Saturday, October 3, 2026
Love, Nana, a nonprofit organization in Rockville Centre, has touched the lives of many local people and groups since its founding nearly five years ago. Now, with a new book about the organization coming out in September, its mission will reach more people, as readers welcome Nana’s story into their homes.
The children’s book, titled “Love, Nana,” was written by Joan “Nana” Hyland’s daughter, Frances Carver, and illustrated by Hyland’s grandson James Hyland IV. The book will launch Sept. 13 at the Backyard Players and Friends storefront in Rockville Centre, with all proceeds benefiting the nonprofit.
Love, Nana was founded in 2020 by Joan Hyland, a retired nurse. The nonprofit creates bundles of baby clothing, toys and books for families in need. The bundles are assembled by volunteers, mostly teenagers and young adults with intellectual disabilities. For Hyland, the effort has always been rooted in dignity and compassion.
“She always lived by example, and I think that’s kind of how the book came about,” Carver said. “She would pick the best things for people in need because she always said, ‘If you wouldn’t put this on your own child, you wouldn’t want to give this to somebody else.’ She always wanted to give to others something that was like a real present.”
Carver and James Hyland have always been creative. Carver and her siblings were involved in community theater growing up in Queens Village, and went on to direct shows for children as they got older. Hyland has had a passion for art since he was a child.
Carver is a transitional kindergarten teacher who lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and Hyland recently earned a certificate from the Art Students League of New York, in Midtown Manhattan, where he worked on narrative arts, focusing on film and storyboarding. They collaborated on “Love, Nana” to transport readers into their mother and grandmother’s world of giving.
Carver began writing the book in 2022, she said, inspired by her mother’s dedication to her work and her love of giving to and helping others. The book focuses on Nana as she helps a mother and baby in need. It references her shop, as well as the participants in Backyard Players and Friends, the nonprofit inclusive arts-based community program in Rockville Centre that was founded by two of Nana’s daughters, Ellen White and Cristine Daly.
One of the special aspects of the book is a character, a cardinal, who represents Nana’s husband and Carver’s father, James Hyland II, who died in 2020. “I have a cardinal in the story who represents my dad, because he was her biggest supporter,” Carver said. “He probably would have written this book if he was around, because he really loved what she was doing.” The cardinal encourages Nana’s character throughout the story.
Hyland took great care with his illustrations of his grandmother. “She’s very stylish, she always dresses really nice,” Hyland said. He created the illustrations on his iPad in Procreate, a digital drawing and painting app. He said he was inspired by the works of well-known children’s book illustrators such as Eric Carle, Ezra Jack Keats and Roger Duvoisin.
“I really love children’s books,” Hyland said. “I think they’re really great and are a really important art form, so I was very excited to do something like this.”
All of the book’s proceeds will go to Love, Nana. A book launch is planned for Sept. 13 at the Front Porch Market, the Backyard Players and Friends storefront on N. Long Beach Road, with an early event starting at 11 a.m. and an evening event starting at 7 p.m. The book can be preordered at FrontPorchMarketRVC.com.
“I feel honored that my daughter and grandson teamed up to create a book about me and my mission for ‘Love, Nana,’” Joan Hyland told the Herald. “I hope that after reading the book, people feel encouraged to reach out and help someone nearby because you never know who might need a little kindness. Like I always say: just begin, the rest is easy.”
