Happiness In Picture Books
There are many things that can make us happy. Whether its family and friends or certain places. Throughout the pandemic I have tried to make sure I found something that made me happy during the hard times. I read more books, spent more time with family, watched more movies and overall tried to appreciate the small thing in life.
This week I had the pleasure of reading Layla's Happiness by Mariahadessa Tallie, which in short is about finding happiness in the little things. On each page of the book Layla tells us about something that makes her happy. Some of the things that make her happy are looking at a full moon in the night sky, climbing trees, wearing trees, wearing purple and her parents. All of these things represent a different aspect of who Layla is as a person. Layla also talks about different places such as the community garden and the farmers market in her neighborhood that make her happy. Including these places in the story helps readers get an idea of where Layla is from. this also got me thinking of where I am from. I was originally born in Maine and moved to North Carolina when I was six years old. Since that original move I have moved a few different times and my sense of place has changed. The home I loved in since I was 7 is no longer home as my parents have moved. One of my writing assignments for this week was to create a poem about where I am from. I struggled with starting to write the poem as I am not the type of person to really talk about myself a lot and I feel like I ma unsure of where I am truly form because of the many moves. I did a brain dump and listed out the things that make me unique, found some different templates and got to writing. I was able to come up with a rough draft of my poem and want to share it here.
Where I'm From:
I am from family dinners
from hide and seek and skinned knees
I am from the house in Rolesville that was once home
The tall driveway and color changing door
It tasted like warm homemade cake tops fresh out of the oven
I am from the newly made big yard at the new house in Wendell
The three bushes along the fence. Each with budding flowers representing those who were once here
I am from the anxiety and self-conscious mind
Everyday a new struggle but an end goal in mind to keep me going
I am from music
Lyrics of songs racing through my mind
I am from a family of five
Where I sometimes feel invisible over the loud chatter
I am from broken bones and sore muscles
Friends and family telling me to be more careful
I am from game nights with friends
Tears running down my cheeks from laughing too hard
I am from memories made every day
Photos of happy times printed out as to never forget.
Writers block is a tough thing to overcome especially for anyone who is like me. I have never considered myself to be a writer and never enjoyed writing. If I don't have a specific topic or task when writing I will distract myself and wait until the last minute to write. To help myself focus and get on track with my writing I do a few different things. I have a love for music so I will put my earbuds in, put my favorite song on and try to drown out the outside world and any distractions that come with it. If finding something to write about is a struggle then there is an easy fix for that. I have found a few great websites so far that have a list of wide topics for writing that can help anyone.
Websites:
Layla's Happiness also made me think about different things that make me happy. For my first Instagram post I decided to post pictures of thing in my life that make me the happiest. I also created what's called a heart map. This heart map is a big heart with sections inside of it with different things that make you happy. This is the one I made today after writing this blog post and reading Layla's Happiness.
Meet the Author and Illustrator!
Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie
Ashleigh Corrin
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