That tells me something about you already. You care about little people and the grown-ups they become. You believe kids deserve kindness, choice, and respect from the very beginning.

I’m Oleta. I’m a children’s picture book author and a mum of three. I write stories that feel like a warm hug, gentle, playful, and made for real life. My books grow from the moments I live every day, bedtime chats, big feelings, first friendships, and all the tiny moments where kids are learning who they are.

I write because I want children to feel safe in their bodies and steady in their feelings. I want them to have words for what they feel, and ways to care for themselves and others. Stories make that feel easy and natural.

“May I Hug You?” began with something simple. Hugs are often the first kind of touch children learn to manage on their own. They meet closeness before they have language for it. Learning how to ask, how to say yes or no, and how to listen to someone else’s answer shapes how they move through the world.

As Karen Rayne, PhD, says:

“The thing to remember about hugs is that they are often the very first kinds of interpersonal touch that children learn to navigate on their own. The rules that are laid around hugs, how to ask for them, how to consent or not consent to them, how to listen to someone else’s consent, are the basis for the tools that children will take into their adolescence and young adulthood.”

That idea lives inside every story I write. I want my books to feel safe to open, easy to share, and useful in the moments that matter most. If you’re here, it means you care too, and I’m really glad you found me.