Photo: Brooke Davis-Jefcoat
Erin Napier’s first children’s book tells the story of the most important place in her life: home.
“Adam and both live in old houses and we both have two little girls. We just thought it would be wonderful if we wrote a book for our girls and that’s where it began,” Erin tells PEOPLE exclusively of her first foray into children’s literature. (Erin and her husband and co-star Ben, who shareHelen, 3, andMae, almost 4 months, published their first book, a memoir calledMake Something Good Today, in 2018.)
The sweet story ofThe Lantern Houseis told from the perspective of a house as it watches its occupants change and grow, start families, and move away over the years, each leaving a mark on the home — both physical and emotional. “The house is the narrator and it’s a watcher, a keeper and a guardian of the families that live there,” Erin explains.
The house fills with cobwebs and feels lonely for a time but eventually, it changes hands and feels joy again at becoming the home of a new family.
As she and Adam brainstormed, they both knew immediately the impression they wanted their story to leave.
When it actually came time to write the story, Erin says, the words flowed easily.
“Honestly, I sat down and I wrote that in 30 minutes, the rough [draft],” she admits. “It just came very easily to me to tell this story, because it’s a story that I’ve seen a million times in the work we do onHome Town. We’ve renovated nearly a hundred houses. And Ben’s favorite thing to do is to research the history of these houses before we present them as an option to the family. So they know a little about the people that lived there before them.”
The lesson of their many renovations that stuck with the designer: “We just learned a lot that houses are more than houses.”
Erin Napier and daughter Helen.Ben Napier/ instagram
The titular “lantern house” is an amalgamation of the many homes Erin, Ben, and occasionally Adam, have helped to restore in Laurel. The name is meant to evoke the image of a house viewed from the outside at night with all the windows aglow.
“It’s the place that I want to be when I’m away from it,” Erin explains. “There’s a coziness and a warmth. And that’s all I can think of for this house and for what we wanted to call it.”
Erin Napier/ Instagram
“It’s going to be such a huge moment for Adam and I both, when we get to read this book to our daughters, they’re going to be so excited, I think, to see it. Helen’s never seen any of the illustrations.”
“I’m very attached to the books I loved in childhood,” she adds, “and I just imagine our girls and the way they’re going to love this book.”
The Lantern Housecomes out May 24, 2022 and is currentlyavailable for pre-order.
source: people.com
