From first bonding as dental students, to a fast friendship and now as co-authors, Molina Shah and Aidée Manzano, make a good team. The fourth-year dental students have spent the past three years growing their friendship while achieving a fun goal along the way – writing a children’s book.
“I always wanted to do a project together,” Shah said. “I like storytelling, and [Aidée’s] a phenomenal artist. “For my 25th birthday, she gave me the best gift I’ve gotten; she drew out my white coat photo, printed it, and gave it to me. That gift played into the whole idea to do a kids’ book.”
Shah and Manzano are the co-authors of ’My Smile: Mi Sonrisa,” a book based on Manzano’s younger brother, Orbi, and how he learned to take care of his teeth. The book was a passion project that grew from Shah and Manzano’s close bond.
“We knew we wanted the book to be about oral health, and I was constantly learning more about it through my little brother who was learning how to brush his teeth, and we thought it’d be cute to base it off my brother,” Manzano said.
The book follows Orbi’s journey to oral health with a ladybug sidekick as he learns more about why brushing your teeth is important to kill germs that cause tooth decay, how much toothpaste is enough and what foods can help contribute to oral health. The book is also a reflection of its authors, with text in English and Spanish on facing pages, representing their multi-lingual backgrounds and Orbi’s work to learn Spanish.
“There are not a lot of dental children’s books, and there are not a lot of Spanish children’s books,” Shah said. “This project was a fun way to do both. I’ve had adults with young kids say to me ‘I wanted to teach my kid Spanish, and they appreciated being able to teach their child more about dentistry and refer to the Spanish side of the story at the same time.”
“We’d been trying to teach Orbi Spanish, and this can be enjoyed by children who are also Spanish speaking with their parents. They can enjoy it in both languages,” Manzano said.
Manzano said the duo went through a lot of planning and hard work to bring the book to fruition, getting ASOD pediatric dentistry faculty members review their text, learning more about the publication process and finally getting it listed for sale on Amazon. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to the AutismSociety of North Carolina.
While both women are excited to see the book in dental practice waiting rooms, they also have ideas for future books featuring Orbi and other oral health topics.
“I would love to do more now that we’ve gone through the process and have the character and the art,” Shah said. “It would be so fun to have Orbi explore fluoride, how to brush, what’s orthodontics? We’re waiting to see how it’s received.”
Both women have said their families are excited about what they’ve accomplished so far. Shah shared the news with her childhood dentist and said that several faculty at ASOD have been supportive of the project. And what does Orbi think of being a featured character in a printed book?
“My brother was uninterested,” Manzano laughed. “He’s 7 and playing “Mario” on his phone!”
The book “My Smile Mi Sonrisa” is available at Amazon.com.