As actors, husband and wife Jazmyn Simon and Dulé Hill have worked on several projects together, including HBO’s Ballers, the Psych movies on Peacock, and ABC’s The Wonder Years. Inspired by their cherished role as parents, the duo has recently become co-authors, pouring their creative energy into the picture book Repeat After Me: Big Things to Say Every Day, a collection of affirmations for children and families to share. PW spoke with the pair about how affirmations became a part of their own family routine and why they wanted to promote the practice with their book.

Why did you want to write this book? What inspired you?

Jazmyn Simon: Like many things in life, our children were our main inspiration for writing this book. It was June 2020, and like so many people, we were locked in our house, watching news reports of people dying by the thousands each day due to a new virus. Only to then have to see, on repeat, George Floyd getting murdered, over and over. I looked at my children, 15 and one at the time, then looked at my husband, and wondered what they were thinking. To see a man get killed in this way, a man with the same skin tone as theirs, broke my heart. That’s when I turned to Dulé and said, “We have to write a book! We have to let children know that they are not what they see on TV. They are not the worst version that is being shown—they are the best.” Then I walked to our junk drawer—come on, we all have one—and pulled out a pen and paper and started writing.

How did using affirmations become a practice in your own family? How have your children responded to this routine in their lives?

Simon: When my daughter Kennedy was four years old—she’s now 18—I had read that reciting affirmations in the first person can rewire your brain to believe what it is you’re saying. So, I decided to start saying affirmations with Kennedy from that point. And for 12 years, every day, we did affirmations together. I would say them, and she would repeat them back to me, out loud and in the first person. It became a part of our daily routine and one of the best moments of each day for me as a parent. Now, both Dulé and I do affirmations with Levi each day. It warms my heart so much to see my wonderful husband instilling these important truths in our son.

Was your affirmation routine something that you shared with friends and fellow parents before it became a book idea?

Simon: Yes! People would hear us reciting them and ask about what we were doing, so we would share. We would type out a list of affirmations and send them to any of our friends who asked.

Jazmyn, this is your second picture book. How was the writing experience—including working with a co-author—different for you this time around?

To be honest, Repeat After Me was the first book I wrote. Most Perfect You [Random House, 2022] was the second but was published first. I think from a very dark period came something I hoped would shed some light. And honestly, Dulé let me take the creative wheel when it came to writing this book. He likes to say, “It’s easy being a children’s book author when you’re married to Jazmyn Simon.” He did triple-check for punctuation and gave great suggestions on rhyming words.

How did your collaboration with illustrator Shamar Knight-Justice work? What kind of input did you provide?

Simon: Oh, how we appreciate Shamar and the beautiful way he brought our words to life. We had a few exchanges on our vision for the book and how we saw it laid out, and the emotion we wanted to evoke on each page. And then he did the hard work and made it happen. And we couldn’t be happier with the outcome. He is a visionary, and we are thankful he partnered with us on this book.

Will you be creating more books for children? Are you working on anything new?

Dulé Hill: Nope. Not unless Jazmyn wants to include me in her process again.

Simon: I love including you in my process, Dulé. I’ll have my agent call your agent. LOL.

I currently have a few ideas in my mind for future books, but like all things, I need to take time and make sure the story I am trying to tell needs to be told now and by me. Once I feel like I can answer both of those questions with a resounding yes—then another book it shall be.

Repeat After Me: Big Things to Say Every Day by Jazmyn Simon and Dulé Hill, illus. by Shamar Knight-Justice. Random House, $18.99 May 2 ISBN 978-0-593-42697-5