Did you know that there is a National Day of Encouragement? Well, why not? There seems to be a holiday for everything.
Words have power. The right word at the right time can help a person to continue a task, overcome an obstacle, or find the courage to try something new. On the other hand, careless and negative comments can have devastating results.
Many children’s books contain a theme of a child dealing with discouragement and then finding strength to go on because of the words or actions of another character. I’d like to share one of my favorites:
Ish written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Raymond is a boy who loves to draw. Unfortunately, his older brother made fun and laughed at one of Ramon’s drawings. Ramon decided that he was no good at drawing and crumpled up his artwork. His younger sister thought otherwise. Imagine Ramon’s surprise when he went into his sister’s room and discovered that she hung all his crumpled art on her walls. 
Her words and encouraging action caused Ramon to see the value of his art.
I love to share this book with children of all ages. Not only does it help them to see the power of their words but it is encourages them as artists.
I don’t think there should be only one day set aside for encouragement. Let’s encourage daily. Do you have any favorite books or quotes that are encouraging?
I’d like to thank Ruth Ayres for her weekly Celebrate This Week link up. Visit her blog for some weekly inspiration and encouragement.
Great post! I just read Peter Reynold’s “The Dot” with my first graders today of making your mark. I’ll have to check out ISH.
Hi Tina,
I’ll read “The Dot” next. Thanks for stopping by.
A word of encouragement does such a difference. Especially for a child. Love the book too when I read it. And of course I always Dr. Seuss’s wise words. To everyone on your blog: You can do it!
Thi s is a beautiful reminder! Thank you. I especially like ISH. I may make it my motto for my upcoming class in illustration at the Children’s Book Academy!
Hi Justine, thanks for stopping by. I used ish with my class of kindergartners and it really helped them to not worry about their art being “perfect.”
How is the illustration class going? I wish I could take it but I still need to process everything from the picture book writing class.