Author bases children’s book on own experiences

Marcia Mouron decided to write a children’s book because she thought she couldn’t do it.

Mouron, who grew up in Mountain Brook and now lives in Hoover, said her book You Can I Can (You don’t have to be an “I Can’t") was inspired after a friend told her about a challenge — pick something she figured she could not do and give herself three months to do it.

“The next morning, I was sitting at breakfast and thought, if I was going to do that, I would want to write a children’s book,” Mouron said. “And the very next thing I thought to myself was, ‘But you can’t do that.’ So the ‘I can’ts’ and the ‘I cans’ were born from that.”

The book took a little more than the three-month time frame to complete, but Mouron said once she got started, the process flowed easily.

Mouron held a book signing at Please Reply in Mountain Brook on Jan. 21 and said she has been contacted by Preschool Partners, teachers and parents who are sharing the book.

She said she hopes the book will inspire children to keep trying instead of getting bogged down by worries.

“I’m very passionate about getting that idea out to young children about how much you lose if you worry about ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I can’t do it well,’” Mouron said.