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Press Release

Rend Collective’s Ali Gilkeson Offers a Hope-Filled Adventure to Encourage Children Who May Feel Lost and Alone in My Lighthouse: A Story of Finding Your Way Home, Inspired by the Irish Folk Band’s Platinum-Selling Song of the Same Name

Families are always looking for encouraging and hopeful storybooks for their family reading times and now Ali Gilkeson of the Irish folk band Rend Collective offers the imaginative My Lighthouse: A Story of Finding Your Way Home (WaterBrook; on sale 6/18/24), which was inspired by Rend’s platinum-selling song of the same name. 
 
The imaginative story woven through My Lighthouse: A Story of Finding Your Way Home is set in Gilkeson’s homeland of Ireland and it’s wonderfully paired with whimsical illustrations by New York Timesbestselling illustrator Lee Wildish. 
 
Fynn has always lived in a lighthouse—just like his father, and his father, and his father before him. His dad insists that living in a round house with a big lightbulb on top is special, but Fynn doesn't see how. All he knows is that it's weird—and often inconvenient. Exasperated by trying to fit all his favorite things in a round house and tired of being so different from everyone else, Fynn runs away from his lighthouse, seeking adventure on the sea. But when the winds and waves rise and things get very, very dark, Fynn finds that the light he needs most is the one that he's known all his life.
 
“I wanted to write a book that gave kids hope. Fynn is a character who I feel a lot of us, especially kids, can relate to. He is a kid who doesn't like his house, his lighthouse, and essentially runs away to find adventure. In this day and age there are a lot of children who feel lost and alone,” Gilkeson says.

“My Lighthouse is a book that can bring joy and hope into that circumstance and start helping children understand that God is a safe guiding light who is constant and is always leading them home.”
  
Children will get swept away in Fynn’s adventure and parents and other caregivers will appreciate the lessons of hope and gratitude that shines through this sweet storybook.  
 
Inspired by Rend Collective’s hit song of the same name, My Lighthouse: A Story of Finding Your Way Home is a memorable tale families will return to again and again.
 
For more information, visit waterbrookmultnomah.com

Praise for My Lighthouse:
“Read-aloud fun for the picture-book crowd.”—Booklist
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ali Gilkeson is a performer, author, and speaker. She has traveled the world playing music and sharing stories with the band Rend Collective. My Lighthouse: A Story of Finding Your Way Home (WaterBrook; on sale 6/18/24) is her first book. She is a mother of three kids, raising them all on the road since six weeks of age. Ali grew up in Northern Ireland in a time of conflict and uncertainty, a childhood spent always looking over her shoulder but also learning to laugh in the middle of the chaos. Gifted as a communicator, she started traveling around Ireland as a speaker in her early twenties, taking any chance she could to encourage and embolden the young people she met. After meeting her now-husband, Gareth, and knowing she wanted to marry him just two minutes into the conversation, she joined Rend Collective and has been touring the world ever since. For more information, join her and the band's 1.1M followers and visit:
https://rendcollective.com/
Rend Co. Kids – YouTube Channel
https://www.instagram.com/aligilk/
https://www.instagram.com/rendcollective
https://www.facebook.com/rendcollective/
https://twitter.com/rendcollective
https://www.youtube.com/@RendCollective  
https://www.tiktok.com/@rend_collective

Contact Publicist

Brett Benson