It's 2023, and hard to believe two years
have passed since our new edition of
‘The Watermelon Shield’
was released!
Our book was originally
self-published in 2017, and the new edition
story remains the same.
The changes that you will see in the new edition reflect
Finn's new name, gender neutral illustrations, and correct pronouns.
Our original goals in creating our book were-
1) To help children understand bullying and why it happens.
2) To share our idea of using an 'imaginary watermelon shield' to
help children cope with bullying behaviours, and protect them from absorbing unkindness.
Now our book has a couple more very important goals:
Always be your authentic self and
always be proud of who you are!
How 'The Watermelon Shield' book came to be!
When Finn was six years old, they encountered bullying by other children at school. Finn didn't understand why this was happening, and started to feel that something was wrong with them. They didn't want to go to school anymore. Their mom Rose, was worried & offered Finn ideas on how to cope at school. These suggestions didn't work for Finn, and they became very discouraged. One morning, while making Finn’s lunch, their mom thought of a great idea- a visual tool that Finn could use to help them at school. Finn’s mom shared the idea of using an imaginary 'Watermelon Shield' as a way to protect their heart and mind from unkind words and actions of those who are bullying, and visualize the unkind words or behaviours going back to the person who is bullying. Their mom wanted Finn to understand that those unkind words and actions are simply a reflection of how the bully feels inside- and to always remember that when others are unkind it has nothing to do with their target. Since visual learning is one of the top ways children grasp new ideas, their mom felt this would be a great way for Finn to use an image to help them establish boundaries. When Rose shared her idea, Finn immediately understood! They were very excited about using 'The Watermelon Shield' at school! Sure enough, it worked wonders! Finn let the unkind words and actions bounce off of their shield, and go right back to the bully! And most importantly, they returned to the confident and happy child they were before! Two years later, in the summer of 2014, when Finn was 8 years old, they asked their mom if they could make and write a book about 'The Watermelon Shield'. Finn wanted to help others develop an understanding of bullying & share their coping strategy.
Let's give the bully back their unkind
words and actions-
and remember those negative things
belong to them!
Keep on being your AWESOME and AMAZING self!
