Arts & Entertainment
New Book Helps Children Find Their ‘Superpowers’
S. Renee Mitchell hopes
her new children’s book
will empower kids to find
their voices
tired of being bullied, she finds her voice
and becomes a “supergyrl”.
“Not a ‘supergyrl’ in the sense that she
can fly or walk through walls but super
from a strength based perspective,” says
Mitchell. “The things that I have inside of
By Bruce Poinsette
Of The Skanner News
S. Renee Mitchell hopes to boost chil-
dren’s self-esteem with her new children’s
book “The Awakening of Sharyn: A Shy and
Brown Supergyrl”.
“The book is about finding your voice,”
says Mitchell. “If they’re going into the 1st
or 2nd grade not feeling like they have that
confidence, they don’t really have what it
takes sometimes to do the work because
they already assume they aren’t worthy.”
The book, written and illustrated by
Mitchell, includes a parent workbook that
attaches artwork with discussions on con-
cepts like teacher bias, facing your fears and
birth order. She says the book is more than
just a “cute story”. It offers the opportunity
for parents to have conversations with their
kids, as well as increase children’s literacy.
Mitchell’s story focuses on a brown girl,
Sharyn, who goes to school with mostly
white kids who assume she’s not as smart
because of the color of her skin. Sharyn
feels invisible because other kids see her
skin and her hair but don’t see her as a per-
son beyond the stereotypes. Once she gets
me right now that I exhibit like kindness,
courtesy, compassion and sense of humor,
all of those are superpowers we should cel-
ebrate in kids. It lets them know they can do
something really great right now.”
The idea for the book came about when
Mitchell was working with first graders at
King School. She was doing
a name exercise where she
would have students attach
a positive adjective to their
names (i.e. Brave Brian or
Smart Susan). Mitchell says
she was giving children sug-
gestions but some couldn’t
connect because they were
so shy.
She went home heartbro-
ken and decided she wanted
to do something. The result
was a children’s book.
Mitchell says she can
relate to Sharyn because she
Information is
Today’s Currency
was a shy girl too.
“I was shy to the
point that if you
looked at me too
long I’d start cry-
ing,” she says. “At
the same time I felt
invisible.
People
would overlook me
unless they wanted
someone to tease.”
Writing the book
was personally heal-
ing, says Mitchell. In
addition to the per-
sonal nature of the
story, it is also the
first thing she has
illustrated as an
adult.
Although she used
to draw when she
was younger, she
says it was more of
her brother’s interest.
Whatever
made
drawing exciting to
her was lost.
“We’ve lost touch
with
our
‘yay’
moments as adults,”
says Mitchell. “I
always assumed I couldn’t draw. I lost that
‘yay’ and found it again with this project.”
In her efforts to empower kids, Mitchell
has made paraphernalia to accompany her
book, including buttons, earrings and
affirming cards that say things like, “Sharyn
says: Courage is my new bff”.
She is also in the process of recording the
book for pre-readers.
Mitchell hopes to bring a superhero awak-
ening ceremony to Kwanzaa celebrations
this year. During the ceremony, kids are
provided capes and masks and asked to
select a superpower. Once they’ve done
that, they perform a ritual where they pose
in a way that fits with their superpower and
the adults gather around them to sing super-
hero songs.
Mitchell originally performed the cere-
mony to coincide with the release of anoth-
er book (which is now out of print) that
encouraged kids to find their superpowers.
She says parents would tell her that their
kids would go to sleep in their capes and
masks because they enjoyed the ritual so
much.
Although she hopes to empower Black
and Brown children in particular, Mitchell
says the universal message can appeal to
everyone.
“Even though it’s a children’s book I think
it has a lot of relevance for adult women,”
she says. “It talks about facing your fear.
Fear is something we all have at any age.”
“The Awakening of Sharyn: A Shy and
Brown
Supergyrl”
is
available
www.reneemitchellspeaks.org. The book
will also be available at the Kwanzaa 2012
celebration starting Dec. 26 at Matt Dish-
man Community Center at 6:00 p.m.
At home or on the go, rely on
The Skanner News for expert insight
and guidance on what’s important to you
December 19, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 6