Students in Northern Ireland co-create Mental Health book
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Primary school students from Glencraig Integrated Primary School and Holywood Primary school in Northern Ireland collaborated to create “The Weather Catcher”, a book designed to help young people understand and express their feelings.
Action Mental Health organised workshops where Illustrator Ellan Rankin guided the students to represent emotions using colours, shapes, and textures, drawing connections between weather and inner states.
Eleven-year-old Rafferty used natural elements like the sea and rain to depict sadness, while ten-year-old Edith focused on how sunshine can represent happiness. The students contributed their own drawings and ideas to the book, with many expressing surprise and pride at seeing their work included in the finished product. They also discussed the importance of reading for enjoyment, vocabulary development, and emotional wellbeing. Eleven-year-old Lizzie hopes the book will resonate with other young people by mirroring their experiences.
The project, supported by PeacePlus through the Our Generation Project, aimed to encourage young people to openly discuss their feelings. David Babington of Action Mental Health hopes the book will inspire children to choose reading over screen time and develop a lifelong habit of engaging with books. “The Weather Catcher” will launch on Love Your Library Day, coinciding with Book Week NI.
