The Moral to the Story by Krissy Regan The Wellness Poet
Does Your life story have a moral?
As a child I remember clearly being asked, “What was the moral of the story?”
As I’ve got older, I see less books with morals and more books with malaise.
If I see another book with the word Poo on the cover I might throw up. I’m so bored of children’s books putting commercialism before meaningful content.
I’m a parent of young kids and the author of three children’s books. I’ve read my books to children all over North Queensland in the past few years and what is special about this is I get feedback and immediate reactions to my work. Kids are honest. My books are aimed at 4-12yrs old. I’ve had feedback from boys who are 12-years-old who gave me very specific examples of why they like my books, and I’ve had feedback from girls as young as three, who understand my stories and want to talk about them.
Connecting with children through stories is important to me. I grew up on a cattle station and in the evening after dinner storytelling would start around the table or the fire. TV, iPads and Netflix were not in my childhood but the connection with words to express yourself was something I learned from a young age. I used to make up stories and poems on my swings as a little girl and dream up ideas while I was riding my horse. I was completely connected to the world around me.
In hindsight, and as a mum I realise that children learn and shape their experiences of the world through tactile encounters as well as language. My eldest child learns best through rhythm and movement. Poetry is rhythm, and can convey movement, growth, changes, and knowledge.
I’m known as the Wellness Poet, and that started when I penned poems to improve my own wellbeing. I could express my deepest thoughts, feelings, and frustrations through poetry that I struggled to articulate verbally. I read my poems to my therapist who was very encouraging, and I started to publish my poems. I’ve published more than 50 poems in the past few years, including poems for children.
My second children’s book started as a poem for a children’s horse magazine, and we turned that into a book, working alongside two Townsville water colour artists. This book depicts life growing up with my horse Bobby. From Bobby I learned that love comes from animals as well as your family. I learned to trust him when he let me know there was danger. I looked after him and he looked after me and I was never afraid when I was with Bobby. I would ride him alone bare-back for many hours. Much like Lucky from the hit show on Netflix.
The moral to my books is, self-acceptance, self-love, trusting your instincts, following your heart, and overcoming significant events in our life. These are the stories I want to share with future generations as well as my own children.
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