Across industries and borders, emotional expression looks different. Some cultures encourage openness, others value restraint. Yet beneath these differences lies a universal truth: emotional needs are shared, even when emotional languages are not.
This understanding sits at the heart of Mona Liza Santos’s work.
As a children’s author, publisher, and global traveler who has visited more than seventy countries, Santos brings an unusually expansive perspective to emotional literacy. Her conclusion is simple but profound: while cultures vary in how emotions are expressed, children everywhere want to feel safe, seen, and understood.
World Love Press was created to support that universal need.
Emerging during a period of global disruption, the imprint grew from a deeply personal realization into an internationally resonant mission. Santos observed that children across cultures were absorbing fear, uncertainty, and emotional instability—often without context or language to process what they were experiencing. Stories, she believed, could act as emotional bridges, helping children understand their inner worlds without being overwhelmed by them.
Unlike many educational tools that prioritize behavior correction or measurable outcomes, Santos’s books center internal experience. They teach children that emotions are signals, not problems to be fixed. This philosophy has allowed her work to resonate globally, finding meaningful application not only among families and educators, but also among therapists and counselors who use her stories as supportive tools in emotional development, therapeutic settings, and trust-building conversations with children.
The global response to Mama, I Love You illustrates this universality. The award-winning book has been embraced by families, clinicians, and school communities worldwide for its gentle affirmation of presence, reassurance, and emotional connection. Rather than instructing children on how to behave, it validates how it feels to be loved and emotionally held. That restraint its refusal to over-explain or moralize—is precisely what gives the story its power and longevity across cultural contexts.
Santos’s Filipino heritage plays an important role in shaping this perspective. Raised within a culture that values family, relational harmony, and emotional nuance, she understands both the strengths and silences that influence emotional expression. Her work does not impose a single emotional standard. Instead, it honors cultural specificity while reinforcing shared emotional truths that transcend geography.
This balance has positioned World Love Press as more than a publishing company. It functions as a cultural contributor, offering emotional literacy as a form of social infrastructure—quiet, foundational, and enduring.
In leadership conversations, emotional intelligence is often framed as a competitive advantage. Santos reframes it as a human necessity. Children who learn to understand emotions grow into adults who can navigate difference, regulate conflict, and lead with empathy in increasingly interconnected environments.
As societies grow more global, emotional literacy may become one of the most important shared languages we cultivate. Santos’s work serves as a reminder that this language is learned early—or not at all—and that the future of leadership, collaboration, and social cohesion may depend less on what children are taught to achieve, and more on what they are taught to feel.
