The co-authors of “What in the World is Ezra’s Art” are Asian-American and the book’s main character is Asian-American. But, the one thing the authors didn’t want to talk about is race. They say the message for parents and children is universal.

"There's a place for progress by putting us in the main character position of a very universal story that crosses over into so many different communities,” co-author Eric Toda said.

This will be his first book. It’s based on his real-life learning experience when drawing for his young children. The main character, Ezra, is Toda's son.

“This story is actually based on my own very poor ability to draw pictures. And one of the things that we found when I was drawing for my children was that they were not seeing the same things that I was seeing,” Toda said.

Shay Fan, who works with Eric at a tech company, says she saw that drawing on Instagram and found it rather interesting.

“His kids, of course, rightfully ask any parent like, ‘hey, can you draw me this? Can you draw me that?’ And he drew a mermaid,” Fan said. “And his daughter did not react in a very favorable manner, but rather, I think the exact words were cried, crumpled it up and said ‘she looks mean.’”

The picture Toda drew was of Ariel, the mermaid. What he thought was a great drawing did not necessarily agree with his daughter. Shay saw that as an opportunity to use it as a moment to teach parents and children about imagination and creativity. She says, “a lot of times we are often doing things because you think about the outcome, you know, are you the best at it? And if you're not well, then why are you doing it? But for this book, it's like, no, like do it. It is your art. It is your creativity.”