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As a humanities researcher, scholarly work is at the heart of my professional life, but in my free time, I take great joy in writing literature for children. So far, two of my children's books have been published. In 2025, my book Friends and Neighbors received the Latvian Annual Literature Award.
I am writing stories that grow from real places, everyday wonders, and the adventures of being young. My books are written for children – and for those who remember what it’s like to be one – blending humour, imagination, and a sensitivity to the landscapes and environments we grow up in. Beneath the lightness, I like to leave space for deeper layers, where everyday complexities, personal struggles, and shared cultural experiences unfold.
A short creative portfolio in pdf.
Alongside my writing, I also engage with young readers in libraries and schools — not only to discuss my books and the process of writing, but to reflect together on broader questions about life writing: What did (young) people record in their diaries 100, 50, or 30 years ago? Why do we feel compelled to write about our own lives? What does it mean to read the personal stories of others? Should we preserve our own diaries and life writings — and why might that matter?
These encounters are where my creative practice and research come together — in conversations that explore how personal narratives shape the way we understand ourselves and the world around us.
Jūrmala Central Library, December 2024
Published works
Published works
Sanita Reinsone (text), Aleksandra Runde (illustrations)
Draugi un Kaimiņi
(Friends and Neighbors)
Jānis Roze Publishing House, 2024
✨ Awarded with "Latvian Annual Literature Award 2025" in the category "Best Original Work of Children's Literature"
Photo: laligaba.lv
"Friends and Neighbors" is a captivating coming-of-age story set in a small Latvian town at the beginning of the 1990s. Best friends, two eleven-year-old girls, enjoy spending their free time in a meadow under the branches of a large willow tree – a place they call The Jungle. It serves not only as a fascinating playground but also as a refuge during unbearable times at home. The city officials plan to build a factory right where The Jungle stands. The Jungle must be saved! The rescue mission unfolds not quite as planned, but during it, the friends not only meet their colorful neighbors but also learn much more about themselves.
Aleksandra Runde's illustrations for "Draugi un kaimiņi" vividly capture the essence of the early 1990s with playful lines and expressive characters. Her limited color palette enhances the nostalgic feel, deepening the reader's engagement with the young protagonists' world.
More on Jānis Roze website
Katrīna Rudzīte – Poet and Publicist
A vivid, captivating, and non-moralizing adventure story about friendship, protecting nature, determination, and the power of believing in one's dreams. The author possesses everything needed to create high-quality children's literature — she understands children, does not shy away from the challenges of contemporary reality, and works masterfully with language.
Rūta Karma – Translator
Sanita Reinsone knows how to listen to life stories and delve deeply into them.
As a mother of three, she tells and writes for children in a way that is both engaging and inspiring, showing how ten-year-old girls bravely stand up for their own interests — and in doing so, draw in and get to know their small street community, with all its lovely and not-so-lovely sides, stumbling, falling, but persevering.
This is the natural childhood of the late 20th century in a small town close to nature, spent largely in the company of friends, culminating in a serious undertaking that, despite all difficulties, succeeds.
These children stand at the threshold of adolescence, learning to find their place in life against the sometimes sad backdrop of their parents’ lives.
Humor, friendship, determination, cleverness, and the overcoming of fear are the girls' steady supports as they grow up.
Rasa Bugavičute-Pēce – Playwright and Author
The rich, full-bodied taste of true childhood, with a nostalgic overlay of the 1990s.
I know how it feels to scrape your knees on rough, pebbly asphalt, to have your hands sticky with the milk of dandelions, to stand at a neighbor’s door, ringing the bell and desperately hoping their parents will let them come out and play.
I love that this era — my childhood — is shared with today’s young readers in such a light, free, and dream-driven way. The book reminds us that nothing important slips past children unnoticed, and gently whispers: if you burn with passion for something, you must fight for what is right until you succeed. And that is exactly what children's literature should do — take your hand and pull you along into adventure.
Sanita Reinsone (text), Kristīne Jurjāne (illustrations).
Kus mul patarei! Kā Igaunijas leļļi bēga uz Latviju.
(Kus mul patarei! How Estonian dolls fled to Latvia)
Published by Liels un Mazs, 2017
This work was sparked by the conversations I shared with my children during summer sojourns in Northern Vidzeme and trips to Estonia. The book is written as a storyteller's recount of legendary adventures, blending reality and fantasy in a fairy tale manner. The tale unfolds in the magical lands of Estonia and Latvia, where the boundaries between human and toy worlds are blurred. The book playfully subverts the prevalent stereotypes between Latvians and Estonians, weaving in elements of geography, languages, and traditions and introducing the neighbouring country of Estonia as a whimsical "land of toys".
The gorgeous illustrations by Kristīne Jurjāne add an extra layer of excitement and visual delight to the book.
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