People + Places
Detroit Artist and Mom of Three Collaborate with Kids on Children’s Book, ‘Where Did I Come From?’
January 3, 2018·By BLAC Editorial
Halima Cassells teamed up with her three daughters for a 34-page book that aims to answer the question that every child asks at some point, “Where did I come from?”
January 3, 2018
There are many things you can tell children about where they came from. But do you ever wonder how your kids might explain it?
Halima Cassells, a Detroit artist and mom of three, did. And her young daughters' answers inspired a 34-page children's book, Where Did I Come From? It teems with colorful collage art and offers open-ended explanations.
"I wanted to find a way that my children could make some art that's meaningful together," says Cassells, whose daughters are Nele, 13, Nia-Rah, 6, and Nzinga, 4 months. I'm a firm believer that we come with a lot of wisdom encoded in us. Listening to the wisdom of babies and children is something we practice."
Her partner Bryce Detroit, an emcee, even produced a companion soundscape with Nia-Rah to go along with it.
"My hope is that parents and kids will really have more questions and have a deeper understanding that we embody everything and we are limitless and we are connected," Cassells says. "I want kids to know that they are heard."
Where Did I Come From? is available at Free Little Libraries in Detroit, on Amazon and for $11 at Detroit's KAN Books. Soundscape is $2 on detroitrecordings.com.
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