Christina Perri Reveals the Cover of Her New Children's Book, A Thousand Years (Exclusive)

Christina Perri creates her greatest success in something the little ones can enjoy.T

The “A Thousand Years” singer presents her self-titled children’s book, illustrated by Joy Hwang Ruiz, which PEOPLE can exclusively share.

“What’s kind of amazing about the whole situation is when I wrote this song, I was only 24 years old. As I got older, it was like all the listeners and fans of this song grew up, and then they all started getting married. And then, all of a sudden, it went from a movie song to the biggest wedding song in years, which was so cool that I thought that was the end of the giveaway, you know?” the singer recalls.

“Now everyone started having babies and everyone plays this song for their babies. And then I started having babies myself, so it was all like an organic timeline like in my real life,” she continues. “I decided to make lullaby albums because that’s what I sing to my girls, so I made a lullaby version of ‘A Thousand Years,’ and now everyone’s playing it on TikTok.”

Perri adds, “It just happened so naturally and everyone feels so grateful that this song was a thread in the story of so many people’s lives. So it just seemed like the most natural thing to make it into a children’s book.”

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Christina Perri.

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

Christina Perri says the ‘healing’ happened when daughter Carmella held little sister Pixie for the first time

Mum to daughters Pixie Rose, 22 months, and Carmelle, 6½, Perri says she is “constantly reading books with my kids”.

“We’ve been working on this for a while and when the whole idea of ​​it came up, it was just a yes! I had to rework some of the lyrics to make them more children’s book-friendly and move them more towards mother-child love,” she continues. “I feel like it’s already been, in a sense. People were playing the original to their kids long before I decided to sing it to my own kids. It feels very full circle and very exciting.”

Christine Perri’s children’s book, “A Thousand Years”.

Penguin Random House

Working with Hwang Ruiz was also exciting for Perri, who is “obsessed with her illustrations.”

“What’s so cool is she was a fan of my music. She followed me on social media, she knew about my daughters, Carmella and Pixie, and she knew Carmella had a little bunny. So she drew these pictures based on my girls before than we even had to talk to each other,” shares Perri.

“When she sent in her bid, my girls were there. It was so designed for her to become an illustrator. She made Carmella’s bunny on every page so you could look for the bunny, which my daughters loved when we opened the book. Joy is she did such an amazing job. I’m just in love with her work.”

Perri also liked that the characters gave a little nod to their own family.

“I wanted Mom to look more like a modern, millennial. I was like, ‘Can she have tattoos and be kind of cool?’ I wanted it to feel like me and my girls, so Joy did a great job with that,” says Perri. “They know it’s me, and the little girl in the book looks like a mix between Carmella and Pixie. I can show them either one and they’ll feel connected to her,” she shares.

Her girls also feel connected to the book’s original inspiration.

“And they know the song. I sing it to them all the time. It’s pretty cool to show my girls and be proud of all the work I’ve done. This feels like a really sweet part of my career right now, and I like to include them in everything I can, I have girls there, like how they sing on my lullaby records to book.”

Perri hopes her fans will appreciate the song’s new life in the book, especially Twilight fans who helped make the song so central to the singer’s career.

“It was so honest because I loved the books and I love the story and I love the characters,” she says Twilight.

“The fans took the song and ran with it. They said, ‘This is our song,’ and it changed my life. The ‘Jar of Hearts’ experience was great, but ‘A Thousand Years’ let me go all over the world.” , says Perry. “I’m forever happy to sing it or turn it into a children’s book. It’s just so cool.”

A thousand years goes on sale April 1, 2025 and is available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold.

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Source: HIS Education