St. Louis soul singer Brian Owens has always had a passion for storytelling. In 2020, he made his directorial debut with the Christmas drama A New Holiday, quickly followed by his direction of the comedy An Intimate Christmas in 2021. This year, Owens is making a mark as an author with his first children’s book, A New Holiday, a story adapted from the original movie musical.
“It’s really cool to be exploring these areas of film, other kinds of media, and now the children’s book,” Owens says. “It’s opening doors not only for me, but for the young creatives that I work with every day.”
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A New Holiday was co-authored by Owens and actress Sophia Stephens, who also collaborated on both of Owens’ earlier movie projects. The story’s visual components come courtesy of a partnership with Lion Forge Animation and illustrator Binay Kumar Biswal. Readers can find A New Holiday on shelves now at most places where books are sold.
Like its film counterpart, the book’s plot follows 10-year-old protagonist Thelma as she navigates the Christmas season after the loss of her grandmother. Over the course of the story, she sets out on a journey to reclaim “hope, joy, and love.”
Owens says elements of the book take inspiration from the life of local philanthropist Thelma Steward; in fact, the initial concept art was created as a gift for her birthday. Alongside her husband, David, the founder of technology service provider World Wide Technology, Steward has a storied history of giving back to the St. Louis community. The themes explored in A New Holiday also draw from Owens’ own recent experiences. In March 2020, he lost his mother to cancer, and, in turn, his eight children lost their grandmother.
“When I did this movie, and now doing this book, it’s coming from a place of personal experience in actually dealing with children who are going through the grief process,” Owens says. “So what I hope for anybody who has dealt with loss—and I’m assuming that’s going to be pretty much all of us over the past few years—is that it can help us healthily continue the conversation about what we’re experiencing.”
Through A New Holiday, Owens aims to normalize discussions of loss and its associated trauma in an accessible, narrative form. However, the story also centers growth and restorative coping mechanisms.
The response to the book has been overwhelmingly appreciative so far, Owens adds.
“You don’t see many Christmas books that have people of color, and to have one like this, that’s done so well, where the illustrations are so beautiful—I think it’s really awesome,” Owens says.
