They say one of the greatest gifts you can give a child is love. This is the focus of Margo Morrison’s children’s book, which aims to nurture young minds.
“Children have the greatest capacity for imagination, learning and adventure. I believe that we should nurse [this] and help to preserve them for as long as possible. my happy baby was inspired by my mom and a dear friend who gave birth to twins during the pandemic. Their babies are so happy and it has been inspiring to see how love can manifest itself in a child’s well-being and development,” said Morrison life.
The children’s book follows the journey of a happy baby who is adored by his parents. You marvel at their growth and development. And it is the love and care of her parents who provide her with the right environment and early childhood experiences that help her reach her developmental milestones.
A former model, Morrison was always an avid reader and spent her teenage years falling in love with English literature. The pastime also turned into a great bonding activity for her and her sister. “I love to read and have always found solace, understanding and learning in books. Some of my fondest memories from my childhood were sharing literature books with my sister and listening to my mother tell the stories of her novels,” she explained. With every book that shaped her life, she was inspired to pass that positive impact on to future generations. But before she found her footing, she had to figure out where to begin.
In search of her voice and audience, Morrison began blogging in 2018. This outlet gave her the freedom of creativity and self-expression. From there, she embarked on an even deeper exploration of the literary world. “I discovered different types of writers and the resources that support them. That’s when I saw how it could be possible to become an author. I also wrote poetry, which allowed me to be more expressive in my writing. It gave me the opportunity to creatively write down my feelings and thoughts,” the author shared.
Before she knew it, she was diving straight into the waves of writing children’s stories. And it was only natural because she had a connection with children and cared about them and their well-being.
GO PUBLIC WITH YOUR WORK
Researching during the pandemic, she took the biggest leap of faith to go public with her work. Since then she hasn’t looked back. “The pandemic has taken a lot of childhood joy away from many children,” she said, adding, “I hope this book will bring some joy to families everywhere as they read with their children.”
After nine months of writing, planning and preparing, her literary romance was released via Amazon in March this year. Committed to layout and structure, she chose to do things her way, taking the self-publishing route. “Everyone who has given me feedback has told me how connected they and their children are to the story and how beautifully illustrated it is. Of course the babies love it,” said an enthusiastic Morrison.
Young local, regional and international diaspora readers will be able to recognize and relate to the characters due to the book’s Caribbean nature. From the clothes to the hairstyles and of course the skin color, the characters are true-to-life representations of those who were a source of inspiration in the author’s life.
“It was important to me that our children recognize themselves on the pages as they read and feel familiar with the characters and the story. I hope it gets translated on the pages,” she stressed.
With her outreach initiative Childhood Central, she has taken her commitment to child development one step further. After realizing that there was a developmental gap in society for Black and Caribbean children, Morrison decided to build that bridge for a change. “Although I’m still in my infancy, I have big plans. I envision that the website dedicated to this cause will be a hub for information about black children’s development that anyone who cares and is responsible for our children can go to,” she said.
As a model, she had the opportunity to explore the world. Morrison learned what life is like beyond our borders and gathered all sorts of experiences to figure out how to leave her indelible mark. “I can see where the gaps are in our society, but I can also see where we excel with our children. This has allowed me to use my world experience to my advantage and hopefully create something that will benefit our children and families in the long term,” she noted.
