Happy Within: a Diverse Children's Book by Marisa Taylor

We have been lucky enough to have been working with the wonderful Marisa (and her gorgeous family!) ever since her daughter Havana was tiny. We've loved following their family's adventures over on JetLifeBaby, so when we heard that Marisa had created a children's picture book to help kids from around the world learn about self-love & diversity we couldn't wait to read it and shout about it from the rooftops!

Marisa lives with her husband André and their two daughters Havana and Naliya in London. They are a mixed Jamaican, Canadian and German family, and Marisa's inspiration for the book began when she became pregnant and her husband explained the harsh reality and challenges their daughter would have, because of her skin colour. Whilst Marisa knew she would never fully understand what her husband or children would go through she felt her mission as a wife to a Jamaican and a mother to biracial children was to try to help in whichever way she could. So she started writing…

Credit Marisa Taylor

Happy within is a colourful and happy picture book that will help children from around the world learn about self-love & embrace diversity.

All children are special

The message of the book is to help teach children to love themselves and be happy within their own skin. No matter where in the world they are from, whether the race, the background, etc. every child is unique and special.

A diverse multicultural children’s book

The book includes a diverse range of characters from all over the world. As a mother to biracial children, I noticed the lack of diverse characters in children’s book and wanted to be inclusive. The message to all of the children is that they should love themselves for who we are, and support each another to be the best they can be.

It is a positive children’s book teaching them to be proud of themselves, proud of who they are and of their uniqueness. Only through self-love and believing in oneself it is possible to be happy within.

Bilingual editions

In addition to the English book, I created bilingual editions to help children and parents learn another language together. You will find below the links to all of the current versions available at this present time. Follow @lingobabies via Instagram to stay up to date with new releases, or make requests for additional language editions.

I hope you and your children love the book!

x

Marisa

This text originally appeared on JetLifeBaby and you can read more about the story behind the book here.

Thank you so much to Marisa for sharing Happy Within with us, and for giving us access to both your blog posts and images, particularly this completely adorable shot of baby Naliya diving into her copy whilst out for a stroll in our Metro Stroller!

You can order your copy HERE.

Credit Marisa Taylor