Life is a canvas: Throw plenty of paint at it
Print Edition
Life is a great big canvas and you should throw on all the paint you can. That鈥檚 what 11-year-old Katie realizes after her mother passed away on her 10th birthday. I don鈥檛 think the story is about a mom giving her daughter an empty box as a birthday present. 鈥淏irthday Box鈥 by Jane Yolen is really about doing as much as you can with your life.
Katie receives gifts from nurses, doctors and, last of all, from her mother. Katie gets wonderful presents but the present that puzzles her most is the one from her mother. When she received the present, her mother forces two words out of her mouth. 鈥淚t鈥檚 you,鈥 she says. Katie is a little confused, but when she opens the box she is even more puzzled. There is nothing inside. Her mother dies soon after.
Later in the text, 11-year-old Katie wakes up thinking about her mother鈥檚 words: 鈥淚t鈥檚 you.鈥 Why had she made those two words before her last breath? Suddenly, it hit her. Her mother had meant she was the box and she must fill it up.
This is the most important message: Do something with your life. Katie shows this by writing her stories and filling the box with them. Learn from Katie. Stop staring at the wall and go outside and play a sport, learn a language, or do what Katie did: write a story. When I was in after school activities (ASA), I was sitting down looking at positive quotes for a poster. Suddenly, I saw a quote that said: 鈥淟ife is a great big canvas and you should throw on all the paint you can.鈥
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