“I wanted to make sure there were the right number of pages, for example, and that they had the correct pacing, so I laid out every major revision in a book dummy format.

Though Laurie didn’t have specific images in mind when writing “Emmanuel’s Dream,” she did write with scenes and page turns in mind. “Since then, Emmanuel and I have kept in touch by email and phone, and he’s generously answered all of my follow-up questions directly.” “I came away from that meeting with hours of recorded audio, which I then painstakingly transcribed into 18 pages of typed, single-spaced notes,” Laurie said. But, the real breakthrough came in 2010, when the author finally met Emmanuel and interviewed him in person. She watched the movie over and over again, did research online and through library databases, reading newspaper and magazine articles about Emmanuel and his activities.

Laurie bought the documentary and began working on the story. “I wanted readers to not only admire Emmanuel’s courage, resourcefulness and perseverance but to recognize and nurture those same qualities in themselves, so they can give their own dreams a chance despite whatever challenges they may face.” Laurie agreed, but as a children’s book author, she thought it would be better if every child could experience Emmanuel’s story from within the pages of a book. Laurie first learned of Emmanuel’s story in 2005, when a documentary about his life was promoted on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” “I think every parent should go take their children to see this movie,” Oprah said, “because it will change the way your children think about what they can do and can be.” Today, Emmanuel continues to work on behalf of the disabled. Eventually Emmanuel became a cyclist, riding 400 miles across Ghana in 2001. He hopped to school more than 2 miles each way, learned to play soccer and left home at 13 to provide for his family. Though many people thought he was useless, Emmanuel reached for his dreams. Emmanuel was born in Ghana, West Africa, with one deformed leg. Those feelings play a large role in “ Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah,” her latest book for young readers.

“All of us, especially children, can relate to that feeling of being misunderstood and under-appreciated, of getting shot down before we’ve even had a chance to get started, of believing something is possible even though everyone is telling us it’s not,” says author Laurie Ann Thompson.

Emmanuel's Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson