MacMillan Children’sNot long into the COVID-19 lockdown, Rachel Platten released her first children’s book, You Belong, inspired by her song of the same name, written while she was pregnant with her now one-year-old daughter Violet.  And Rachel says that the book might just help a few parents out as they struggle to entertain their kids in quarantine.

“The message is about belonging,” Rachel tells ABC Audio. “It’s about inclusion and it’s really me telling Violet there is nothing that you could do to earn my love, you’re perfect just the way you are. I think that we all could use that message right now. Just, y’know, we don’t have to be strong. We can feel what we’re feeling. We’re O.K. as we are.”

Plus, Rachel adds, “I don’t know about you guys, but as a parent, I am running out of books constantly!  Violet…loves books, so we keep buying more books. So that will help parents, I think, just having another book in general!”

Rachel says that after “drilling it into her head,” Violet is finally starting to realize that You Belong is about her.

“She does start to point to pictures in the book…she’s like ‘Mama'”! laughs Rachel. “I get very excited!”

When Rachel appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America to promote the book, she asked fans to hit her up on social media and ask her to perform for deserving folks like health care workers — and she got more than she bargained for

“I’ve got inundated with beautiful requests from people who worked in hospitals or anyone on the front lines,” Rachel says. “[But] of you would like a Zoom performance…if there’s a hospital staff or nursing staff or anyone who needs support and some encouragement right now…I’ll do my best!”

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