YORKTON - Yorkton’s Taylor Sawchyn has recently released her second book.
Like her first book; Get Down, Sawchyn’s latest effort Let It Out is targeted at a youth audience.
“I wrote Let It Out! for young children to begin to understand that having emotions is a healthy and normal part of life,” said the author who grew up at Wadena but now resides in Yorkton. “When we help our children learn the purpose behind the big feelings it will set them up to be emotionally and mentally healthy into their teenage years and adulthood.”
Sawchyn said her latest book certainly follows in a similar vein to Get Down which was published in 2021.
“It's not necessarily a sequel but the educational value behind it for young children remains the same in both books,” she told Yorkton This Week. “I did try writing it in a similar format and pattern as my first book.”
The idea for the new book came from her own experience watching her own children.
“The idea came from seeing big emotions in my own children and wanting to teach them its okay to have those feelings,” said Sawchyn. “By simply beginning to name the range of emotions that are felt throughout the day, children will begin to learn how to better self regulate at times of stress.
“Children will learn to recognize what they are feeling, name the emotion and be more willing to talk to a trusted adult about it as they develop and grow older.
“This will create more trusting relationships between child and caregiver, increase self confidence, and create coping skills for each emotion that will last a lifetime.”
Sawchyn’s family are her inspiration here too.
“My boys, I want them to understand that big boys do cry sometimes and that is okay and acceptable,” she said. “It's healthy to let those feelings out, hence the title of the book, Let It Out.
It is a book the author said she feels is timely.
“Emotional regulation, mental health and feelings are a big topic in the social world right now,” offered Sawchyn. “Many of us with kids right now are recognizing that emotions and emotional regulation was not a common topic when growing up. It's an era of growth and learning.”
So, did it get easier writing her second book?
Actually no, said Sawchyn.
“My first book was effortlessly written. This book start to finish took a lot longer, between waiting for the words to flow nicely and the message be obvious,” she said.
That said she had a goal in mind with her latest effort – to make it easily relatable to children.
Sawchyn said in her mind the best element of the book is “that it is easy for young kids to understand the message.”
Sawchyn said she feels the book will have its appeal because of its colourful pictures, and because it is an easy, fun and short read, as well as “a great educational piece for educators of young children and adults with children.”
The book is available via the Pegasus Publishing website, Amazon, and through the author on her ‘ Get Down by Taylor Sawchyn Facebook page.
