Levittown Native Pens 1st Children's Book To Make Kids 'Feel Better About Themselves'

LEVITTOWN, NY — Daniel Tighe, who grew up in Levittown, is now a published author. His first book "Little Blue" is geared to young children in the magical world of Store Galore.

The early drafts for his book were started two decades ago while he was working as a marketing executive at Showtime Networks.

"I was bored out of my mind," Tighe told Patch. "I wrote the line, 'There once was a little blue suit who lived in a store in a mall.'"

That suit would become the title character: Tighe's protagonist in this store where all the clothes are animated and Little Blue learns life lessons.

"He's bullied and stands up to the bully," he said. "It's got three or four messages in it."

His childhood was the inspiration for the book as "Levittown had a reputation for being tough. That whole idea of 'Levittown Strong," it's in the book like standing up to the bully."

As Tighe was writing, he didn't initially identify with Little Blue. It took a friend to point out that "all of his experiences, I went through as well."

Tighe feels there's an authentic ring for children within the storylines.

While Tighe explored the story idea for years, it went on the back burner amid other life events. "But I never gave up on it."

Helping push the project to the forefront was his Queens neighbor, Agata Olszewska, who is an art teacher. She created illustrations for "Little Blue" with only 60 percent of his manuscript completed.

"It was a match made in heaven," Tighe said.

It resonated with youngsters at his book launch, where Tighe did a couple of readings.

"One person wrote that the kids were spellbound," he said. "Even the parents, this one father, you would have thought he was watching 'Game of Thrones.'"

"Little Blue" has a target audience of 4- to 8-year-olds, but he said 3-year-olds are loving it as well.

Based on the response, Tighe is working on a "Little Blue" sequel.

Ultimately, what guided Tighe to publish "Little Blue" was "that some kid, someplace, was going to feel better about themselves."