Life changed for author Alison Woods when she came to a painful realization while searching for books for her oldest granddaughter. She wanted a series centered on an African American girl. After visiting bookstores, she realized those books were difficult to find. And so, she filled a notebook with ideas that would later become My Name is Kayla.
Her decision did not come after years in publishing. It came after more than four decades in Information Technology, including a long career with IBM. Retirement gave her the time to revisit stories she had written years earlier. Today, those early notes have grown into several children’s books and multiple series inspired by family life.
Why Everyday Stories Matter in Children’s Literature
Children don’t separate learning from enjoyment. They remember characters who make them laugh, families that remind them of home, and adventures that feel familiar.
Everyday life, hence, matters in books as well. Simple situations enable children to identify with the characters, thus encouraging them to return to books.
Alison Woods was aware of this necessity from her personal experience even before she started writing. Soon, her quest for books turned into a mission to write stories for her granddaughter.
A Storyteller Long Before Her IBM Career
Writing was never a retirement hobby for Alison Woods.
She has shared that storytelling began when she was around nine years old. She told stories about her family, friends, school, church, and the neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side. That experience influenced her storytelling method in the present.
Explaining why she became a children’s author after working in the field of technology, she said: “My love for storytelling has always been a part of who I am.”
At the beginning of her career, she planned to work briefly at IBM and then attend medical school. However, technology became her long-term profession for more than forty years. Still, storytelling remained a part of her life through the bedtime stories she told her children and, later, her grandchildren.
The manuscript for My Name is Kayla was written in 2011. Family, travel, and work delayed publication for several years. After retiring in 2017, Woods finally decided to bring the story into print.
Turning One Character Into a Growing Book Series
Many authors start with just one title. Alison Woods started with a character who can grow alongside their young readers.
Kayla became the main character of the KaylaKay series because Woods wanted children to grow with the same character over many books.
Woods said what inspired her very clearly:
“My inspiration came from my oldest granddaughter. When she was three, I wanted her to have a character she could grow up with… someone she could see herself in. I looked around and couldn’t find a single series featuring an African American girl as the lead character. So I created one.”
This choice affected everything she wrote.
Instead of using dramatic plots, Woods uses familiar events. In her books, Kayla learns about her name, gets ready for church with her grandmother, meets Santa, and explores her childhood with curiosity and humor.
As her own family grew, so did her books. Her grandson was the reason she wrote the KashEEE series, which began with the book My Name is Kash. The twin grandsons inspired Woods to write We Are Happy.
Research published by the American Academy of Pediatrics continues to show that shared reading supports early language development, strengthens parent-child relationships, and builds literacy skills from infancy. Stories rooted in familiar routines can become meaningful parts of that reading experience.
The Vision: A Happy Return to Childhood
Alison Woods did not plan to become a children’s author after leaving IBM. Her publishing journey started because she wanted one little girl to see herself in a story.
This desire has led to various book series that highlight childhood, family traditions, curiosity, and adventures. These books demonstrate that important stories can take place anywhere, and sometimes the most important stories take place at home, drawn from the people around the dinner table or from those who read at bedtime.
Through Kayla, Kash, Hunter, Liam, and the characters yet to be introduced, Alison Woods keeps publishing books that young readers can identify with and enjoy reading for years to come.