I've done my share of infusing things that matter to me most like history, identity, morals and language into my writings. Before starting my next publication, I feel the need to pause and clearly identify the driving force behind my desire to create this upcoming book. Therefore, I am taking this moment to articulate my approach and intentions in crafting the next children's book. Just as I strive to provide a well-balanced and nutritious meal for my children, ensuring it includes essential components like minerals, enzymes, prebiotics, and probiotics, I aim for my books to be rich in imagination, educational value, identity, and the promotion of relationships. In the upcoming discussion, I will explore three key elements in my storytelling process: pace and rhythm, and the crucial role of perspective.
My Why:
The goal of my next book is to empower children to assuredly navigate their cultural heritage with grace and respect, while also embracing their environment. By fostering hands-on experiences, I aim to cultivate leadership skills that confidently enable children to serve others effectively, even in the face of discrimination. Encouraging face-to-face interactions and promoting a healthy lifestyle through physical activities, the book inspires children to develop personal goals and creativity to overcome exclusion. It emphasizes the importance of self-appreciation and resilience, teaching children that their unique ideas and contributions are valuable, even if not appreciated by everyone. Parents are encouraged to listen, validate, and respect their children's feelings, while also teaching them the importance of boundaries, responsibility, and respect for elders. By fostering mutual respect and understanding within family dynamics, the book aims to nurture a loving and successful environment.
Rhythm and Rhyme
I admire how previous generations utilized rhythm and rhyme, like in lullabies, to convey profound ideas or cautions to young minds. Merely mentioning the title or idea of a story can immediately unveil its profound meaning or trigger memories of the narrative. For example, Aesop's Fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. In simple terms, it emphasizes that taking a slow and steady approach with care and humility is more effective than approaching something carelessly with excessive pride.
The roots probably go back even further. There is no human culture that has not invented some form of rhyming ditties for its children. The distinctive sing-song metre, tonality and rhythm that characterises ‘motherese’ has a proven evolutionary value and is reflected in the very nature of nursery rhymes. According to child development experts Sue Palmer and Ros Bayley, nursery rhymes with music significantly aid a child's mental development and spatial reasoning. Seth Lerer, dean of arts and humanities at the University California – San Diego, has also emphasised the ability of nursery rhymes to foster emotional connections and cultivate language. “It is a way of completing the world through rhyme,” he said in an interview on the website of NBC’s Today show last year. “When we sing [them], we're participating in something that bonds parent and child.”
Songs can effectively act as a way to escape your current thoughts. Light and playful melodies can draw your attention away from the grim nature of the topic. Take, for instance, the song Ring Around the Rosie, which immortalizes the Great Plague of London in 1655 by masking the horrors of the bubonic plague with a seemingly innocent melody.
Sing-song patterns have the ability to foster positive thinking. Transforming a potentially dull situation into a positive one can greatly benefit one's life. I remember a friend sharing with me how, during their time as a nanny, they used to incentivize children by allowing them to wash the dishes if they completed a task successfully. The key lies in the choice of words and the tone of voice, as they can lay the emotional groundwork for any situation.
Give A Point of View
Artists and filmmakers consistently offer a viewpoint that shapes viewers mindsets. The way you talk to yourself, your reactions, and how you interpret others' intentions all contribute to shaping how your children perceive, communicate, and behave in the world. Your perspective serves as their starting point, essentially forming their foundation. As parents, we must either assume this role or let another caregiver, educator, or program instill their own viewpoint. Influences happen, they can be weak or they can be strong. Either way the foundation is being set and the house will be built on it. It's easier to build something long lasting on a well crafted one than to jackhammer it later and try to start over.
Baby Steps and Gentle Voices
As a mother, when my first two children were very young, I aimed to instill in them the values of love, compassion, and joy when they interacted with a baby. With my first born daughter I would say, "Look at how much you inspire her to paint!" as her baby sis innocently took the paintbrush from her hands. "Let's show her how to do it! Do you see some paper and paintbrush she could use?" This is the very first experience with someone taking something from her and a healthy positive way of being seen as inspiring mentor and capable teacher. For the younger one I would say, "Oh you don't have to take! Your sister LOVES sharing! See, all you have to do is ask!" This is where I would say to the older one, let her ask and then say "Of course, I love to share with you!" Then I would assure her I would give her another 'thing' as we built baby sis's patience and understanding of sharing. Baby's trust and confidence in her sister is impeccable and her meter for knowing how to chose friends later has a foundation of caring and dependability.
Your tone matters.
I'll say it again, your tone matters. You can say and do the most kind things but the tone will leave the impression. Years later a person walks away from a conversation and the thing they hold onto is how the person made them feel. Your energy is the gift you give people. If you yawn throughout your time with them, if you are always checking the time or looking at your phone, your message is: you're an inconvenience. If you are looking into their eyes, responding with curiosity, refuse distractions, your message is: everything else can wait, you are important and your time and words hold value.
My Next Children's Book
I have been dedicating more time than expected in developing my upcoming children's book. In my mind I see it as an elevated 'Kumusta Baby!' picture book incorporating a more imaginative illustration style, rhythm, and pace. The armature is structured in a way that focuses on addressing current challenges that Asian American children encounter, offering a positive perspective.
Much like my previous books integrating Filipino history, identity, language are all components I want to weave into my next story. This one I want to focus in on some of the troubles many Asian American children face such as the pressure to succeed, balancing cultures, family obligations, discrimination and microaggressions. These things can later develop into mental health issues. I always say the best medicine is preventative measures with health and this also holds true with mental health.
The rhythm and rhyme pacing of this story is written in a way that families can have fun reciting (Tagalog) words making it easier for them to remember and recall healthy perspectives throughout their day.
As always, the perspective is from my own experiences growing up in a small town so hopefully the message is as authentic and easily understood. I hope that young readers will thrive by acquiring fresh viewpoints on respecting elders, trusting their intuition, delving into mathematics, science, and languages (both English and Tagalog), discovering happiness in caring for one another in their everyday routines, and embracing their cultural background along with the ones they are presently engaged in.
As I continue to develop this book, I hope you will share with others who would like to raise up the next generation with flourishing mental health and positive perspectives. Please subscribe for updates for this book release campaign!
I would so very much appreciate feedback, suggestions or ideas from you, the reader. Until then, Salamat~Melissa
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