My upcoming picture book Sour Cakes, wonderfully illustrated by Anna Kwan, explores what happens when a sibling experiences emotions that feel too big to handle. The dual perspectives of a big and a little sister invite readers to delve into how it feels to support a sibling during a hard time as well as how to acknowledge one’s own difficult emotions. Anna Kwan’s appealing conceptual illustrations help readers map out these messy feelings.
My inspiration for writing Sour Cakes was my family history of mental health challenges. Depression, anxiety, and the effects of past traumas have impacted our daily lives and shaped each generation in different ways. I wrote this book to acknowledge and accept this difficulty, but also to honour the ways we support and sustain one another.
My hope is that Sour Cakes will spark conversations about mental health awareness and social-emotional learning in readers young, old, and in between. To help with that, Anna Kwan and I created a Resource Guide that includes discussion questions and colouring pages.
For more about social-emotional learning, please check out the panel discussion below with me, Anna, as well as author Bree Galbraith and illustrator Lynn Scurfield, who are the talented creators of Hold That Thought! – available on August 15!
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