A young author from Santa Barbara is already making an impact with his children’s book that aims to educate young readers on the importance of voting.
After graduating a year early from Santa Barbara High School, 18-year-old Garrett Williams published a children’s book titled One Day, I Will Vote — a four-month project he decided to take on just a year ago. His inspiration came from working alongside his mother, Jennifer Williams, at polling stations, where he noticed the limited number of young voters.
While volunteering at the polls, Williams and his mother witnessed a memorable moment when a parent brought their 18-year-old to vote for the first time, comparing the excitement of the voting experience to the day she gave birth. This moment, though playful, sparked a serious conversation between mother and son about why voting isn’t a core value for young Americans. This experience fueled Williams’s motivation to create One Day, I Will Vote, a children’s book introducing the importance of civic responsibility, aiming to make voting as familiar to kids as other life lessons.