B

oth powerhouses in their own rights, 
West Bloomfield natives Adam and Allison 
Sweet Grant have collaborated once again, 
this time to write a children’
s book focused on the 
importance of generosity. 
The Gift Inside the Box (Dial Books) will be 
available in e-book and hardcover format Oct. 1. 
Ever since Adam’
s first book, Give and T
ake, 
came out in 2013, people have been encouraging 
him to write a children’
s book about generosity, 
the couple told the JN. People would ask them 
“How do I raise a mentsch?” 
At first, Adam wasn’
t sure where to start and 
decided not to do it. Then, on a family vacation 
last year, Allison came up with a story about a gift 
box that wanders around looking for its rightful 
owner. They started drafting it right then in the 
car and, 45 minutes, later the book was born.
The intention is to help parents introduce their 
children to the idea of generosity and to inspire 
them to see the joy in helping others. They wrote 
the book so both parents and children could use 
their imaginations to fill in parts of the story 
together. Allison especially loved dreaming up 
the concept for the book’
s cover, which looks like 
a package a child could actually open. Adam’
s 
favorite part was coming up with a surprise end-
ing to encourage kids to think about giving rather 
than receiving. 
In recent years, Adam, a high-profile speaker, 
author and top-rated professor at the Wharton 
School at the University of Pennsylvania, and 
Allison, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, have 
shared perspectives on relationships and marriage, 
including holding weekly meetings, on The Today 
Show and in Redbook, where they shared, “The 
beauty of a weekly meeting is that you have a 
natural opening, a distraction-free time to turn 
toward your partner.” 
Other ideas shared include asking questions 
instead of trying to change your partner and hav-
ing a conversation about the conversation. “If we 
really understood each other’
s perspective then 
we should be able to get on the same page,” they 
shared on The Today Show.
Adam and Allison follow their own advice 
in their marriage and follow guiding principles 
— many gained when they were growing up in 
Detroit’
s Jewish community — to parent their 
three children.

 SEPTEMBER 12 • 2019 | 13

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