With just one book, a former Hope local is helping toddlers learn that decisions and choices don’t need to be so tough.
Parents and their little ones can now bond together with Choosing Makes Me Happy — an interactive children’s book by Sarah Van Reeuwyk about executive function. With illustrations by Sümeyye Demir, the story follows Van Reeuwyk’s three year-old daughter as she makes choices throughout the day.
“My dream is that people will read it with their kids and their kids will choose as they’re reading the book,” Van Reeuwyk said. “I hope people enjoy it and I hope that they can use it with their kids to practice their executive function as well.”
Van Reeuwyk, who’s pen name is Sarah Van, said that the idea for the book came to her last year while working as a designated coach; as a coach, one thing Van Reeuwyk often works on with clients is their struggles with executive function — that is, their ability to plan, focus attention, remember, and juggle multiple tasks. Watching adults struggle with this made Van Reeuwyk want to create a book to helps kids to start building on these set of skills especially when it comes to making decisions.
Of course, the book was also inspired by Van Reeuwyk’s daughter.
“She’s a very, very, joyful child and she always says things like ‘oh, my teachers make me happy. Mommy makes me happy’,” Van Reeuwyk said. “So, I named the book Choosing Makes Me Happy and this follows her throughout the day making really simple choices.”
Those simple choices includes things like choosing a green apple or red apple, brushing their teeth for two minutes or three minutes, or deciding whether they want to wear blue pants or green pants — which, Van Reeuwyk said, is something she does with her own children in order to help them build that skill.
“In everyday life, executive function is important,” she said. “We all have tasks to do throughout our day, and people get so hung up on which one’s the most important to do. And if you have higher executive function, then it is easier to get through, your work and your day. And you feel accomplished by the end of it.”
Originally from Hope, Van Reeuwyk currently lives in Chilliwack with her family and, when not creating children’s literature and being a coach, she is the Branch Manager at Prospera Credit Union. This is her first book but she plans to make another one — this time focusing on her son (who, according to Van Reeuwyk, really wants a book about him now). As an author, she said the journey towards creating a book has been something’s she’s always wanted to do and she had so much fun writing it.
Currently, Choosing Makes Me Happy can be ordered online at Van Reeuwyk’s Etsy store, SarahVanWriting, and purchased in-store at Riverhouse Boutique in Hope.
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@KemoneMoodley
kemone.moodley@hopestandard.com
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