All About the Book

Book Summary

How the Sly Siblings Learned to Share (inspired by the authors’ upbringing) is about four mischievous kids—Chumi, Siba, Simu, and Feuzi. Each child is well versed in trickery, yet sensitive to others’ wrongdoing. To tackle unfairness from each other’s self-only focus, the siblings create clever rules, without adult involvement, that encourage empathy and sharing.

The book inspires children to take ownership of their values and better manage their relationship with their siblings. Key learnings include: emotional intelligence, empathy, empowerment, and problem solving. 

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FAQs

What inspired the book?

For years, Stessy and Naomi have joked about writing a book based on their upbringing. The 2020 pandemic provided just the opportunity (read boredom) for them to finally get it together and put pen to paper. In the early days of the pandemic, they talked for hours, reminiscing about different childhood stories and ultimately had enough material to inspire this book. The sisters hope readers will have as much fun reading this as they had writing it!

What problem is “Sly Siblings” solving?

The book helps children see themselves in the driver seat of their lives. They are given a supportive and comedic example of how children can govern themselves and keep one another accountable for being better siblings and ultimately better children. Kids will come away from this feeling empowered and well equipped to create their own kids’ rules!

How does “Sly Siblings” solve the problem?

The book shows a relatable example of kids who are sly and sneaky, but care about fairness. Kids will be able to see themselves in how the foursome tries to pull the wool over one another’s eyes. It’s a great way to show that childhood doesn’t always have to be directed by parents, many of whom are tired. But instead, parents or adults can encourage kids to talk through problems with one another and develop solutions that balance fairness with just enough good humor.

Who is this book for?

This book is for all children, whether they are only children or not. Sharing is a key part of socializing any child, so it’s an important concept to teach to kids. The beauty of the story is that it can be applied to any group of kids, whether siblings, friends, nieces, nephews, etc. Parents can be brought into kids’ councils, if need be, but the most important thing is that kids’ voices are included and they are central to the decision-making process.

What makes this book unique?

This book is special because of its origin and the lessons imparted on readers. The values taught are ones that transcend childhood and are just as applicable to teenagers and even adults — it is human to hold ourselves to different standards than others. And conflict can often arise when that happens, so it’s important to call out the incident of perceived injustice, talk it out in a respectful manner, and come to an agreed upon solution which specifies the desired behavior.