Kansas City author writes children's book inspired by son's food allergy

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 News anchor Rae Daniel covers stories across Kansas City with a focus on community groups and highlighting fun things to do on the weekends. Share your idea with Rae by email.

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'If You Give a Child a Book' campaign continues this week, where KSHB 41 partners with the Scripps Howard Fund, raising money to provide free and new books to students who may not have access to books in their home.

I sat down with Sara Beane, who is a local author and Public Relations business owner.

Beane wrote 'Why Can't I Eat Lunch With Luke,' a children's book about a boy with a food allergy. She wrote it with her youngest son in mind, Ryan, who has a peanut and tree nut allergy.

"When he was young and when he was going to school, he had to sit at the peanut-free table," Beane said. "And I got to thinking about it over the years and I wondered if kids really understood in the elementary age when their friends went to sit at a separate table, why they had to and what was the reason behind that. And so I decided to write the book to introduce the idea."

Since the book has been published, she's read inside classrooms to children about a complex issue and breaking it down in a simple way.

"There's so many opportunities for children to be read to: by their parents, their grandparents, their teachers, the librarians at school, by older siblings, pretty much anybody," Beane said. "And so a children's book is such a great way to explain ideas like this and to make kid that have the peanut allergy or have other food allergies not feel so alone."

Beane also added that she read a lot as a child and read to both her sons, Ryan and Patrick when they were young. The book is dedicated to both of them.

"That was part of our life as I raised my kids, you know we went to the library, we read at home, we read before bed, encouraged them to read and of course the school always encouraged them to read as well," Beane said. "So reading is so important, I mean I think it builds their vocabulary, they learn about different things in the world they may not know about and it helps them understand like I mentioned, complex topics.

Beane was also recognized by Allergy Force, a food allergy app with a number of different resources, which includes highlighting children's designed to help young readers and their families better understand, teach and encourage different allergies a child may have.

To hear more stories of our 'If You Give A Child A Book' campaign and looking to donate, click here.