Lower School students were delighted to welcome artist and author Jessica Hische to MICDS. Hische is a lettering artist, bestselling author, and entrepreneur based in Oakland, California. In partnership with the local bookstore, the Novel Neighbor, Lower School Librarian Thomas Buffington helped facilitate this exciting visit to introduce Hische and her new book, Tomorrow I’ll Be Happy.
Tomorrow I’ll Be Happy intentionally fits into the Lower School’s theme of A.C.R.E.S. – “Always Growing: Tend Your Acre To Grow Your Best Self.” The theme contains five core competencies from the Lower School’s Fly Five social-emotional curriculum: Assertiveness, Cooperation, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control. Building these competencies doesn’t come without emotional struggle, and Hische’s lighthearted approach to emotions and their transient states offers a new perspective.
Buffington introduced Hische to the Lower School community, and she kicked off the assembly by sharing that, as a young child, she always knew she wanted to be an artist. “I loved drawing letters. I liked it when people told me what to draw. I’m a commercial artist, and it’s just one way of how you can be an artist.” She has always loved drawing and said it made her feel calm and brought her joy. She didn’t miss the opportunity to encourage students to follow those feelings, since they often shape what you want to do or be when you grow up.
Then Hische shared how she creates her whimsical, expressive lettering. “Once you know the shape of the letter, they can look like anything – a tree, a dinosaur, a dog – but just with the same structure.” She also noted, “I’ve drawn a lot of fancy letters in my life. And I like children’s books, but not a lot of them have fancy letters.” Fun fact: When someone wants her book in another language, she has to redraw the entire book because of the letters. “It’s hard, but I want and like to do it,” she said.
Her first book, Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave, came out after the birth of her first child, Ramona. “Ramona is a perfectionist and often wants to throw out the whole book vs. just one page. She wanted to do big things but struggled when she messed up. Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave is about stepping up and trying.”
Another book, Tomorrow I’ll Be Kind, is based on the questions, “How do I take the bravery energy and help other people? How do we do hard and important things without them feeling scary?”
Hische also described her own childhood. “I was a shy and anxious child, and my mom didn’t see it because I was ‘so nice and friendly.’ We have all these big outward feelings, and sometimes they can be contagious. Other big feelings live inside our bodies and are just as important. All of our feelings make us who we are. Bad feelings do happen, but they’re like a wave and aren’t always something we should try to fix right away. Sometimes it’s like having a cold; it takes time for it to fade, and you do what you need to do to support yourself.”
She then read her new book Tomorrow I’ll Be Happy to students. This hopeful, colorfully illustrated, and forward-looking story recognizes that not every day is filled with positive emotions. It acknowledges big feelings and invites the reader to sit with and process their own thorny emotions. It also encourages kids to remember how tomorrow offers a fresh start and new possibilities. Beyond the story, each emotion on the page is skillfully and creatively lettered to viscerally “show” the emotion.
“Tomorrow I’ll feel better, and I really do believe that all these feelings, ups and downs, are what help make me…me!”
Hische surprised the audience with a drawing demonstration. Taking requests from the crowd, she drew an E for elephant: a soft, round letter with a trunk at the top, toes on the bottom two arms of the E, a tail, one eye, ears, and, of course, a smile. She did the same with T for tiger, S for skyscraper, and Z for zebra, adding foreground and background details and transforming standard letters into playful, movable art.
A final Q&A revealed three important aspects of art: learn to see and notice things in the world; work on your hand skills because your eyes can be way ahead of your hands; and build knowledge and memory of different skills. “It takes a lot of practice. If you love art, the practice is never work; it’s all fun.”
Buffington said, “Jessica Hische gave an awesome presentation to our Lower School audience! She spoke from the heart about life as an author and artist, and clearly expressed her passion for arts and literacy, which has driven her career. A favorite moment was her art demonstration in action, where she created art out of alphabet letters our students use every day. The kids enjoyed the demonstration, which helped them to understand Hische’s niche of blending art and writing. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback, with some teachers saying this was the best author visit yet! We are super grateful to provide these opportunities to our students and teachers!”
As an extra surprise back in their classrooms, Beasley students received their own copy of Hische’s new book to take home and read with their families! Thank you, Ms. Hische, for sharing your art and creativity with our Lower School community!