How CNN’s René Marsh turned personal loss into a children’s book about change

“Even in your broken state, you can still grow, and you can still bloom,” Marsh said of the lessons nature has taught her.

After spending more than two decades telling other people’s stories, CNN correspondent René Marsh is sharing one of her own.

The journalist and author recently released her second children’s book, “The Nature of Change,” inspired by the lessons she learned after losing her son, Blake, to a rare pediatric brain cancer at 2 years old. Marsh said she wrote the book to help children navigate the changes life inevitably brings.

“This book shows that even out of those really terrible things in life, sometimes there can be beautiful things,” Marsh told TheGrio. “I like to think of this children’s book, ‘The Nature of Change,’ as evidence of that.”

Written for children ages 4 to 8, the book follows two siblings, Kit and Amal, as they navigate a major life transition. Along the way, they discover lessons hidden in the natural world around them. While the story is fictional, it draws from what Marsh learned during one of the most difficult periods of her life.

The idea emerged during the months she spent grieving after Blake’s death. Surrounded by nature in her backyard, Marsh found herself paying attention to the changes happening around her and drawing unexpected parallels to her own life.

The trees, in particular, became a source of comfort. “I was able to experience them and the changes that they were going through through the seasons,” she said. “Even after losing everything, they didn’t fall apart. They just remained standing.”

Watching trees shed their leaves in the fall and endure harsh winters became a powerful reminder that strength is not always about thriving. Sometimes, she said, it is simply about enduring.

One of those moments came after a snowstorm, when Marsh noticed a tree limb in her backyard that had nearly snapped under the weight of the snow. Hanging by what appeared to be a thread, the limb looked beyond saving.

“I actually saw myself in that limb, because I was feeling very broken at that period in my life,” she said.

Months later, the branch surprised her. “That spring, to my surprise, I saw it sprouting new leaves,” Marsh recalled. “In that moment, I heard the message that even in your broken state, you can still grow and you can still bloom.”

The experience later found its way into “The Nature of Change,” where Marsh uses nature as a metaphor to help children understand concepts such as resilience, hope and transformation.

The approach draws on skills she has developed throughout her journalism career. As a reporter, Marsh regularly breaks down complex topics for audiences. Writing for children required a similar process, this time translating difficult emotions into ideas young readers could understand.

“The concept of hope and resilience, those are quite complex to try to teach a 4-year-old or an 8-year-old,” she said. “And yet they’re concepts that I think they will benefit from knowing at a very young age.”

Marsh said nature felt like the most accessible way to introduce those ideas to young readers. Unlike many tools designed to teach emotional growth, nature is accessible to nearly everyone, she said. Children do not need special equipment or expensive resources to engage with it. They need to step outside.

Whether it is a tree standing through winter, a flower blooming after a storm or the sun rising each morning, Marsh believes nature offers constant reminders that change is part of life.

“Nature models for us exactly how we can navigate those changes,” she said.

While the book was written with children in mind, Marsh hopes parents find comfort in its message as well. Change, she said, can often feel isolating, particularly during periods of loss, uncertainty or transition.

“I hope that they will recognize that change is not the exception,” she said. “It is the rule in life.”

At the same time, she hopes readers understand they are not facing those changes alone. “We all are going through something that we may not want to go through,” Marsh said.

Beyond its message, the book is also part of a larger mission. Through what Marsh calls “cause media,” she uses storytelling and creative projects to raise awareness of pediatric cancer and support research.

Her 14% Pledge, named in honor of Blake’s March 14 birthday, directs a portion of proceeds toward pediatric brain cancer research. Marsh said the experience of watching her son battle cancer exposed her to the significant funding disparities and treatment challenges facing children with rare cancers.

“There are so many types of brain cancers that children have that have no effective treatment,” she said.

Marsh knows she cannot develop new medicines herself. What she can do, she said, is use her platform and talents to raise awareness and contribute to the search for solutions.

“I strongly believe that we should use our talents and gifts to address the problems of the world that agitate us,” she said.

The response to the book has reinforced that purpose. Marsh said families navigating difficult circumstances have reached out to share how the story resonated with them, and she is encouraged that readers are finding hope in its pages.

For someone whose career has been built on telling stories, Marsh said losing Blake transformed the way she approaches her work, making her more attuned to the people living through the stories she tells.

“What’s changed in me is that I am very honed in on the humanity of any story, the human impact, the human emotion,” she said.

Through “The Nature of Change,” Marsh hopes children and parents alike discover what she learned while sitting quietly among the trees: that while change is unavoidable, it does not have to be the end of the story.

“If nature can survive the change,” she said, “I hope that it gives them the confidence to know that they can survive the change too.”