenes Steges ” Published for the first time in 2018 from Anatypo Publishers, in Thessaloniki. Mrs. Vaso Katsarelia writes fairytale and poems since she was a child. She has received numerous awards in literature competitions. Her big love for the books motivates her driving force for all that she makes.
illustrator’s amazing work, Athena Petouli, who treated the lyrics in such a way, giving life to them. The writer is also lucky for having such a talented illustrator to make her treasure, shine through the illustrations.
When you must talk to kids for letters, you need a different way to use, ore playful so as to attract their interest. In this book, there is an innovative scheme. The alphabet letters come alive, become persons, have a certain job that starts with the same letter, the letters have things to do, they have their own life.
letters of the Greek Alphabet, contributing to the learning process with their joyful lines.
Demetra Socratous is a primary school teacher, a drama facilitator, a human rights and peace trainer. She has obtained her degree in the Science of Education and a minor degree in French Studies from the University of Cyprus (2004). She received a Master degree in Drama and Theatre in Education (University of Warwick, 2007) and a second Master degree in Arts and Culture Management (Rome Business School, 2017). Demetra is a youth leader and active member of various socio-cultural organisations. She was the Coordinator of the ‘Youth and Culture’ Workshop of Pafos 2017 Cultural Capital of Europe, as well as the co-Coordinator of the Cyprus Youth Network of the European Cultural Parliament. A short video on her voluntary work has been posted on the European website for the European Year of Volunteerism 2011. She is currently a Heritage Youth Ambassador of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage. She writes tales, short stories and poetry, which have received prizes both in Greece and Cyprus. She published three children books: “Mary and the White Pea” (on child cancer); the poetry collection “Truths, Dreams and Peace” (nominated for the Cyprus National Children Literature Award 2017; awarded by the Cyprus IBBY 2016), “Dad in a Cage” (on parental imprisonment).
This book can help children, parents, and teachers build a new perspective and find the heroes of the book inside them.
Despina, Marios, Maria, Panagiotis, Panagiota, Vangelis, Evangelia, Myrto, travel with their family to Tinos. As it is usually the case, they meet each other on their way there. At first, they talk about the seagulls, the pigeons and the wonderful pigeon cotes of the island of the Virgin Mary, Tinos. Following the statement of Panagiotis that he has only heard his teacher talk about the Virgin Mary, the other children start telling 
him what they know about the Mother of our Lord.
grandeur and beauty.
Epi N Michi-Zeggou was born in 1969 in Larissa, Greece. Mother of three, she is a veterinary surgeon. She entered the world of writing with her essay “Journey into the World of Dementia” written in her father’s memory as an effort to help inform people and support families experiencing the problem of dementia. On the occasion of this essay, she presented a paper in the 9th Panhellenic Congress of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (Thessaloniki, May 2015) entitled Dementia as Seen through the Perspective of the Caregiver. The rights of the essay have been conceded by the author to the Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders “Alzheimer Hellas”. She has also established an online support team for patients with dementia
A doll will be the companion of a child on the road of the forced and violent escape from his homeland. At the most difficult time, in the middle of the turbulent sea, the doll falls into the waves to save her friend from the dragon of the sea bottom. In the
On the occasion of a cheerful dialogue between a bat and an owl, which live in the Monastery of Agia Anastasia, Farmakolytria, the yarn of glorious Greek history during the time of Alexander the Great, spins. We also get to know religious personalities whose lives and unwavering faith have given courage to thousands of people over the centuries, and even up to the modern era. We as readers become one with the dozens of families who visit the Monastery 
From one moment to another, unexpected great joy”! It’s a poetic collection addressed to preschool and school-aged children. Mr. Theofanis Theofanous using the haiku technique in an intelligent and playful way helps children to understand and love poetry! Drawing themes from the natural environment he drags us into a joyful fist! Riding on a bicycle we travel to a fantastic seacoast, we take rabbits out of our hats lying on a pillow that leads us to the moon! While from grandmother’s pot the smell of cinnamon, sugar and pumpkin scents the whole place! We hear the cats jumping on the covers hunting mice while we drink orange juice on the terrace counting stars. Witches and elves are thrown out of the books and swallows, dolphins bats and canaries complete the party. Lavender scatters its aroma and a daisy brings dew drops to the bees. A rose, a poppy, and a jasmine flower teach us the alphabet’s love. In this crazy dance, ants follow beating the tambourine
Agatha Rodi is not only a long-time supporter and ambassador for Multicultural Children’s Book Day, but she is also a Global CoHost!
Sunita specializes in working with bilingual children and works at a national level to promote the advantages of learning two or more languages which is her passion.