After six years of thinking about every word and every image, working and reworking every page of this inspiring story, our story has now available on Amazon. The video is of De’Ante opening the box of books from CreateSpace to see our book in print for the first time.
I repainted all the images, soaking thick watercolor paper in water, to honor the power of the flood waters, dipping the paper in brown acrylic paint to reflect the mud of the flood, and dipping the paper in blue acrylic paint to symbolize when the clear sky bounces off the water.
De’Ante has read his book to Kindergarten and First Grade Classes in Indianapolis. One student responded by saying “Maybe I can write a book.”
We invite you to order a copy, or many copies, the week of August 14, 2017, to give Amazon a rush. And please write a review on Amazon.
You can also help spread kindness by using the many ideas in our “Kids Kindness Korner” with your children, grand-children and students. Let us know what happens. Let’s flood our families, communities, country and world with kindness.
As our planet gets warmer, it has the possibility of getting meaner. When 8 year-old De’Ante Webster of Indianapolis shared his magical tale called “The Flood of Kindness”, I recognized the importance of partnering his genius. His story is about the powerful role that compassion plays in the aftermath of a large weather event – Hurricane Katrina. He wrote it in his third grade class for an historical fiction assignment. I offered to illustrate his story, which gives children the vision of the planet getting kinder as it gets warmer. Because this is a child talking to other children, there is an added weight to the voice of the story. “The Flood of Kindness” has a positive job to do in the face of climate chaos. The story shows that something beautiful can grow out of the heartbreak surrounding natural disasters. It will be helpful as the incidents of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and drought increase. This story is needed by our time.
I submitted the story to a literary agent who said she did not fall in love with it, so she wasn’t going to pick it up. The illustrations paintings are rough drafts. They are works in progress, some more realistic than others, some with borders, others without. Your feedback would be much appreciated. What do you think works or doesn’t work? Our team (De’Ante, his mom, Ieshiea Webster, and myself) are also looking for an agent, a publisher or other insights about how to get “The Flood of Kindness” to the world. We’ve been working on it for five years and are ready to get input from a wider circle of our friends and colleagues. What I care about is how to get this story to the world, for the sake of the children’s future.
Thank you ahead of time for taking the time to check this out.
I am the summer breeze, the cheetah’s dots and the bird’s glare
I am Powerful, faster than a cheetah
I am warm like a mountain
I am wavy as the grass, and wet, too
I am a cheetah with a bird on my back
We both look for prey as we move along
I am gazing through the hot sun and the wet grass
I am jumping rock to rock
The beautiful streaming fish are, too
Before the Students paint their Inner Landscapes
In the face of unprecedented challenges, there are tools we can give our young people as a vital source of protection – finding strength within and connecting to the world. The purpose of the “Inner Landscape Project” is to give students an opportunity to explore their Inner Space in order to realize their unique imagination, their genius and their deepest values. The project affirms that each student matters, that their passions matter and the choices they make in creating a work of art matter. Seen together, the cut-outs are an explosion of joy and positivity. The student artwork adds to the welcoming school climate, as the students feel ownership, seeing their beauty reflected around the school.
The Inner Landscapes below are at Hamilton Elementary School in Novato, California – a school that is 85% free and reduced lunch. This arts integration project involves writing, mind-mapping, design thinking, drawing, painting, poetry and speaking. Through Create Peace Project, I co-facilitated the creation of 85 Inner Landscapes with Lili Lopez, funded by the Sausalito Arts Festival Foundation’s Artists Teaching Art.
We consciously prepare young people for the 21st century by giving them the space to practice making decisions and taking action. After filling out a questionnaire, the students decided what pose to be in, what animal and plant to portray, what colors to use, how to incorporate the five simple shapes and what words reflect the symbolism of their artwork. Such a rigorous process resulted in a joyful experience where the students exert power and freedom.
5th graders acted as mentors throughout the project which added to community bonding.
The project also added to a greater sense of community as the students saw the beauty in the diversity of their Inner Landscapes.
The next phase of the project is make a book with all the students Inner Landscapes and their “I Am” poems, so that every student can have a copy of their classes’ work.
Here are two more of the paintings and poems.
David
I am the land who lets me walk
I am the blood who goes through my body
I am the water who helps me keep cool
I am the lava who flies out of the volcano
I am the monster who travels through caves
I am the skeleton who hunts at night
I am the eyes who watches the people
Grace
I am an Egyptian queen,
who cares for my land
I send my beetle army to save my children
I am My Ba, the birds who are souls that fly in the night
I look after the Gods,
Who take care of the Nile
Who takes care of the fish and the plants
I want to help my people grow crops in black dirt
I don’t want to harm them with the
sand where nothing grows
I want to stop the sand
I want to heal the sick
Let us partner the genius of youth to transform the world into a more playful and loving place.
