FEATURED AUTHOR - POLONA KISOVEC

Polona Kisovec likes to create stories and write about things we all think about but find difficult to discuss. She is marketing expert who owns a marketing agency “121 Marketing d.o.o.”, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is a writer, author, a copywriter, lecturer, coach, startup mentor, and a mother of two daughters.

Following her divorce, her eagerness to help others and her passion for storytelling prompted her to publish her first best-seller book Shine: Why Don't Moon Fairy and Sun Prince Live Together? With her new book Switch off Happiness. Turn on Life! Polona wants to help girls and single women, no matter their situation, to stay true to themselves and live genuine life even without a partner and without “likes” on social media.

Shine: Why Don't Moon Fairy and Sun Prince Live Together? is a divorce book for kids that will help children realize they can shine despite difficulties that life throws at them, that they are unique and loved by both parents.

There are two important notes that I would like to mention about this book:

First, the story of how Moon Fairy and Sun Prince met - when I first read the story of how Sun Prince hid the cloths of Moon Fairy while she was swimming I was very disturbed by the description. When I asked Polona Kisovec during our interview about this she explained that the story is taken from Greek Mythology. She mentioned how no one ever mentioned it in Europe but how she received a huge backlash about it from American audience.

So you may ask "why would you recommend a book that doesn't align with your beliefs?" Glad you asked! My personal approach in cases like this is to not shelter our children from different cultures, but to use situations like this one to have a discussion about uncomfortable topics when it is age appropriate. When reading the story to younger children I would simply skip or change the story to a more socially accepted storyline. When reading the story to older children I would tell the story as is. I would stop after the part that I am uncomfortable with and ask the children what they think about this way of pursuing another person romantically. I would use the story to have a discussion and guide the children to what is acceptable according to my values.

Second, there is a part in the story that talks abuot how the mother is very depressed and nothing makes her happy. It suggests that she is the reason for the failure of the marriage. Again, I would change the narrative with younger children and will have a discussion about different reasons why couples choose to separate. I would emphasize that it is NEVER the children's fault and that there are always at least two valid perspectived to every relationship.

Check out the playlist of our interview with Polonan on our YouTube channel.