Mina Starsiak Hawk’s ‘Built Together’: When the ‘Good Bones’ Star’s Children’s Book Releases

Good Bones star Mina Starsiak Hawk is taking her talents to the library with her first children’s book, Built Together, inspired by her own children and experiences with building her business. The book, featuring illustrations by Barbara Bongini, was finally made available for pre-order on Nov. 12. It will be released on Feb. 2, 2021, and was a two-year labor of love for Starsiak Hawk.

Built Together was inspired by Starsiak Hawk’s experiences starting Two Chicks & a Hammer with her mother and Good Bones co-star Karen E. Laine and other major life moments, including working with her stepfamily, fostering her niece, and adopting her rescue dogs. It is “filled with the vibrant community spirit of Good Bones, with instant appeal to long-time fans and new friends alike,” according to the publisher’s description. The book is also billed as a “great resource” for teachers and parents to share the “importance of acceptance and family” with young children. Built Together shows how there is more than one way to build a family.

“It’s taking the idea of construction…and pairing it cutely with how to – you know, mom says ‘we built our family.’ Did we do it with a hammer and nails? – so just a fun play on that,” Starsiak Hawk explained in a video about the book. “It’s a good way to show kids that your family’s who you make it. And I always talk about how it takes a village, so it’s just kind of about how you create your own village.”

Starsiak Hawk thought it would “be fun to write” her own children’s book after reading so many of them to her children, she told PopCulture.com in a recent interview. “It’s the things that I know, which is non-traditional family and construction, and put them together in this cute way,” she explained. “But, it’s that growing up, taking how our family is built and comparing it to how you build a house, like the tools you use.”

Built Together already has at least one positive review, from Starsiak Hawk’s son Jack. He might be more interested in their dogs, but also loves the book, she said earlier this month. “He’s super into animals, so he’s more interested in who the dogs are because Frank and Sophie and our brown puppy, Beatrice, that, unfortunately, has since passed away,” she said. “But, they’re all in it and they pretty much look identical to them. He seems to like it.”

Good Bones finished its fifth season on HGTV in September and will be back for a sixth season in summer 2021. Season 6 will include 14 one-hour episodes. The series is one of HGTV’s big hits, ranking as a top-five cable series in the women 25-54 demographic and a top 10 show in the 25-54 demo overall. It was the most-watched show on HGTV’s streaming platform HGTV GO beginning on June 9, with its content racking up over 43 million video views across HGTV’s social media pages.

Starsiak Hawk and her husband Steve Hawk welcomed their second child, Charlotte “Charlie” Drew, on Sept. 16. Her IVF journey was a central story in Good Bones‘ fifth season. Although she could have kept her journey private, she told PopCulture it was important to let her fans know they were not alone. “Going through it, I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ All this stuff you have to do, all the stress, then the hormones you inject into your body, which is take it to a whole ‘nother level,” she explained. “It just felt like something that because it is so personal, not a lot of people share and I really have no boundaries. To me, it was like anything else that I film on camera — our demo day or cute videos of [2-year-old son] Jack. This is just what I’m going to do.”

Built Together is currently available for pre-order on Amazon and Walmart. PopCulture.com editors choose the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Prices and promotions listed on click-through links are subjected to change by the retailer.