Cincinnati firefighter pens children’s book to inspire, empower young girls

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - Mario Jackson is a Cincinnati firefighter, a paramedic and now also a children’s book author.

Jackson says “Nya the Great and Her Visit to the Fire House” is aimed at inspiring young girls.

“I realized that there isn’t a lot of representation for women, especially women of color, in jobs that are usually male-dominated,” he told FOX19 NOW on Thursday.

A father to daughters aged 7 and 13, Jackson says he had the idea to write a children’s book a couple of years ago.

He started writing it in 2019, then took a few breaks before picking it up against during the pandemic. He hopes to turn it into a series.

“This first book is about a young girl [and] her and her dad’s visit the firehouse, where her aunt is a captain of the firehouse,” Jackson explained. “She has just been waiting on this visit. She gets there, she meets some of the firefighters, and her aunt takes her on a tour.”

The book gives kids and idea of what it’s like to be a firefighter. But the bigger picture, Jackson says, is to show young girls that women can be successful.

“I just wanted to give them something to let them know that you can do this job, probably better than I can, and don’t be afraid to do it just because you’re a woman,” he said.

“Just from doing this, I realized you never know who’s watching, and if I can do something to make a young girl feel like she can do something, then my job is done, because that’s what I wanted to do.”

The illustrations in the book were done by a local artist.

Jackson says the next book will be about Nya taking her first flight.

The book can be found on Amazon.

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