Inspired by his daughter, Naden Parkin released his first children’s book The Girl Who Was Brave Enough. Parkin grew up and attended school in Preeceville. His father Dale Parkin and step mom Donna still reside on a farm on the outskirts of Preeceville.
Parkin works as a salesman for exploratory drilling equipment across Northern B.C. and Yukon, and previously worked in the Alberta oil patch in Grand Prairie. The family moved to Williams Lake B.C. in March 2019, where his wife Angela’s family resides.
Previously, Parkin had written and self-published a book in 2014 called A Relationship with Truth: Poem and Verse Born in the Canadian Oil Patch. A collection of poetry he wrote while working in Alberta, it gave him his first taste of publishing his work and selling his books to Chapters and Coles in Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The book, The Girl Who Was Brave Enough was released in Februaryand is about a little girl who lives in an ordinary house who, one day, goes on walks with her dad. They see some sailors and the little girl tells her father that she’ll never be brave enough to sail the ocean, to which he replies “if those sailors can be brave enough, you can be brave enough.” Likewise, he gives her the same encouragement after they see some construction workers, shipbuilders and more.
When she grows older the girl learns to sail and takes to the open ocean, only to be wrecked on a tropical island, Parkin said. While she’s afraid at first, she remembers the words of her father and uses a sailor’s bravery, a construction worker’s strength and a shipbuilder’s ingenuity to not only survive but thrive. Along the way she meets a tiger, sings with the birds and eats with some monkeys before fixing her boat and returning home. “I guess the theme is self-growth and believing in yourself,” Parkin said. “Realizing your own potential.”
It was inspired by Parkin’s young daughter, three-year-old, Hadley Parkin. Parkin began thinking of his own mortality and he felt a desire to write her a letter in the event something should happen to him. The letter morphed into a story for her and his wife. “When I started writing the letter it just didn’t seem right,” said Parkin, “After some advice from others, I decided to change the format into a book setting. The lessons I wanted to leave my daughter were somewhat lost in the letter but the story was a perfect simple way that she could relate to. The original plan was to create an heirloom for her but it has gone further than we could ever hoped.”
Shortly thereafter they found themselves an illustrator in Cortney Warr who crafted a series of illustrations to go along with the story which Parkin describes as just wonderful to look at.
“Our goal was to make a beautiful family heirloom and we did 200 copies and we sold them in a month,” Parkin said.
“It’s just a really simple, positive story with beautiful artwork,” Parkin said, adding that he encourages other aspiring writers to consider self-publishing themselves.
Parkin has always loved to write as a young child but that interest grew in his high school years. In his high school creative 20 writing class he had created a book of a collection of poems. From that project he realized that he enjoyed writing and sharing his thoughts with others.
“For me writing has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It gives me a certain sense of peace and accomplishment. This book was written for my daughter and is about giving a message of encouragement,” he said.
At the end of the book his thoughts are echoed with the words, “When storms in life lead you astray and you are scared, cold, and alone be brave, be clever, and you will find your way back home.”
