To a child, change can make even the familiar feel foreign. A new home, a different classroom, a shift within the family, or the loss of someone they love can transform the world they knew—often before they have the words to explain what they are feeling.

Yet beyond the window, nature has been weathering change all along. Trees bend through storms. Spiders rebuild what has been broken. Morning glories keep climbing toward the light—each offering a quiet reminder that change can challenge us without defeating us.

And so, one trusted journalist and devoted mother is transforming the wisdom she found in nature during her own darkest season into a source of strength for young readers—showing them that change may redraw the landscape of their lives, but it does not have to uproot their hope.

Emmy-Nominated CNN Journalist & Children’s Author, René Marsh, joins our John Masiulionis and Little Forrest on Episode #284 of PR From The Heart’s Children’s Books Spotlight Series to share her journey from reporting the stories shaping our world to using her own story to reshape the future for children facing cancer and change, the release of her latest book, The Nature of Change: Lessons of Determination, Resilience, and Hope from the Outside World (published by Zonderkidz™), how losing her son, Blake, and finding solace in the natural world inspired its message, what it means to her to keep Blake’s memory alive through her work as a KidLit creator, the shocking treatment gap facing children with cancer, her efforts to champion greater awareness and funding for pediatric brain cancer research, and how parents can help children build hope in life’s ordinary moments so they can draw upon it during the hardest ones—plus much more.

We encourage you, our friends and neighbors, to support René’s mission by getting your copies of The Nature of Change: Lessons of Determination, Resilience, and Hope from the Outside World—and enjoying this empowering read with your little ones: https://bit.ly/4AiXsT6.

The Nature of Change: Lessons of Determination, Resilience, and Hope from the Outside World
Text copyright © 2026 by Rene Marsh • Illustrations copyright © 2026 by Pumudi Gardiyawasam. Used with permission. Published by Zonderkidz™. All rights reserved.