Building resilience means having tools to turnaround negative emotions

Kindergarten teacher, mother of two and author Masiana Kelly hopes her newest book You Make My Heart Happy is a “wonderful conversation starter” both in the classroom and at home.

“The language (in the book) is accessible for parents to use. It's not using any big psychological jargon that we have no frequent use of and connection to. It is using basic language that we would use with our own kids at home, at school, in our communities,” said Kelly, who is Inuk and Dene from Kugluktuk, Nunavut, and Fort Simpson, NWT.

You Make My Heart Happy lets kids know that “it’s okay to feel sad or mad, (but) just remember to think of things to help you not feel so bad.”

An educator for more than 15 years, Kelly says that children feel that they have little control over most things and that leads to having little control over their own emotions. Without that control, they can’t gain resiliency.

“It's really important teaching (children) about a positive mindset, because we want children to have a growth mindset. We want them to be able to see the possibilities and know that it's okay to feel these ways, to feel sad, to feel mad, to feel angry. Everybody feels those. But to understand that while it's okay to feel that (way), we can also turn things around by enjoying things that give us joy and make our hearts happy,” said Kelly.

You Make My Heart Happy is aimed at children ages five to 10 years old.

“I think it's a great thing to show kids that ‘yes, it's okay to feel these ways, but there's so many wonderful things to look forward to no matter where we are…’ (and) there's still things that they have access to that don't cost any money to really turn their day around,” she said.

With the help of illustrator Vaeh Lina, You Make My Heart Happy shows the many, many things, big and small, that bring happiness: playing with your dog, snuggling with your favourite blanket on a comfy spot on the couch, picking berries, the smell of fresh bannock, or taking a bite of mipku (dried meat) or piffi (fish).

Using Inuktitut words and having children that look like her are important to Kelly.

“I remember growing up and…reading books with people that didn't look like me or my family. They didn't represent communities where I lived. They didn't even talk about things that I had at home or that I appreciated,” said Kelly.

“I really like to pay homage and spread the culture and the language that I grew up with. And (for) my boys…I just want them to have that connection to our culture and I really want to celebrate our culture.”

This book, along with Kelly’s three previous children’s books, reflects pieces of the Indigenous culture she was raised in and things Indigenous children living in remote areas can easily relate to.

“All of the things that I wrote in You Make My Heart Happy…are generally things that kids and people have access to,” she said.

Kelly sent photographs of her granny, of bannock she had made, of mipku and piffi, of dogs, and “even a blanket that I love” to illustrator Lina.

Originally Lina had drawn granny with straight, gray hair.

“And I said, ‘No. My granny always had dyed her hair and it was permed. She would never have straight hair.’ So we adjusted the hair on the grandma to just more reflect what I grew up with, seeing my grandma and many other grannies around me, including my great aunties,” said Kelly.

“The illustrator did such a wonderful job of taking those pieces that really make my own heart happy and reflecting them in the book that we created together.”

You Make My Heart Happy is published by Inhabit Media and will be released Nov. 17. It can be purchased at https://inhabitbooks.com/products/you-make-my-heart-happy?_pos=1&_sid=f8c2b499a&_ss=r