By Rachel Bartz
New York City attorney Connie Gibilaro (ΦBK, Fairfield University) has published her first children’s book, Brooklyn is the World, and has become what she always dreamed she would be: an author.
A Brooklyn native, Gibilaro grew up writing plays for her nine cousins to star in and scribbling in her diary. She pursued an English degree at Fairfield University and later earned her JD from the New York University School of Law. Despite writing throughout college, the demands of law school oriented Gibilaro away from her creative side.
“At least for me, being in law school was just such an immersive experience that it was very hard to focus on anything creative,” Gibilaro said. “So [my creativity] just kind of died, and I thought okay, I always thought I wanted to write a book, but this is just so all-consuming that writing a book just seems like an impossible task.”
After a few years of practicing law, Gibilaro’s creative spark unexpectedly returned after the birth of her first daughter. “It was really only when I started to buy books, and I was gifted books when I was pregnant with my first daughter, that that was the only thing I was reading—I was reading children’s books,” she recalled.
“I just fell in love with that type of a book, I just found it regulated my nervous system, I enjoyed reading it as an adult, and then I would read 10 books to her a day, even as a baby. So it just became such a big part of my life. And it was only when I noticed a certain author on a book…and I knew she was a previous editor of a magazine—it finally felt like an achievable goal. Anybody can do this, you don’t always have to have been a children’s book author, you can become this.”
When Covid-19 hit and parks closed in Brooklyn, Gibilaro would instead frequent a butterfly mural with her oldest daughter, a walk she shared that would likely never have happened without lockdowns, saying, “The thought of just taking it slow, taking a walk, just going down the block, admiring flowers like that, the thought that that could be something enjoyable, was not natural to me whatsoever…and then Covid just sort of forced that lifestyle on me.”
Amidst her adaptation to Covid-19 restrictions, Gibilaro discovered that the quietest, slowest moments with her daughter, such as visiting their local butterfly mural, were what meant most to her, despite the parental pressure to fill her daughter’s life with extraordinary outings. These realizations eventually found themselves interwoven into Brooklyn is the World. Without Covid-19, she said, “I don’t think I would have even noticed the butterfly mural or noticed that you can become inspired by really simple things that are around you, not necessarily the thing you put on a pedestal. And then that concept is one of the themes in the book, this idea of pining for something.”
In Brooklyn is the World, Delilah the butterfly embarks on an adventure to search for fellow butterflies, accompanied by Sadie Squirrel and Petey Pigeon. After traversing the fantastical neighborhoods of Brooklyn, however, Delilah realizes that she has already found true friends in Sadie and Petey, even if they are not butterflies like her.
Gibilaro intentionally set her story in her hometown of Brooklyn after originally writing about Delilah embarking on world travels. Her mother was the first to push for changing the book’s setting, asking after her first read, “Well, why doesn’t the butterfly just fly around Brooklyn? Because Brooklyn is the world.”
The concept of Brooklyn being the world, and a more appropriate setting for her story, resonated immediately with Gibilaro, who herself had been drawn back to Brooklyn years earlier. A childhood in hectic New York City had left her excited for the opportunity to attend college in the quieter suburbs of Fairfield, Connecticut, but Gibilaro admitted that it was only once she left Brooklyn that she came to appreciate its energy and magic. Incorporating Brooklyn into her story turned out to be yet another way to learn about and appreciate her home.
Reflecting on Phi Beta Kappa’s motto, “Love of learning is the guide of life,” Gibilaro expressed that, looking back, that had been the theme of her book-writing process, saying, “I think if you put a theme on this whole journey, for me, it would be the love of learning…even though I grew up here [in Brooklyn], it’s not like I celebrated every festival in the book, so I had to do research…Fairfield [University] instilled that love of learning, where you really have to be curious to make something a good story.”
When writing Brooklyn is the World, Gibilaro shared that older, more classic works of children’s literature were one of her primary inspirations. “I like the older books better because they’re longer and they’re just more emotional,” she said. “I feel like they tap into life lessons.”
To Gibilaro, the shortening and simplification of children’s books comes from the increasing demands of modern life. “The wisdom of a lot of publishers is: parents are busy, we need short books, we want kids to read, but it’s kind of like an in-and-out deal,” she said. “And I don’t want that. I work a lot, and so when I’m reading to my kids, I want it to feel like it’s a magical experience.”
Another of Gibilaro’s goals in writing Brooklyn is the World was for the story to help instill a sense of confidence in her children. This objective surfaced after she witnessed her daughter being rejected by other children on the playground, which sparked reflection regarding how societal emphases on likability often burden women, even into adulthood. After seeing other children choose not to play with her daughter, Gibilaro shared her insights:
“My heart broke. But I realized, like, that’s going to happen throughout her life; that happens to all of us. And wouldn’t it be amazing if I wrote a book where the lesson is, it’s okay if not everybody likes you? Because I feel like, especially as women, the thought of, oh my god, someone doesn’t like me, it’s the worst thing in the world. And it’s okay if not everybody wants to be your best friend—they’re just not for you.”
Rachel Bartz is a graduate of The College of William & Mary, where she studied international relations and economics. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa there in May 2025. William & Mary is home to the Alpha of Virginia chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.