The Boy and His Higher Self and My First Day of School- Author Interview and Giveaway

This post is in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Ricardo Santa Cruz. All opinions are my own.

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Book Information

​The Boy and His Higher Self
Written by Ricardo Santa Cruz
Illustrated by Yuko Kondo
Ages: 4-8 | 38 Pages
Publisher: Mascot Kids (2026) 
​ISBN: 979-8-99068-351-8
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Publisher's Book Summary: And have you always been here right by my side? I have always been with you, living inside. Have you ever listened to the little voice inside your head? What does it say to you? The Boy and His Higher Self is the story of a boy who discovers and learns to trust his higher self, a presence that has always been with him. Dedicated to the inner child and higher self within young children and adults alike, this book offers guidance and tools to help children overcome feelings of insecurity and sadness and gain self-confidence and positivity.

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Buy Now

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Author Interview

Where did you get the inspiration for The Boy and His Higher Self?
Honestly, I never set out to write a children’s book. This story came to life in the most
unexpected way. My mentor at the time had given me an open-ended writing exercise --
no rules, no format, just an invitation to explore and get to know my true self more
deeply. One evening, I sat down, and the words simply poured out of me. Thirty minutes
later, the book was written. It wasn’t planned or plotted — it was felt. Looking back, I
believe it came through me rather than from me. That experience alone taught me
something profound: when you’re connected to your higher self, creativity flows in ways
you never imagined possible.

Why is it important to you to write about having a higher self?
Because I believe it’s one of the most overlooked and undervalued truths we can share
with a child — or with anyone, really. We live in a world that is extraordinarily loud.
From the moment we wake up, we are bombarded with noise, opinions, comparisons,
and expectations. In that environment, the inner voice — that quiet, steady guide that
lives inside each of us — gets drowned out. And for many people, myself included, it
stays drowned out for decades.
I spent the better part of my adult life chasing external markers of success. I built
companies, I developed world-class properties, I hit every goal I had set for myself. And
yet there was a persistent emptiness I couldn’t explain. It wasn’t until I began doing
serious inner work with a mentor that I reconnected with something I had abandoned
long ago — my higher self. That reconnection changed everything. It changed how I
make decisions, how I show up for the people I love, and ultimately, what I believe life is
actually for.
If I can plant that seed in a child early — the simple understanding that there is a wise,
loving, unwavering presence inside them that will always guide them toward what is
true and good — then maybe they won’t have to wait until their 40s to find what I found.
That is why this book matters to me. It’s not just a story. It’s the conversation I wish
someone had started with me when I was young.

What was your writing process like for this book?
Unconventional, to say the least — and I mean that in the best possible way. There was
no outline. There were no drafts. There was no months-long process of revisions and
rewrites. My mentor had given me a simple, open-ended exercise as part of a deeper
journey of self-discovery. One evening I sat down with no particular intention, and
within thirty minutes the entire book had come through me. It was one of those rare
moments where you step out of your own way and something larger takes over.
What followed was equally meaningful. I had the great fortune of collaborating with the
incredibly talented illustrator Yuko Kondo, whose artwork brought a warmth and visual
soul to the story that I could not have imagined on my own. Watching the characters
come to life through his illustrations was one of the most moving parts of the entire
experience. Together, the words and the images became something that I believe speaks
to children and parents alike in a way that neither could have achieved alone.

What are you working on now?
I’m finishing my first adult book, Success Is Not Enough, and it feels like the natural
next chapter of everything I’ve been living. The children’s books came from a place of
reconnection — from finding my way back to my true self after years of being lost in the
pursuit of achievement. The adult book goes deeper into that journey.
It’s the story of reaching the pinnacle of what the world calls success and realizing
something was still profoundly missing. I came to understand that my life had been
running on an invisible program — a set of beliefs, patterns, and conditioning I had
absorbed without ever consciously choosing them. The book is about learning to see that
program clearly, breaking free from it, and discovering what genuine peace and
fulfillment actually feel like. It’s the most honest and vulnerable thing I’ve ever written,
and in many ways, it’s the book I wish someone had handed me at 35.

What is your favorite book?
That’s a question I find genuinely difficult to answer, because the books that have meant
the most to me are the ones I encountered at exactly the right moment in my life --
when I was ready to hear what they had to say. If I had to choose one, I would say The
Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It’s a book about following your personal legend, about
trusting the journey even when the destination isn’t clear, and about the idea that the
universe conspires to help those who pursue what they truly love. I read it at a pivotal
moment in my life, and it articulated something I felt deeply but hadn’t yet found words
for. In many ways, the spirit of that book lives inside The Boy and His Higher Self — the
belief that each of us carries a guiding wisdom within, and that listening to it is the
greatest adventure we can undertake.

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Giveaway

Readers who follow along on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win one of three book sets, each featuring both The Boy and His Higher Self and My First Day of School.
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