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Marisa Taylor lives in London, UK with her husband and two daughters. They are a mixed Jamaican, Canadian & German family. Since becoming a Mom, Marisa noticed how difficult it was to find books that represent her children & her friends and therefore she made it her mission to help change this. It was important for her to play a part in teaching kids from early on that self-love and diversity is beautiful. Hence how her first book ´Happy within´ came about and has been translated into +16 different languages. The idea behind the bilingual books is to create diverse resources that help encourage children to learn a second language, while celebrating multiculturalism.
Reviewed by Philip Van Heusen for Readers' Favorite
Happy Within by Marisa J. Taylor is a fantastic little book that will help all children learn to appreciate themselves. Marisa makes this book even more unique by having the text in both English and Spanish. As a bi-lingual book, Happy Within / Feliz por Dentro teaches children that diversity is good. The words of affirmation found in this book will help build a child’s self-image and self-esteem. While reading this book, the child will enjoy the pictures of children like them as well as those who are quite different. They will learn to appreciate others who are like them as well as those who are different. They will see those with different colored skin as well as children like them. This book will help unite the diverse cultures a child encounters.
Marisa J. Taylor seeks unity. She has authored Happy Within to bring children of all cultures, colors, nationalities, languages, and physical abilities together. She made a wise choice in choosing Vanessa Belleza to be her illustrator. Vanessa did an excellent job of illustrating Happy Within with pictures that are both colorful and engaging. The illustrations boost the text. This is a delightful book for parents to read with their children while encouraging them to read both languages. It is a great introduction to either English or Spanish as the child is learning to accept differences. Diversity is real and needs to be embraced. Reading this book will enhance children’s acceptance of themselves as well as any differences they may have.
