ORLANDO, Fla. — Talking to adults about trauma is difficult, but speaking to children about can be harder.

• My Tio's Pulse aims to soften conversation about Pulse
• Keith Newhouse put children's book together with community partners
• 300 copies printed so far; also being sold on Amazon Kindle

But one book, penned by an Orlando-area first-time author and illustrated by more than 20 others, aims to soften the conversation about Pulse.

"There's nothing like it out there," said Keith Newhouse, who wrote My Tio’s Pulse.

In 2017, around the one year mark of the Pulse tragedy, Newhouse dreamed up the idea.

It took months to pull together the community partners he needed — from Orlando Health and United Way, to an Orlando-based publisher — to make the book a reality. Soon, Newhouse was thumbing through a glossy paperback, colors popping off the page.

"It was incredible for me to see how many people were willing to donate their services, their time and just give all they could for the project," he said.

But Newhouse and the artists, which include a Wekiva High School student, won't make a dime from the book's sales. All proceeds go straight to benefitting the Orlando United Assistance Center, the counseling center on East Michigan Street south of downtown Orlando formed in the aftermath of the shooting.

"Sometimes we're so afraid to talk about hard subjects. This kinds of opens that up," said Joel Morales, with the center. "Hopefully, it starts the conversation if people are going through emotions, they get connected with mental health services."

Almost every illustration in the book was created by a different artist, with the final picture, Newhouse said, "so realistic that it wouldn't have worked anywhere else in the book," letting the reader know "this really happened."

Although Newhouse, whose father is a children's book author, was "terrified" at the prospect of this being his first book, he knew that fundraising for the counseling center was worth it.

"It could be any tragedy that's occurred. It shows children how to cope with the tragedy and how to feel safe again," Newhouse said. "I'm really hoping we'll give them the funds to keep doing what they’re doing."

So far, they’ve printed 300 copies. They plan to sell the book at Thursday night's Pride Launch party and again on Saturday at Pride Fest.

The book sells for $9.99, $4.99 on Amazon Kindle.

According to Morales, they also hope to translate and publish a Spanish version of the book as well in coming months.