Peony in Me

About the Book

The original words of Peony in Me were written as a stream of consciousness set of prose by a woman grieving as both a mother and a sister. They were sent raw and full of emotion to her brother, who used his own journey through loss to put a wide-angle lens on the sentiment. The goal was to craft and share their own feelings in a way that others could connect with. To let people know it’s okay to be sad. That they’re not alone.
The feelings of grief, pain, and loss are universal, though everyone’s path to and through those dark places is unique. This story was born from their own path of grief, but the strength we can find in love is universal.

About the Author

About the Author
A.J. Snyder is an award-winning Children’s book author who grew up on a steady diet of witty irreverence, unconditional love, and thrice nightly doses of Dr. Seuss. His adoration for the written word is rivaled only by the joy of waking up to each new day, the feel of warm spring sun on his skin, and the love of a home filled with his wife and daughters. He met and wooed his bride to be among the storied stones of Philadelphia. Now they raise their babies under the thick trees of its suburbs.

About the Illustrator
Leah Leitch is a woman of intense love. It comes in stacks taller than the mountains that surround her home. It twinkles with the stars, runs in the wind, and flows from her heart into her art.
To live with an intense passion for life was something born in her, but grew wings when she gave birth to her beautiful angel, Ariya Jaymes. Her time with her daughter was devastatingly short, and the pain of missing her gnaws at Leah’s heart relentlessly. But it is through Ariya that she has found joy again, discovering the deepest, most untouchable strengths of love that not even death can take from you. Today and every day she walks in the love of her unwavering husband, and all three of their miraculous children.