Lisa Yu says she has always dreamed of being a writer and publishing books.

A mother of two, she earned a master’s degree in elementary education and then taught first grade for six years before her son was born. That was when she transitioned into a full-time mother.

It was around the time that her son was 18 months old, and regularly getting upset over the long absences of his father, a career firefighter, that Ms Yu had an epiphany.

“I always make reading a big part of every evening,” she told The Newtown Bee recently. “One night, my husband wasn’t home, and I was really grappling with explaining to our son why he had to be away again.

“I thought ‘Wait a minute, what if there was a book that could help explain this to children?’” she said. “I remember thinking that I had to figure this out.”

Fast forward 18 months, and Ms Yu is celebrating the release of her first companion books, My Daddy Is A Firefighter and My Mommy Is A Firefighter. The books are the first in a series she plans to continue in the My Parent’s Job Children’s Series, with additional occupations to be covered with each release.

Ms Yu was finally able to put her hands on copies of her hardcover books less than two weeks ago.

“I guess you live and learn that when they say it takes the allocated time to get to you, it truly takes that length of time,” she said laughing. “I’ll know for next time.”

Illustrated by Ginger Nielson, My Daddy is A Firefighter opens with what must be a regular occurrence in the Yu household: Daddy saying good-bye to a mother and child. The first release is based on the work of Ms Yu’s husband, Garvin, an Engine 2 Driver with Stratford Fire Department.

Readers then follow the firefighter through a shift filled with gear placement and washing, station assignments, responding to calls, and training, among other daily events.

Her husband, Ms Yu said, offered suggestions for the names of tools and images in the first book.

“He’s been a great resource to me,” she said.

Each title in the My Parent’s Job series will be released so that children can appreciate the work done by a mother or father. Police officers will be highlighted in the second title of the series. Teachers will also be among the first five occupations she writes about, according to the author.

“I do think that it’s important to note that men and women can do these job,” Ms Yu said. “I want to highlight jobs men and women are doing.”

“Our son is so proud of his father,” she said. “He walks around now pretending he is driving the fire truck as well as putting out the fires.

“Cayden now puts on his costume uniform and says ‘I’m going to work,’” the author and mother said proudly.

Special Events & Purchasing

Ms Yu will be participating in First Responders Appreciation Morning, an event being planned for Saturday, June 15, at Main Street Adventures, 123 South Main Street in Newtown (Highland Plaza). From 9:30 am until noon, parents and children are invited to meet Ms Yu for her first author event. Copies of My Daddy Is A Firefighter and My Mommy Is A Firefighter, $19.99 each, will be available for purchase.

In addition, children of first responders (bring ID) will get discounted admission to the play area. First responders who attend the author event will be given a coupon for 50 percent off their purchases of prepared food and deli orders at Butcher’s Best Market, within the same plaza.

“The Main Street Adventures event will highlight the importance of quality family time for first responder families,” Ms Yu said.

The event ties in perfectly with the hope of Ms Yu to “get copies of these books into the hands of first responder families and help them with the same problem we had,” she said. Later this month, in fact, she will be participating in the New England Association of Fire Chiefs Fire/EMS/Rescue Expo. The largest annual event of its kind in the Northeast, Ms Yu and other vendors have the potential of meeting 5,000 attendees during the four-day event at Foxwoods Resort & Casino.

While she also plans to have her books available through amazon.com and local stores, the easiest way for readers to purchase and keep up with Ms Yu and her releases is through her website. Myparentsjobs.com already has an Events page and the option to purchase copies of the firefighter title.

Now that Ms Yu has solved the challenge of explaining to her son why Daddy is away for so long, the couple’s eight-month-old daughter is going to have to come up with new challenges for the young mother to juggle into her expanding resume.