Finding Your Stars: Q&A with MJ alumni Carolyn Morris, children’s author

When Carolyn Morris was a TMU Masters of Journalism student, she recalls learning how to distill complex ideas into simple storytelling. That process helped Morris, MJ ‘09, when she was writing Finding Your Stars (external link) , a children’s book released late last year. The book, illustrated by Lena Lee, teaches children how to regulate their emotions and value their stars -- their gifts and talents -- while dealing with their clouds -- their fears and worries. 

What inspired you to write a children's book specifically?

“I felt like I was so unprepared as a parent… You're thrown all these parenting books, they're thick and full of words that I don't have time to read. Then you're pulled every second with the baby demands and then you are trying to make any space for yourself. You don't want to go and read a parenting book. I felt like it was crunch time for me where I had no time to read and I needed so much information. On the other hand, I had children's books on repeat because something we did a lot with the kids was read them picture books… Instead of talking about toys and trucks, why not put what's in the parenting book in there?”

What challenges did you have while trying to articulate this message?

I wrote it to try to help my younger self and just as a reminder for the importance of tapping into our stars… I was originally writing it to make the case for positivity, and when I worked with the illustrator, Lena Lee, she has a background as a psychotherapist. When she was building the characters, the illustrations brought that alive and… it was more focused on tuning into your clouds and letting them be and that mindfulness piece. During the process of writing the book, I actually realized the value of tuning into my own clouds as well.

Are there any transferable skills from your TMU masters of journalism that you found you were using while writing this book?

For sure. I'd write stories about making the complex simple, relatable and understandable and I feel like it's definitely transferable. I'm doing the same thing… If we can talk through metaphor, and you end up getting to sort of a deeper truth, you're able to distill it to a simple message or a simple story.

What are you hoping that both kids and their parents take away from this?

Recognizing that as we're challenged in so many ways, we all really have gifts. We all have these great gifts to either give to the world or give to each other or to enjoy ourselves. When it comes to embracing our clouds, they're not something to either push away or to ignore, but also not to make them take up too much space.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.