The Belizean author of "Quiet Moments Rejuvenate The Soul: Reflections of a Belizean Woman" is trying her hand at writing a children's book. And she's doing so in collaboration with a real expert: her granddaughter. The Book which doubles as a coloring book was launched yesterday at the Leo Bradley Library. Jomarie Lanza was there:
A is for Anansi and B is for the Blue Hole. That's how Flora Anderson-Chestnut taught her grandkids several years ago, putting a unique twist to the Alphabet, Belizean style, in an attempt to educate them more about their culture and Heritage. The idea first came to her while browsing in a bookstore on a visit to Belize and noticing the lack of Belizean literature for little ones that would break down the basics. There were no ABC's for Belize, and that was all it took for Anderson to create her own, which was launched yesterday at the National Library.
Flora Anderson-Chestnut, Author
"I wanted to put this together in order to because i came home in 2004 I went to the bookstore to find books from A to Z to teach my grandkids at that time about Belize but there weren't any. So I took some paper and folded it up and I wrote from A to Z and I went around my country and found everything from A to Z about Belize but I wanted to teach them about it. My Grandson was 11 at the time and Dionesha was 6. I took all this time, went back to school and life happened and I kept on working at it and when she went to school to finish up in 2021 she took a drawing class and all that so I told her I would like for you to do the cover right. And when she did the cover I said okay you did a wonderful job so i'm going to give you the entire book to redo."
Anderson thought that the book would be a fun way for Belizeans living abroad to teach their children more about some of the cultural and historical symbols of importance, while living and growing up in Belize. She incorporated her granddaughter, Dionesha Bailey's drawings into the book, and eventually got the idea to turn it into a coloring book.
Dionesha Bailey, Illustrator
"So some of the illustrations they all include folklore about Belize, the major animals and tour sites. So I am from The United States so I was thinking about how when I was growing up my mom and grandmother she really enforced making sure I stick and hold onto Belizean culture and making sure that I am
still carrying it on so I was like Hey when she asked me to do the book I can even spread knowledge about it here in the states cause not everybody knows about it so its a really good thing to keep it going even if its a children's book. My passion is for children and adults keeping your mental health safe, your spirit good and coloring is a really good way to do that so oh it goes hand in hand which is really amazing so that is one of the ways that really helped me to put my dream into real life. So it's really amazing how I was offered this opportunity and now I can do my dream."
ABC's Around Belize can be purchased at Brodies for $25.
