Layla's Happiness

This week I had the pleasure of reading Layla's Happiness, written by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie and illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin. One of the major things that caught my eye as I read this book were the captivating illustrations. Although the people drawn in the book have more simplistic bodies there is still quite a lot of detail, especially in the background of each page. Previously in class we attempted to draw in a similar style and it actually was not too challenging. I feel like books like this will show students that they can be illustrators, too.

Here is a page that stood out to me from the book because of the illustrations:

This illustration shows how you can create somewhat simplistic drawings but still include quite a bit of detail. I love how the reader can easily see everything that is being grown in Layla's garden, I can see how seeing illustrations like this would inspire students when creating their own artwork.

When reading this book with students there are quite a few different activities or strategies you could utilize. You could show students that drawing in this style, or one that is similar, is something manageable and encourage them to draw themselves in this style by creating a self portrait. Not only will students enjoy this activity but they can also use it in the future as a writing prompt. How did you choose what to wear? What would you do differently next time? Can you describe what you are doing in your portrait? Below I am including a picture of a self portrait I recently created along with a few sentences describing it.

This is a portrait of me, Sara Harrison, riding a scooter. I know it is uncommon for adults to ride scooters, but it is so much fun and I was asked to create a portrait where I was doing something I enjoyed. I do not ride my scooter often but if I do it is typically because I am going on a neighborhood walk with one of the students I tutor. I am wearing a floral printed dress because I have several dresses like that. I like wearing them because they are cute and comfortable. I made sure to draw myself with closed toed shoes because those are best for scootering. One thing I did forget to include that is quite important is a helmet. Next time I would make sure to draw myself wearing a helmet!

As you can see I was able to write quite a bit just describing my self portrait and this would be an easy activity to have your students complete. Until recently I had not thought about how images could serve as a writing prompt but after reading Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6 I learned that there are many things that can be utilized as prompts or writing ideas. In chapter two of this text the concept of a writer's notebook being a treasure chest filled with writing ideas is described. In order for students to fill their treasure chests they must gather different pictures, lists, or any other ideas that they could be inspired to write about. A writer's notebook can be a place for much more than a few sentences responding to a short prompt and I am excited to learn these new ideas!

Here is the video I followed in order to create my self portrait. Follow along with Lynda Barry to create your own!

Students can also use their writer's notebooks as a way to respond directly to children's literature. For Layla's Happiness students could share what things in their lives make them happy. Below I am including a picture of the last page in the book where the author asks the reader "What is happiness to you?" I read this book aloud to two young students I tutor and I decided to pose this question to them and I recorded their responses. I will include their responses to this question below, I was impressed at what they were able to come up with during our discussion after the read aloud.