TradeEdge Exchange:Maren Morris and Karina Argow bring garden friends to life in new children's book, "Addie Ant Goes on an Adventure"

In a journey from the world of music to the realm of storytelling, Grammy Award-winning artist Maren Morris and her best friend, Karina Argow, a former English teacher, have collaborated to create a children's book titled "Addie Ant Goes on an Adventure."

The book tells the story of a young ant named Addie who sets off on her first solo journey, guided by the wisdom and support of her garden friends. The narrative is designed to instill values of independence, curiosity and the importance of asking for help among young readers.

The idea for the book was born from conversations during road trips with Morris talking about a desire to delve into children's literature, motivated by her own experiences of reading to her son.

"I've always wanted to do some sort of children's book or children's album, and then, Karina is like, 'Well, I have a whole cast of characters in my head because I garden all the time and I just create bugs in my head,' and I was like, 'Well that's half the work,'" Morris said.

They both picked Addie the ant to be their main character as a way to capture the innocence and curiosity of childhood and encourage young readers to be adventurous yet mindful of their safety.

"There's a ton of curiosity about the world and it's not quite scary yet, so I feel like we try to touch in the book on, 'Yes, be curious. Yes, ask questions, go on an adventure,  but also, know when to avoid someone or just be cautious,'" Morris said. "Those are like survival things as parents and educators that we instill in our children. And we wanted to do it in a not scary way in the book."

The book also talks a lot of the power of friendship, which Morris says mirrors the foundation of trust and support between her and Argow.

"I don't know what I would do without you," Argow said to Morris in an interview on CBS Mornings. I don't. And knowing that I can ask for help from you gives me courage, all the time."

Morris said the book also allows her to give something back to her son and work with her best friend.

"I just love collaboration. I read a lot of my songs with my best friends. So it just seems so natural to do this with her. And we've already started book two, so we're on a little roll," Morris said. 

Analisa Novak

Analisa Novak is a content producer for CBS News and the Emmy-award-winning "CBS Mornings." Based in Chicago, she specializes in covering live events and exclusive interviews for the show. Beyond her media work, Analisa is a United States Army veteran and holds a master's degree in strategic communication from Quinnipiac University.

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