Local Author Teams with 5-Year Old Daughter to Take Young Readers to “Jreamland”
To honor deceased daughter Lotus, Karina Mims got a cupcake and lit a candle each year on her birthday. Then her surviving daughter Brooklyn dreamt of a place where her sister continued to live.
[“Brooklyn Goes to Jreamland” by Karina Mims and Brooklyn Mims will debut at a special book signing and reading at Kim’s Cafe at 714B MLK Jr. Blvd. on Saturday, October 12th at 1pm.]
“My daughter is very imaginative,” said Karina Mims of her living daughter, Brooklyn Mims, co-author of their new children’s book ‘Brooklyn Goes to Jreamland.’ “She came to me and she said, ‘Mom, I had a dream. I saw my sister. I know exactly what she looks like.’”
Through follow-up questions posed by the elder Mims, Brooklyn described she and her sister as “soaring through this place” and how she “was beautiful.” Brooklyn also said that there was a lot of water, and lotus flowers everywhere. In the dream, and subsequently the publication, the sisters had heart to heart conversations over tea.
“It just inspired me to write the book to tell the story,” Karina Mims went on to say. “But also, it gives other children who have dealt with loss of a sibling, or parents even, [it] helps them see things in a different light.”
[Brooklyn Mims is a singer, dancer, YouTuber, entrepreneur, and now, author. And she’s only 5-years-old. Image Courtesy Karina Mims]
“Brooklyn will one day lead this nation.”
Lotus passed away just about five years before Brooklyn was born, and has remained a part of the family through the aforementioned yearly birthday celebrations, as well as by a photo and gold urn displayed at Karina’s mother’s house. But in speaking with the girls’ mother, it’s clear that both daughters are special in their own ways.
Brooklyn, she said, is “a YouTuber, she sings, she dances.” She also noted how video of a Kamala Harris chant that the 5-year-old came up with after the Vice President’s recent EnMarket Arena rally ended up going viral, with a repost by Savannah’s Mayor Van Johnson proclaiming that “Brooklyn will one day lead this nation.”
[Brooklyn Mims created a ‘Kamala Harris Chant’ video that went viral Video Courtesy Karina Mims]
The girl’s magical “Jreamland,” said the elder Mims, is an extraordinary world where not only Lotus dwells, but which is also “kind of a place like heaven,” although they don’t call it that in the book, nor are they specifically pushing any particular religious ideology in the story.
“It’s just to bring light to death,” she explained. “Light to the loss of a sibling. Light to loss, period.”
“We explained to [Brooklyn] who [Lotus] was, and what that means,” Mims went on to say, “and [Jreamland] is her take on it.”
[Brooklyn and Karina Mims Image Courtesy Karina Mims]
Overcoming Adversity, Empowering Others
As a former player in business who can no longer ply her trade due to a lupus diagnosis, Karina Mims has spent the last several years looking for ways to help others succeed. She previously published a book called "Boss Language,” and holds regular Boss Brunches, aimed at empowering women to reach their financial and business goals. She even works with Brooklyn to do a yearly kids business event, where the youngest members of our community get the chance to bring their ideas to life.
While “Brooklyn Goes to Jreamland” may not have the same target audience as her other work, the collaboration between Karina and her daughter does share one thing in common with her day job: It’s meant to help others.
“Ever year about that time, I get into my feelings, and I get a little sad,” Karina Mims admitted. “But Brooklyn, she gets excited. She’s like, ‘We’ve got to get the cupcake. We’ve got to tell Lotus Happy Birthday.’”
“I love her enthusiasm for it, and it sparked a fire in me to get that story out there,” she continued. “Because that’s how my daughter views it, and maybe she can help another kid.”
Kim’s Cafe at 714B MLK Jr. Blvd. will be hosting a Book Release Event for “Brooklyn Goes to Jreamland” on Saturday, October 12th at 1pm.