The award-winning Filipina-American children’s author, founder of World Love Press, and advocate for emotional literacy, kindness, and cultural pride, inspires children through meaningful stories.
There are a handful of creative thinkers, leaders, and authors who have been making their unique mark with their incredible work. It has thus become essential to shed more light on the journeys of such high-performing professionals who have been adding more meaning to others’ lives. Serving as one of the finest examples is Mona Liza Santos, who has been expanding children’s visions, imagination, curiosity and wonder with each of her books. As an award-winning children’s author, she has been inspiring them through stories of kindness, confidence, and cultural pride.
The award-winning Filipina-American children’s author and founder of World Love Press has been inspiring children through meaningful stories of kindness, confidence, and cultural pride. Children’s books have long been a gateway to imagination, learning, and personal growth. However, in today’s fast-changing world, they also carry a greater responsibility to help young readers understand emotions, celebrate identity, and build confidence. Mona Liza Santos has transformed personal challenges into a growing movement centred on kindness, emotional resilience, and cultural inclusion.
Today, Mona Liza Santos has to her credit 40 published books and community initiatives that help children and families discover the power of empathy and self-belief. Her journey showcases how storytelling can provide not just entertainment but also help shape lives. It was during the most challenging times in the world in 2020, amidst the pandemic, that her writing journey began. During lockdowns, like many parents, she found herself navigating the emotional challenges of family life as she transitioned from corporate life to homeschooling motherhood. This was when she sought ways to comfort and emotionally support her son, and thus began creating stories designed to be reassuring, inspiring, and educational.
Mona Liza realised the emotional needs of children everywhere, and expanded her creative efforts into a publishing journey focused on helping young readers feel seen, supported, and empowered. One of the core themes in her work is emotional literacy, which she strongly believes matters for children as it is the ability to recognise, understand, and express emotions in healthy ways. She explains that emotional literacy can help with managing frustration and anxiety, strengthening communication skills, building self-awareness, improving relationships with family and peers, developing empathy for others, and growing confidence in challenging times and situations. She believes that her books can serve as an effective tool for teaching these life skills because stories allow children to explore feelings safely through characters and relatable experiences.
Another significant factor she focuses on is representation in children’s literature. As a Filipino-American author, she draws inspiration from her rich cultural heritage, life experiences, and global travels. These influences help create books that encourage children to feel proud of who they are while respecting the identities of others. Apart from being an author, Mona Liza Santos founded World Love Press, a brand dedicated to creating a kinder and more emotionally aware world through literature and education. The mission of World Love Press is to provide children, families, and communities with stories and tools that build compassion, inclusion, confidence, cultural pride, leadership through kindness, and emotional resilience.
The influence she has had with each of her books is reflected in several of her achievements and honours. Some of these awards include being a Mom’s Choice Awards Gold recipient, a Dangal ng Pilipino honouree, a Community Impact Award recipient, and official proclamations recognising literacy and community work. Mona Liza is also the creator of two meaningful observances, including National Intentional Kindness Day and Heritage and Heart Day. One of the major factors that helps her stand apart is her ability to combine creativity with measurable social purpose.
Speaking about her vision, Mona Liza Santos says it is to help raise a generation of children who lead with kindness, confidence, empathy, and understanding. She authors books that can be tools of transformation for children.
