Sophie Lena’s Series

Told from the wise, loving perspective of a devoted service dog, the Sophie Lena Series captures the extraordinary bond between a young woman living with cystic fibrosis (CF) and her service dog, Sophie Lena. Through training, travel, hospitals, farm life, and everyday joy, Sophie Lena shares powerful lessons about unconditional love, resilience, empathy, and hope.

For anyone facing life’s challenges, this early middle-grade series (ages 6–11) is a story of loyalty, perseverance, and finding light even in life’s hardest moments.

Sophie’s stories are full of life lessons as she and her human face illness, adversity, and challenges as a team. The character and caliber of leadership that surface through Sophie’s journey embody resilience, empathy, friendship, trust, and the quiet courage it takes to keep going. Through Sophie’s eyes, kids learn:

  • mistakes are stepping stones, not failures

  • boundaries and kindness can both be true

  • love isn’t just a feeling—it’s an action

  • you can face hard things and still live a joy-filled, meaningful life

Our Team

Anya Knecht & Sophie Lena 

Authors

Anya Marie Knecht is a systems engineer, writer, and farmer whose work blends human-centered design, end-user perspective, and real-world problem solving. Her work spans regenerative agriculture, medicine, neuroscience, nutrition, and local food systems. From battling cystic fibrosis (CF) to pioneering regenerative agriculture to engineering resource mapping, Anya Knecht maps the connections between soil and health. Through systems engineering, her journey underscores the necessity of understanding those interconnected systems essential for our survival and emergency response. She delights in finding ways to help others find solutions to medical, agricultural, and aviation problems through systems engineering/human factors engineering.  She carries this work forward in collaboration with many projects currently at the intersection of food is medicine work, local food systems infrastructure, value chain coordination, emergency response, and collective impact work. She is the founder of Knecht Research Consulting & Design LLC, owner and operator of Anya Farm, and the creator of the Sophie Lena Series, a collection of early middle-grade books told from the perspective of a devoted service dog.

Anya lives with cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disease that affects the lungs, digestion, and other organs. Over the years, she has learned that courage often looks like persistence-showing up for treatments, adapting to hard days, and finding meaning and joy even in the challenges that life presents. That lived experience, paired with her background in systems thinking, shapes one of her missions: navigate difficult topics, extend courage and hope through sharing, and giving kids the agency to feel capable of facing life's challenges.

The heart of the Sophie Lena Series is Anya's bond with her service dog, Sophie Lena, who has supported her through hospital stays, daily routines, travel, and the ordinary adventures that make life full. Together, they've built a life centered on love, resilience, and the belief that challenges can be something we grow stronger from and offers amazing gifts. You can’t see the light without the dark. 

When she isn't writing, Anya works across health, community, and food systems to connect the dots between soil and human health, and spends time at her regenerative farm, where she finds peace in seasons, soil, and the steady rhythm of caring for living things. Spending time in harmony on their farm is healing in many forms. Through her books, Anya and Sophie hope that readers can find love, security, balance, courage, and inspiration to take on life’s challenges and find the gift even in the hardships. Everyone has battles in life, but the reward is in the journey through supporting one another.

Illustrator

David Valor-Garcia

David Alejandro Valor García was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on April 24, 1989, where he spent the first 12 years of his life.

In 2001, he traveled to Spain, where he spent his adolescence and began to discover his aptitude and passion for art, an inclination that would later lead him to pursue artistic studies.

From humble beginnings, he has always been a nomadic and itinerant artist, painting portraits in the streets and restaurants, environments in which his technique, line work, style, and conceptual inclination were forged.

Artists such as Norman Rockwell, Erich Sokol, Howard Pile, N.C. Wieth, and Frank Franzetta are some of his influences, who sparked great motivation and clearly shaped his artistic approach.

David's work could be defined within the genre of illustration. His paintings stand out for being narrative, with a touch of humor, and at the same time, coherent with the reality of his context. In each piece, we can appreciate knowledge of traditional painting techniques, such as composition, the arrangement of elements on the paper, and their interaction, with a particular emphasis on light, which gradually builds a clear and descriptive image of the concept the artist wishes to convey.

All of this is evident in Anya and Sophie's book, where we are immersed in the world of the protagonist and her adorable dog through fun and colorful illustrations.

Paths Cross & Stars Aligned

Anya and Sophie met David during one of their trips to Europe where they were on a layover in Spain due to delayed flights. They had to the opportunity to stay in Madrid an extra night as a result and went to the plaza for dinner. David painted them at dinner that night and Anya loved how he captured Sophie. Two years later, Anya contacted the restaurants they were at, hoping they would know who the artist was, and they did! Within 24 hours Anya was talking to David on a video call to make arrangements for Sophie Lena’s Series. David said he felt called to do this work and accepted! Initially work began via online correspondence, but it became apparent that it would be much easier if David were able to have exposure to Sophie’s real life. David made two month long trips over to the states for an immersive experience in Anya and Sophie’s life with CF. He captured the gravity of each step and worked to convey the multitude of messages centered around Sophie’s loving presence and help to Anya.

Gratitudes!

We want to say thank you to all of our fans and supporters! If it weren’t for all of you, we wouldn’t be here today.

A special thanks to my family and friends, who helped us get started in so many ways.