By: centraljersey.com
"I became an empty shell," she writes. "It was a time of confusion and transformation. It was then that I made a promise. Deep in my heart I knew that after I picked up the pieces I would one day turn a tragedy into something positive."
She had to remain strong for her son Nicolas, who’s now 11, her husband and the two sons and daughter she had thereafter. Matthew, age 6, is currently undergoing physical therapy after a second surgery to remove a rare but not life-threatening tumor on his thigh. Only 5 percent of the tumor remains, but he will have to be monitored to see if it continues to grow.
"Sometimes life doesn’t give you a choice," Ms. Dolce says of the barriers she’s faced. "I was forced to continue to pick myself up and continue walking forward. When you have kids and family and responsibilities, you just can’t just check out… that was not an option for me."
Ms. Dolce’s journey led her to release her first book set for children, Where is Love?, which features illustrations by her son Gabriel, age 8. She will appear at Borders in West Windsor Oct. 2 for a storytelling and book signing, followed by an art exhibit of Gabriel’s illustrations and wood sculptures and book reading at the Straube Center in Pennington Oct. 9.
"The message in the book is to look for the positive and find places where love exists, and that’s definitely what pulled me through my most difficult times," she says. "That’s why I feel so strongly about getting the message out to kids. Life isn’t perfect and children are sooner or later going to encounter challenges. If you continue to have a positive outlook and remain in the mindset that things will work out, continue to be strong and don’t give up, it will be OK."
The book had its beginnings in the winter of 2008, when Gabriel drew a picture of a whale and asked his mother if it reminded her of love. Ms. Dolce was busy at work in the kitchen, but she stopped to take a closer look. She saw the smack of a whale’s tail in a calm, deep ocean. Gabriel made the whale’s tail into the shape of a heart and asked his mother to write what she saw on the piece of paper.
He continued to present his mother with new illustrations, and she would add text. In each artwork, Gabriel hid tiny hearts for her to find, like a game. As the illustrations piled up, Ms. Dolce realized they had unintentionally created an entire book.
Initially, she had no idea what to put on the cover, but the solution had been hanging on a sliding door in her kitchen all along. Gabriel had made a rainbow with Dot Art markers a year prior that Ms. Dolce thought conveyed a sense of hope and fit the book’s theme.
She decided to start a company, Danielle Dolce Universal Creations, LLC, and self-publish Where is Love? as a two-volume set. The hidden hearts on each page remind children to always look for love and the rainbow covers connect like a puzzle to form a heart. "It really goes perfectly with the whole message," she says. "It’s through connecting that we are all brought together as one. We really do need each other. Being there for each other – those connections make us complete."
The last page of the book asks children to draw their own rendition of where they find love. Ms. Dolce can also take any child’s artwork and place it on T-shirts, tote bags, canvas and notecards, just for fun or for fundraising. She printed Gabriel’s illustrations on her "Love is every-Wear" apparel line, with inspirational messages.
The books are appropriate for children up to third grade, but Ms. Dolce says that some older adults who don’t have children or grandchildren have purchased them as well. "The reason they are telling me is that the rainbow is so uplifting," she says. "Even though it’s a children’s book, because it was drawn by a child they find happiness in keeping it out on the coffee table, so they can walk by and remember to maintain a positive outlook."
When she first graduated from college, Ms. Dolce took a job with Head Start, a pre-school program that helps financially challenged families. A few years later, she worked in the public school system, teaching children who did not have much emotional support. Ms. Dolce uses her background as an educator at book events to make the experience fun and interactive for the children. She keeps busy by volunteering to read the books to children at schools, hospitals, charity organizations and libraries. At Borders, she will "perform" the book, using hand puppets and props. Ms. Dolce always donates 20 percent of book sales to benefit children.
Ms. Dolce donated approximately 100 copies of Where is Love? to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she has spent a lot of time with Matthew. The book set also celebrates the differences that make individuals special, with a page dedicated to children with physical disabilities and another to those with hearing difficulties.