By GREGORY ZELLER //
Art imitates life in a new children’s book about family togetherness – written by a Hofstra University professor and his 13-year-old daughter.
“If Time Fell From the Sky” is a self-published work by Hofstra Psychology Professor Jeffrey Froh and his daughter, Julianne Froh, a seventh-grader at Greenlawn’s Elwood Middle School.
It tells the story of Harper, a little girl longing for quality time with her parents, sister and brother, which is hard to find due to everyone’s busy schedules.
When a mysterious heavy fog descends on their town, schools and businesses are forced to close and the family huddles at home. But things don’t improve much, with a heavy schedule of zoom calls and texting taking over.
Ultimately, Harper proposes a game night – and as the figurative fog lifts, the family finally realizes how much they’ve missed each other’s company.
While the father/daughter duo share the writing credits, it was actually Julianne who came up with the story, when she was 10 years old.
Like sands of the hourglass: Time becomes relative in the Froh collaboration.
And while the young author did put pen to paper at the height of COVID, the mystery fog and its familiar lockdown protocols are less a reference to the pandemic than a symbol of modern scheduling and its negative effects on family, according to her dad.
“The fog – like a chaotic family life – often paralyzes us,” the professor said Wednesday. “It blurs our vision. We bump into things. We struggle with our direction and, thus, sometimes get emotionally lost.”
“If Time Fell” marks his daughter’s first published book, but the New York state-licensed psychologist – founder and past clinical director of Hofstra’s Positive Psychology Institute for Emerging Adults and co-owner of Oakdale-based Positive Psychological Counseling Services – is no stranger to the written word.
Froh is the author of three previous books: “Thrive: 10 Commandments for 20-Somethings to Live the Best-Life-Possible” (self-published in 2021), “Making Grateful Kids: The Science of Building Character” (Templeton Press, 2015) and “Activities For Teaching Positive Psychology: A Guide For Instructors” (American Psychological Association, 2012).
With a tip of his mortarboard to next week’s Father’s Day holiday, the co-author acknowledged that working on his daughter’s publishing debut was special.
“Children are divine gifts,” Froh said. “I encourage dads to embody fatherhood and radiate love.
“Go bike-riding with your kids and look for the bunnies,” he added. “Count the stars until you both fall asleep, wade along the shore and wave to the waves.
“Make every day the third Sunday in June.”
