Hoping in YOURSELF

As this month's theme is HOPE, I think it is worth re-visiting one of my own books -

 RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER,

because it is about a very important aspect of HOPE and that is 

HOW TO HOPE IN YOURSELF

The idea for this story, stemmed in part, from this image below that I came across in a greeting card some years ago (except my cat saw himself as a tiger instead of a lion). 

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 But the dollop of hope is the same - we all have an inner greatness, an inner tiger, or an inner lion, that cannot be seen with the naked eye.  Stories are in a way, mirrors, that allow children to see and believe in their own inner greatness.  For when they see story characters overcoming obstacles and taming their demons by summoning their inner courage and strength, then they have a model - a vision for how they too can overcome such hurdles in their own lives.

Happy HOPING!

HOW WE HOPE

HOW WE HOPE...

According to Jane Yolen, the two most important ingredients of a good children's book are - JOY and HOPE.  

This month's read aloud is Mole Music by David McPhail, one of my favorite HOPE filled stories ever.  I share it with people of all ages to mark special milestones in life, or to spread a dollop of hope when needed.

Hope is not always a feeling - just like love, but rather, often it is simply something we do until we can feel it.   Good children's stories  can provide beautiful models of hope for our little ones, letting them believe in their own goodness and grace and light - letting them see HOW to HOPE.

MOLE is the perfect embodiment of a tenacious soul who refuses to give up and simply 'keeps at it."

When we teach our children to hope, we are helping them to "keep at it" - that is keep at this business of LIFE - of living and loving with all our might - and who knows, just like MOLE, they too  may learn to "make music" that reaches into people's hearts and melts away the anger and the sadness!

Happy HOPING!