Layla’s Happiness is a children’s book that is narrated from Layla’s perspective. Layla discusses the different elements in her life that fill her with happiness, such as the community garden, night sky, dancing, and more.
Written by: Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie
Illustrated by: Ashleigh Corrin
Book Awards:
2020 Ezra Jack Keats Award, for illustration
2020 Ezra Jack Keats Honor, for writing
3-Time AALBC Bestselling Book
Starred review Kirkus
Starred review School Library Journal
Brain Pickings Best Books 2019
Inclusive Storytime Best Books of 2019
Best Children’s Books of the Year 2020 Edition, Bank Street
Let's Dive into Layla's Happiness
Before I begin my blog post, I want you to know that this blog post is a written representation of a string of conscious thoughts. Enjoy :)
Layla’s Happiness, as previously mentioned, is a story about the happiness that fills Layla’s heart. Several of the things that bring her happiness are tied to a location. Therefore, this blog post is going to explore the importance of location and how it influences our happiness.
A QUICK EXERCISE
I want you to take a moment to close your eyes and picture something that makes you happy. Take a few moments. Now think back, if you didn’t think of a location, where is the setting of the ‘thing’ that makes you happy. I pictured my cat, Benny, he’s a fluff ball. He is a chunky tabby cat. I focused on my cat, but realized his location in my memory is extremely important:
laying on his side,
letting the sun’s rays hit
as they beam through the glass front door,
soaking in the warm sun,
breathing in the heat,
relaxed.
And there you have it… poetry. Well, it was poetic to me. Try to write a poem based on the location of your “thing” that makes you happy. Focus in on the small details.
Layla's Happiness- Location
One of the most important locations, in my opinion, is the night sky. When Mariahadessa introduces Layla at the beginning of the book she references her age and then what her name means: night beauty. Mariahadessa writes, “Layla means “night beauty,” and I love the night." This one sentence holds so much power that I didn’t realize when I first read it; her skin tone is being compared to the night sky. I have not heard a woman of color’s skin tone ever being referenced to the night sky (in literature), but now that it is, I will never be able to unhear it. It brings an all new meaning to the beauty of skin tone, especially to women of color.
The reason that I find this excerpt from the book so powerful is because I have heard of the frustrations that women of color have in regards to the comparisons of their skin color. I haven’t heard of the complaints directly from a friend but within the makeup community on Youtube. I have been practicing makeup since I was in 8th grade and a common issue that constantly is being brought up is the concept of the lack of diversity within the makeup community, especially with the skin-tone names on makeup products. Women of lighter skin tone are often compared to delicate items such as “porcelain, sand, ivory, linen, shell, etc.” while women of color’s skin tone is compared to food items, nuts, and coffee, which are not items that bring about a similar feeling as delicate items. This was intentional and so was the lack of inclusiveness within the shade ranges of the cosmetic industry. I am not sure if all women of color feel frustrated towards the makeup community, but I have listened to many women in the makeup community express their discontent.
That is why I find the excerpt from Layla’s Happiness so important. It brings about strong memories and feelings about skin tone within me. I am a white woman, so I am privledged to always have the correct shade for my skin tone and have a delicate name to describe my skin tone. Layla does too, and I find it beautiful. Think of all of the beautiful elements in the night sky: bright shining stars, cities that shine bright, the glowing moon, and the endless amount of nighttime. These are all elements illustrated within Layla's Happiness. I am not a woman of color, so I cannot speak for their community, but this is a comparison that is so beautiful that I think POC would find it to be as well.
Articles to read more about the frustrations within the makeup community. There is no shortage of articles that voice complaints about the comparisons of skin tone within the makeup community.
Writing Connections and Exercises
Teaching Writing Through Children’s Literature, K-6, written by Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli, mentions the concept of a mentor text. A mentor text is “any piece of writing [that] can serve as a mentor whether it is found in a book a newspaper, a magazine, or a teacher’s notebook” (8). In the classroom, a teacher would first, “introduce [the mentor text] as a read-aloud” and then “revisit [the read aloud] through the eyes of the writer” (9).
Let’s look at the writing of Layla’s Happiness:
Excerpt from the our mentor text: “Layla means “night beauty”, and I love the night.
Let’s try out Tallie’s writing style:
Your name means “item in nature or loved item” and I love “location of item”.
My example:
Ally means “snowflakes”, and I love when the fresh snow falls out of the marshmallow clouds.
BOOM! BEAUTIFUL.
I want you to use Layla’s Happiness as a mentor text and try out the previous example yourself. Note: If you want to compare your name to a food group, nut, an animal’s fur go ahead! If you love it that is all that matters!
...............
..........
.......
...
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Are you stuck on finding what item you love? Try making a heart map, introduced by Georgia Heard (2016). (PICTURED RIGHT) A heart map is essentially a heart that is filled with various items that you love. You could also try and think of your favorite memories. The trick is to think about the little details.
ANOTHER EXERCISE WITH THE MENTOR TEXT (sorry if you're starting to get tired)
Author example (one I love): “And the full moon--- well, it’s my favorite. It sits in the sky like a wish flower’s sister. If I could reach the moon, I’d blow on it and wish to play the trumpet well, without ever having to practice.”
Let’s do this together, we first just need to start thinking and getting our brain working. I close my eyes and think of my cat, Benny, again. I don't need to make a heart map because he makes up a large portion of my heart (*que audience* awwww!) Immediately he comes to my mind… he’s a chunky cat and never misses handouts at the dinner table. I didn’t picture a location, so how am I going to be able to write like the mentored example??? I need to close my eyes again and think of where my cat is. . . what do I see?
“rays of light hitting, the heat of the sunshine beaming onto his skin, his slow measured breaths, the rising and falling of his chest, the lightness and darkness of the wood floor,
ignited by the sun’s rays, the warmth of his fur as my hand glides across his belly,
the slow closing of his eyes as my fingers rub his small forehead, the small sounds that exit his mouth, the front door that shines brightly in the mid-afternoon…”.
NOW LET'S USE THE AUTHOR'S STYLE AS A MENTOR TEXT:
Author example (one I love):
“And the full moon--- well, it’s my favorite. It sits in the sky like a wish flower’s sister. If I could reach the moon, I’d blow on it and wish to play the trumpet well, without ever having to practice.”
My example:
And the warmth of my kitten-- well, it’s my favorite.
He sits in between the sun’s rays on the hardwood floor
soaking up the heat waves like a flower blooming into the sun for the first time.
I wish I could be the sunshine,
I’d extend my rays of heat onto my tabby cat and wish him to slip into a cat nap,
without ever having to disturb his peace.
I could use mentor texts all day to inspire my writing…. I need to do this more often.
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