If I Can't Eat Flies, What Am I?

I'm sure you know that frogs eat flies, but if Tad eats flies, then he breaks out in hives. So, he must not be a frog, don't you see? A frog is something he must not be. He goes on a journey, wanders out and about, to discover what he might be (he's determined to find out). Things don't go as planned. That's often the way life goes. But, Tad learns some important lessons, and by the end of the story he knows that he is still a fabulous frog who just happens to not eat flies (and that includes live flies, dead flies or flies cooked in a pie).
Whether you live with food allergies, have a friend or loved one who does, or are wondering why in most schools you see rules against bringing foods you may love, this fun and lighthearted story is for you!
Alicia knows the heartbreak and anxiousness that goes along with being a food allergy parent. The book is based on her son's experiences growing up with multiple allergies to common foods such as diary, soy, and egg. Alicia wrote IF I CAN'T EAT FLIES, WHAT AM I? to provide food allergy kids with a character that they can feel connected to and learn from. Equally as important to her is the desire to raise awareness and compassion in those who interact with these kids and their families.
"The timing of this book release is fortunate in a way, because with the pandemic, most are experiencing firsthand what it feels like to be unsure of whether they should touch, talk to, interact with or share food with another person," Pfaff says. "Everyone is working through the grief of missing important celebrations and holidays with their loved ones and friends-of feeling isolated. That will make it easier for people to relate to children with food allergies. They feel that way often, and with no end in sight."
"Alicia has done an amazing job here; I just love the story! The writing is wonderful, and so is the art," says Jennifer Rees, editor at Reedsy and a premier children's book editor of award-winning and New York Times bestselling books such as THE HUNGER GAMES and WAR HORSE. "[Alicia] tackles such a great and much-needed topic for a picture book. Our lives deeply revolve around food and the celebration of events with food, so I think Alicia's book would come in handy in so many situations (in schools and at home)."

Alicia knows firsthand what having a severe allergy is like. Not only does she live with food allergies and intolerances herself, her son, Logan, lived with multiple, severe food allergies his entire childhood-including an anaphylactic allergy to dairy. Like any parent, Alicia hated watching Logan struggle, so she went searching for a book she could read to him that may help him feel better. Surprisingly, she couldn't find one. Then, one day the two were at a school-sponsored ice cream party when a well-meaning but insensitive stranger exclaimed, "Being a kid who can't eat ice cream is like being a fish out of water!" Alicia knelt down, gently cradled Logan's chin, and told him she felt that expression was wrong. A fish would die out of water, but he would survive just fine eating other delicious foods that didn't make him sick. Her son looked at her with watery eyes and said, "Yeah, but it IS like being a frog who can't eat flies. It's just wrong." With that, the idea for this book was born. Alicia hopes Tad's story will help kids with food allergies navigate through the tough feelings a little easier, help their parents start open conversations about those feelings, increase compassion and raise awareness of how hard it can be for kids to feel like they belong in a society that has food so thoroughly entangled in its culture. Alicia is a holistic health coach specializing in helping people learn to manage allergies and autoimmune challenges. She is beyond excited that her lifelong dream of becoming an author is now a reality-especially since the subject is something so personal and important to her.