Local teacher publishes children’s book

Taylor Jasper, a teacher at Life High School Waxahachie, recently published a children’s book, “Mermaids are Kind: A Book About the Importance of Kindness.”

She said she wrote it for her 2-year-old daughter, Eleanor.

“At that age, they’re starting to learn how to interact with other people and that they need to treat them kindly or they’re not going to be their friends,” Jasper said. “I couldn’t find any books that I felt were teaching that, so I decided to write one myself.”

Deciding to pair her daughter’s love of mermaids with the message of kindness, Jasper sat down and wrote the entire book in one night.

“This whole book was written in a night,” she said. “Of course, finding the illustrations and editing took longer.”

Throughout the book, mermaids share what they do to be kind to others and how they calm down when they’re mad.

“My husband’s favorite part of the whole book is when it talks about the crab getting overwhelmed and going into his shell to calm down,” Jasper said. “It’s teaching to be a reflective person and taking time to cool down.”

Jasper wanted her book to focus on social and emotional learning. According to the book’s description, it will help children “recognize and control their feelings, set and attain wholesome objectives, have empathy for others and displaying, create and keep a positive relationship, and make ethical choices.”

SEL is something Jasper teaches her students in her class, education and training, where students learn how to be a teacher and how to have a cohesive classroom environment.

“I want to show them (her students) that they can do it too,” Jasper said. “Like if I can do it, you can do it.”

The book also includes a game to find hidden pearls on each page to keep children’s interest when rereading.

Jasper self-published her book through Amazon, editing it herself and illustrating it with CanvaPro. She hopes to write other children’s books one day.

“I’ve always wanted to be an author,” she said. “From the time I could read, I was a reader. I wanted to write and minored in technical writing in college. I love writing, and I’ve got some ideas for books in the future.”

To purchase Jasper’s book on Amazon, visit https://bit.ly/3ZuXXa7.

Originally published January 11, 2023 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/news/local/local-teacher-publishes-children-s-book/article_d67d647a-920a-11ed-98d4-2b35fa7087c3.html