Some of the most popular children’s books teach lessons on colors, sharing and numbers. But what if they also offered lessons on more adult topics like strategic thinking and mindfulness?
Linda Ryden — a peace teacher at Lafayette Elementary School in Northwest DC and founder of Peace of Mind, a nonprofit dedicated to integrating mindfulness teaching into elementary schools — believes books should do exactly that.
“One of my inspirations was Colman McCarthy,” Ryden said of the former newspaper columnist, high school teacher and college professor. “When he retired from The Washington Post, he was asked to teach a class on writing, and he responded, ‘I’d rather teach peace’ — and when I heard him talk about it, I thought I want to do that for elementary school.”
Ryden indeed followed suit — and not just in the classroom. Like McCarthy, she used her experiences “teaching peace” as fodder for a book. Her latest — Tyaja Uses the THiNK Test, published on Aug. 13 — explores the power of words.
“This is based on a lesson taught in my classes to get kids to think before they speak,” said Ryden, who leads a once-a-week class on mindfulness, kindness and conflict resolution for the various grades at Lafayette.
Ryden based the THiNK test on a quote from the late radio host Bernard Meltzer: “Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful.” Each letter stands for a different part of the process Ryden encourages children to go through before responding in a situation. “T” stands for true, “H” stands for helpful, “N” stands for necessary and “K” stands for kind. The lowercase “I” is added so that the word becomes “think” and resonates more easily with children. As Ryden says, “There’s no right or wrong, but they are thinking on their own.”
Tilbury House Publishers has published a series of books from Ryden that all focus on different mindfulness techniques — Tyaja Uses the THiNK Test is the third. Henry Is Kind, the first in the series, came out in 2018 and is about exploring one’s capacity for kindness. Sergio Sees the Good, released in February as the second in the series, is about learning to let go of negativity and embrace the positives each day has to offer.
“In each of the three, Linda comes up with a great premise for how kids learn a lesson,” said Tilbury House co-publisher Jonathan Eaton. “And these are all things she’s tested in the classroom.”
Eaton said he and Tristram Coburn, his co-publisher, redirected the focus of Tilbury House soon after purchasing the Thomaston, Maine-based publisher in 2013.
“We started focusing more on message-driven children’s books,” Eaton said.
One of the underlying lessons in Ryden’s books is an appreciation for diversity.
“All the kids and adults in my books are based off of real kids and adults in my school,” Ryden said. “I want to be sure that the kids are represented because a lot of books that feature children of color are about slavery or civil rights, and I’m like, ‘Why can’t they just be regular kids?’”
Showing regular children who show “compassion toward others that may be different from them” was important to Tyaja Uses the THiNK Test illustrator Shearry Malone as well.
“I think this book is particularly important because building character at a young age and reading stories about thinking before you speak are important,” Malone said.
Seeing their own faces reflected in classroom books is extremely valuable to interpersonal development, according to clinical social worker Sophia Carre, one of Ryden’s colleagues at Lafayette in Chevy Chase.
“I think whenever kids can look at books and see themselves in some form or fashion it has a much bigger impact,” Carre said.
Carre said the books have been immensely helpful when she’s dealing with children with particular challenges.
“For students with mental health or behavioral issues, this really helps for them to look and see, ‘Oh yeah, I do know this person and she is kind.’”
As Ryden prepared for the start of the school year, she was particularly looking forward to seeing the reaction of the real-life 10-year-old Tyaja, the inspiration for the book’s protagonist.
“I have 700 students and they all ask if they are in my book,” Ryden laughed. “But Tyaja knew she would be in it and was thrilled.”
Tyaja Uses the THiNK Test, aimed at ages 5 through 10, can be purchased on Amazon and other booksellers with a list price of $16.95. You can find out more about the curriculum Ryden developed on the Peace of Mind website.
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