PBJellyKids
PBJellyKids is an indie publishing house featuring the collected works of rising picture book poet Jilly Gavin.
Meet Jilly
Jilly Gavin’s foray into picture book poetry began while she was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mozambique. Inspired by the kindhearted neighbors and luscious landscape she found herself immersed in (along with a yard full of kiddos she welcomed with open arms), Jilly began writing poetry to express her experiences of African village life. Over time Jilly’s poetry began to capture more than just life outside her front door - it became a way for her to express the joys of life, the sorrows of death, and the everything in between. As the poems fell to paper, one after another, visions of a new dream emerged for Jilly — of a collection of picture book poems that both honored where she’d been, and set the stage for a world she hoped to see emerge — a world full of compassion, connection, and unconditional love.
The poetry continued to flow as she moved from country to country and, after 7 years living and working abroad, in 2018 Jilly returned home to Buffalo, NY — affectionately known as the City of Good Neighbors. She began leading parent support programs in the local refugee community, eager to continue a connection with collectivistic cultures she fell in love with abroad and convinced that supporting positive parenting practices is the best way to create lasting change in the world. Bolstering previous trainings she’d completed as a postpartum doula, children’s yoga teacher, and heart intelligence coach, Jilly completed certifications in The Incredible Years and Tuning Into Teens parenting programs and has since helped more than 250 New American parents from over a dozen countries develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that promote healthy child development.
Beyond the parenting programs she still leads (with the help of an incredible team of moms from around the world), today Jilly leads strategy and implementation for a suite of programs focused on promoting self-sufficiency, early childhood development, and family well-being for refugees and other displaced individuals.
Jilly considers it both an honor and a privilege to get to help parents navigate the most challenging, most rewarding, and most important job on the planet. She also hopes her books — which cover the silly, the sappy, and the down right sticky — help make parents’ jobs feel just a little bit easier.
