05/14/2026
I wanted to give a shout out to my other page Isabel Lange - Author and remind you about our book, Sweetie the Super Pony and highlight our newest book release!
Introducing, Elsie. She's also here to let you know about my latest book project coming this month🥰
I wanted to share a bit more about 'Or Elsie' and the journey to creating this book. I mentioned that this book was an idea years ago and written for our daughter Elsie before we knew about her. 💕
A few years ago, the name Elsie came up in conversation. It was a nickname for Ellsworth Beckwith who was Josh's great grandfather. Though this nickname was pronounced with a 'z' sound in its masculine form, we saved it in hopes to use it for a girl. I staked my claim with that name since so many other Lange babies were arriving and I didn't know when we would have a baby and if it would be a girl. Josh and I both thought it would be really fun to have a girl first. I believe the simple act of adding that name to a 'future name idea' list was the first step in preparing my heart to become a mother. A year or so later, I had the idea for the book and began writing it. The concept was just one way I saw Josh in particular parenting our future children, another step in this pottery-like process. You see, I always knew I wanted children, but there was a pause with how many unknowns there could be, especially with pregnancy. Nine months would be a long time to rely on others for help, if for some reason, I couldn't take care of the horses or other day to day tasks. I also wanted to establish our horse business/ministry well enough so that stepping back for a time would work better. It seemed like the 'to-do before baby' list never would shrink...
Last year a few days after Father's Day, Josh and I had a conversation about babies. I told him, surprising myself, that it seemed like a good time to start planning for a baby. He said that it was funny I mentioned it because in church on Father's Day he felt led to pray very specifically for me that I wouldn't feel afraid to be pregnant when it was time. Crazy, right. Just a few days later and I brought it up to him not knowing anything about that prayer. As soon as we had that conversation, I felt so strongly, more than just a 'it would be fun if we had a girl' feeling that our first baby would, in fact, be a girl and we would use the name Elsie in some way. My heart definitely felt like it was being sculpted in such a different way. I had casually taken note of certain baby items I liked and seemed beneficial from watching both sisters in law and mothers in my life, but now I actively put together a baby registry of my own, before I was even pregnant. I added mostly gender neutral colors so they were items that could be used for multiple babies, no matter the gender, but I also added some specific girl items. I also revisited and began working on this book project again once I had confirmed that I was pregnant. I was careful to not set my heart on one gender or the other but I still felt like I was carrying Elsie, not some other baby. I asked AI to generate images for the book for now, not giving it specific details because who knew what our girl would look like and I wanted to do a remake with a real artist once she was older. The images turned out amazing, beyond what I expected from AI...
From August-December, I felt this knowing that we were having a girl, but I didn't want to set my heart on it because I was going to be happy either way, whether having a boy or girl. When we went for our anatomy scan, we decided that was when we would find out the gender of our baby. The ultrasound tech was so excited to be part of this special moment as they don't get to do that much anymore with early test being available or people not finding out. She told us whenever we were ready to find out, she would show us. We were ready. We both stated we thought it would be a girl. She explained to us what you were looking for if it was a boy and my heart dropped a bit. I knew that no matter what, all of this was God softening my heart to be ready for this new season, but I also didn't think that this 'it's a girl' thing was my own imagination. Then, the ultrasound tech spoke again, "and this is what we're looking for if it's a girl..." as she pointed to the screen. I think I nearly passed out because I was like "wait, really?" I felt so silly for not just trusting, but in that moment, I knew the book "Or Elsie" actually needed to be my priority and it needed to be done for her arrival. And so, here is "Or Elsie", a story to help children understand that rules are about care, reassuring little hearts that listening to parents is a way to do what is right and honor God—while still leaving plenty of room for imagination and fun. Parenting "right" is all about walking with God and understanding how He will guide your interactions with each different child to train them up in the way they should go. This book represents just one small example of what I imagine that will look like as Elsie grows and while encouraging children of things, also encouraging parents to keep in step with the Holy Spirit in their parenting.
Pre order here by Saturday, May 16:
https://forms.gle/tX9AM2zCkJCeX8R5A
