Kevin And Danielle Jonas Wrote The Cutest Children’s Book About Making Music
‘There’s A Rock Concert In My Bedroom’ features characters based on their two daughters.
Multiplatinum and Grammy award-winning musician Kevin Jonas has accomplished a lot during his career. But for the first time, the Jonas brother has teamed up with his wife, television personality and entrepreneur Danielle Jonas, to write a kids’ book about the simple joys of making music and being a family.
There’s A Rock Concert In My Bedroom, illustrated by Courtney Dawson, follows Emma, a young girl who loves to sing and play guitar — but who is frozen by stage fright in the days leading up to a school talent show. To help, her parents and little sister put on their own rock show at home, easing the pressure on Emma and reminding everyone of the true importance of music and performance.
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The story is based off of a real event from the Jonas’ lives, involving their two daughters, Alena and Valentina, who are 9 and 6.
“Our girls went through something similar when they had a dance recital,” Kevin explains to Scary Mommy. “They were nervous and over-practicing. They weren’t having fun anymore. So what we decided to do is Danielle set up a dance party in the living room and danced crazy, and it made it a lot easier for them to cut loose and remember what the point was: to have a good time.”
While the idea for the book started before 2020, the process was certainly a pandemic project for the couple, who have collaborated extensively in the past.
“Everyone gets nervous,” Danielle says. “And it’s good to see you’re not the only one. We wanted to write about how to have fun and not be nervous about it any more.”
While the girls were a major inspiration for the story, they weren’t involved in the day-to-day process that went into creating the book. Instead, they got to experience seeing the finished product all at once when it was done.
“We kind of surprised them,” Danielle said to Scary Mommy. “We thought: let’s show it to them when it’s done — and we couldn’t wait to hold the book in our hands.”
While the girls in the book are different than the Jonas girls, there are plenty of similarities that their kids had fun pinpointing and discussing — and the world of the book also contains some familiar toys, stuffed animals, and other matching details that delighted them.
What do Danielle and Kevin want readers to take away from the book?
Danielle says that it’s a great way to start a conversation with your kids, especially ones that might hold their emotions close to their chest.
“I think that seeing our two girls growing up, they’re both totally different,” she says. “Our older one will tell us if she’s feeling upset or nervous. Our youngest is more closed off and doesn’t say how she’s feeling if we don’t ask. Books open a spot to get into their head — do you ever feel this way? When I read her a book and ask her questions, she opens up and talks.”
Kevin adds that it’s centrally about not forgetting the fun of performance and art.
“It’s about having a good time and remembering that not everything is so serious,” says Kevin. “Practice is important and getting to goals is important, but having a good time and feeling comfortable in your surroundings is more important.”
Can fans look forward to more kids’ books from this Jonas family?
“We would love that,” says Danielle. “We definitely hope so. We like telling these stories, taken from our own personal experiences of parents.”
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