ONEIDA  — A man with deep ties to the Rome community has published his first book, which aims to teach children to follow the teachings of God and to treat others with respect, kindness and love. 

Jonathan Brown, who lives in Oneida but grew up in Rome, wrote the children’s book, “As I Get Older, I Must Not Forget,” which is about having faith and encourages readers to be kind, honest and loving as they grow up.  

Brown will be holding a book signing and meet and greet event from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at Barnes and Noble at 4811 Commercial Drive in New Hartford.  

In the book, a young boy’s parents teach him faith teachings and how to use them in everyday situations, and as the boy gets older, he learns that he needs to treat everyone with kindness, love and compassion. 

Brown’s experiences growing up inspired him to write the book.  

“When I was younger, I was in group homes, foster homes, so I experienced hardship,” he said. “I figured that a great way to empower would be to write a book and tell children that it’s always good to treat others good, and you can be nice and be kind, and it creates a better, cohesive society.”    

Brown attends the Immanuel Baptist Church in Rome every week, and regularly donates to the Rome Rescue Mission. His father was a part of the Rome Police Department, and Brown still has close friends in the police department.  

Brown had always wanted to write a children’s book, and he took the opportunity to begin writing his book when he had time home from work during the COVID-19 lockdown. 

“It took about a year and two months from start to finish,” he said, “I had to devise the title, the words, I had to let the illustrator know the images I wanted, and then for the book to be sold in stores and online, it was a long process but I stuck with it.”  

“As I Get Older, I Must Not Forget,” is available at Barnes and Noble stores and online, along with Amazon and the Apple iTunes store.   

Brown said he plans to start working on his second book later this year.  

“I’ll be back into the groove of things, starting with a lot of brainstorming and thinking about the ideas I want to incorporate,” Brown said. “I might extend on this book a little, just to keep the narrative of faith and love and hope, and to treat others good, because our society needs that so I want to keep that going, push that message.”