Esther Marshall was shocked at the lack of female lead characters in children’s books when she had her son, Asher.

After holding the role of head of gender diversity at Unilever for nine years, she knew she wanted her firstborn, now six, to grow up understanding that both girls and boys could achieve whatever they set their minds to. However, she could find no children’s books to help teach this value through his most critical developmental years. She decided to write one herself during Asher’s night feeds.

Esther, 35, self-published Sophie Says I Can, I Will in 2021, the first of three books so far released from her Sophie Says series, which follow the lives and adventures of a group of children.

“I was on maternity leave and reading these lovely books that people had gifted us. But it didn't make sense what I was reading,” explains the mother-of-three from Mill Hill who goes to Mill Hill Synagogue. “I was doing a job that was making the world a better place for all the adults, but not necessarily for our children.”

Esther with son Asher (Credit: courtesy)

On becoming a mother, Esther immediately felt an “overwhelming” sense of responsibility for her son’s future. “I thought: ‘I need to bring you up to be an upstanding man who's not only going to treat women right, but who is going to stand up for women's rights, because it's everything I believe in. So how do I then instil that in him?’”

She had wanted to find a book to read to Asher about the fact that women can do just as much as men, when her younger sister Rebecca asked: “Why don't you write the book that you want to read to your son?” Rebecca offered to do the illustrations for Esther’s new maternity leave project.

With children’s mental health awareness increasingly in the news, Esther had planned to write another book focusing on mental health issues. Devastatingly, during this time Rebecca became ill and took her own life.

“After we lost her, I thought: ‘There's a whole load of important lessons I want our children to learn. Why don't we carry on this legacy for Rebecca?’”

Esther Marshall (Credit: courtesy)

Esther wrote the second book, It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, in the night after Rebecca passed away, and dedicated it to her sister’s memory. She also quit her job. Another book soon followed: Be Proud Of Who You Are, to improve the self-esteem issues rife in young girls, and an activity book. The message of that book, about being the real you and achieving your dreams, she says “is part of being able to be open about being Jewish and not experiencing any antisemitism”.

She adds: “It's now my raison d'etre; I vow to help all these children with the most important lessons, while making them fun to learn.”

Sophie Says book by Esther Marshall (Credit: courtesy)

With 25,000 copies already sold, Esther is now writing It’s Okay To Make Mistakes to free children from the idea of perfection, scheduled for publication in October.

“It’s lessons I've only learnt now,” she says. “If I would have known it at eight, nine or ten, how different would my confidence have been, and how different could the next generation's confidence and resilience be?”

Esther Marshall holding a book in her Sophie Says series (Credit: courtesy)

A brand with a mission, Sophie Says has also launched an educational programme for schools, including a programme about wellbeing for the classroom to build children’s resilience with the help of the books’ characters. Esther wants Sophie Says to teach positive messages that will help children bypass harmful stereotypes and grow up equipped and empowered to face their futures.

“It's very much about creating a society where children can make the best of today to get an even better tomorrow,” says Esther. “We're trying to work with parents and schools so that children understand these lessons and feel that it's okay to have their feelings and be proud of who they are. That is really important.”

The books are available to buy from the Sophie Says website. For every book sold, Sophie Says will gift another to a child who doesn’t have a book of their own.