My focus for the second half of my story book class was a story about self confidence, something I feel is extremely important to develop in children at a very young age.
There's so many different ideas of what's beautiful and acceptable and what isn't, and it's very hard (or, it's always been hard for me at least) to accept yourself just the way you are, and not up to certain "standards" that society is general holds.
In this story, (written & illustrated by me!) the stuffed animal- cat, Dulcie, sees a brand new toy advertised on television while his best friend- owner is at school for the day. He wants to be shiny & new & fancy like the toy the children fawn over on tv, and paints himself to look like it. When the girl comes home, she's upset that her favorite play thing is missing, and she doesn't like the new toy. Dulcie realizes that it's best to be yourself, and not to change who you are just to fit in. This was a lot of fun to paint because I got to do pretty much whatever I wanted, and I used watercolor and gauche for the whole project! Some of my favorite mediums. :)
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