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Sunny day? The book that catches children's feelings using weather

Conor McCannBBC News NI
News imageBBC A schoolgirl with brown hair is smiling at a camera. The schoolgirl is wearing a white shirt with a black and white tie and a grey jumper over her shirt. She is standing in front of a wall with a green border, with different pictures and writing beside each otherBBC
Edith hopes to see the finished drawings and some of her favourite characters

A group of primary school pupils have come together to turn their ideas about feelings and emotions into a book designed to help young people understand their mental health.

The Weather Catcher was co-created by Year Six pupils from Glencraig Integrated Primary School and Holywood Primary school, using weather to help children understand that feelings can change from day to day.

Through a series of workshops organised by Action Mental Health, Illustrator Ellan Rankin guided the children to use colours, shapes and textures to represent their emotions.

The book is being launched on Love Your Library Day which coincides with Book Week NI.

News imageA schoolboy with light brown hair is wearing a white shirt with a black and yellow tie. Over his shirt, the boy is wearing a grey jumper. Behind him is a classroom picture board with a green border around pictures and writing
Rafferty enjoys novels and says taking part in the project had given him an opportunity to explore his interest in storytelling

Eleven-year-old Rafferty said he drew inspiration from colours and elements of nature to convey different feelings.

"I thought of things like the sea, rain and blue objects, because sometimes sadness can be associated with blue and rain."

A keen reader, Rafferty enjoys novels and said taking part in the project had given him an opportunity to explore his interest in storytelling.

"I've always wanted to be an author, but I didn't think I would start this young," he said.

News imageA group of primary school children are standing beside each other side by side. They are wearing a school uniform, each wearing a shirt and a black and yellow tie. Behind them is a school drawing board with pictures and writing behind them
Year Six pupils who helped put the book together

Edith, 10, helped develop the book's message about happiness, and how good weather can influence people's feelings.

"When the weather was really nice and it was sunny, the characters felt really happy," she said.

"It kind of feels a little strange, to be honest, because you would never expect a ten-year-old to draw and find the drawing in a book," she added.

Edith hopes to see the finished drawings and some of her favourite characters, including a storm cloud designed by one of her friends.

News imageA schoolgirl with light hair and glasses is smiling at a camera. The schoolgirl is wearing a white shirt with a black and white tie and a grey jumper over her shirt. She is standing in front of a wall with a green border, with different pictures and writing beside each other. Over her right shoulder is a window with scholl bags hanging up on a wall
Merryn contributed a cloud to the book, using it to represent anger and grumpiness.

Ten-year-old Merryn said reading was both enjoyable and calming and helped her develop her vocabulary.

"Sometimes I walk to the library after school and sometimes, I'll just read books at home," she said.

As part of the project, Merryn used shapes to represent different emotions.

"For anger, I think of squares and then happiness, probably triangles or just shapes, simple shapes like that," she said.

Merryn also contributed a cloud to the book, using it to represent anger and grumpiness. She said she was pleased to see her drawing included in the finished project.

News imageA schoolgirl with blonde hair is smiling at a camera. The schoolgirl is wearing a white shirt with a black and white tie and a grey jumper over her shirt. She is standing in front of a wall with a green border, with different pictures and writing beside eachother
Lizzie said she hoped the book would help young people recognise their own experiences and emotions in its characters

Eleven-year-old Lizzie said she hoped the book would help young people recognise their own experiences and emotions in its characters.

"It's not every day you see a book written by people your age, with topics that you might feel are similar to your life," she said.

Lizzie described seeing the project come together as surreal.

"It's so weird to be saying: 'I did this'", she said.

She added that reading was important for young people, both in everyday life and as a way of developing their English skills.

News imageA schoolboy with brown hair is wearing a white shirt with a black and yellow striped tie. He stands in front of a classroom picture board. Behind him are pictures with a green border around different pictures and writing
Toby said expressing emotions was important, even when it might feel difficult

Eleven-year-old Toby hopes the book will help other young people feel able to express their emotions.

"I think it's a really good book and it's really going to help people," he said.

Toby said expressing emotions was important, even when it might feel difficult.

"They can be quite useful and you should express them, even if you don't think you should," he said.

News imageA woman with ginger hair and round glasses is smiling at a camera. She he wearing a white t-shirt with a purple patterned vest. She has a necklace around her neck with a red strawberry hanging from it. Behind her is an art class room
Ellan Rankin said that she worked with the children over two days by connecting colour and shapes with a range of different emotions

Illustrator Ellan Rankin said that she worked with the children over two days by connecting colour and shapes with a range of different emotions.

"They probably just thought these are just scribbles, but now hopefully that they see it in action, they'll understand what it was that they were doing."

Ellan, taking inspiration from the student's drawings, used photoshop to make a digital collage, bringing everything together and said how important it is for the young people to be involved in the project.

"I think talking about it from a really young age is very important to have it be socially acceptable"

The project came about through the Our Generation Project, which is supported by PeacePlus.

David Babington from Action Mental Health described the project as wonderful.

Speaking about how reading habits have changed, he said he hopes the book will inspire younger readers to move from screens to pages.

"I hope that these children with this book will start to have that habit and start to think about reading more widely, not looking at screens all the time, but sitting down and looking at all the subjects that matter through a book."