St. Rose native and first-time author Tayla M. Young recently presented and read aloud her new children’s book to elementary-aged children on Oct. 3 at her former primary school, St. Rose Elementary School.
Young’s self-published book called ‘That’s a Great Question,’ is aimed at elementary-aged children, designed to help encourage younger children to become more curious about the world around them. The book was illustrated by international artist Bulankina Ka, who previously illustrated 10 other children’s books published in various markets around the world.
In ‘That’s a Great Question,’ the main character, a young school-age girl named Zari, goes through a child’s day of playing and pondering, asking lots of questions about different scenarios she comes across as she goes about her day.
“My inspiration [for the book] stemmed from my own desire to really promote curiosity,” Young said. “I was a child that asked five million questions and probably overwhelmed everyone, but it’s how I learned- so I wanted to create a book that really championed the power of curiosity and empowered other kids to kind of continue to stay curious, ask questions and never stop pursuing knowledge.”
As a product of the St. Charles Parish Public School system, Young attended St. Rose Primary School as a young child. Now a Tulane graduate and marketing professional, Young arrived at St. Rose Elementary in early October for her book reading and was thrilled to find familiar faces of several dedicated educators still teaching at the school, many years after her time as a student there.
Though her former school is now in a newer facility with a slightly different name, known now as St. Rose Elementary School, Young said her trip back to her childhood school to read her new book to students made for a rewarding experience.
“It was really a full circle moment to come back,” Young said of her recent book reading at St. Rose Elementary School. “[The pre-K and kindergarten students] were very attentive; they were eager to ask questions, and they were thrilled by the illustrations.”
At the book reading, one young St. Rose Elementary student in particular, Young recalled, thanked the author for sharing the book, and commented to Young that she could relate to the main character of the book, Zari, a character Young created based off the author’s own younger self.
“It was really inspiring and motivating to me to keep going,” Young said. “[Telling myself afterwards] ‘OK, we can do another book after this’ – it was rewarding.”
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