Reframing Life's Transitions
Jan Hadwen Hubbell '78 recently published The Boy Who Couldn’t Say Goodbye, a picture book aimed at helping young children better cope with life transitions.
Reports The Sopris Sun:
"Jan Hadwen Hubbell, an acclaimed screenplay writer, long-time local, former English teacher at Colorado Mountain College and now published children’s book author, is excited to have her newest story, “The Boy Who Couldn’t Say Goodbye,” available to children not only in the Roaring Fork Valley, but internationally as well. Her book tells the story of a young boy named Henry who struggles with transitions in his life. Throughout the story, he develops new skills and vocabulary to find acceptance and make life’s moments of change easier.
"Hubbell shared how her background in poetry influenced her writing process for this book, which aims to convey big messages in few words and features an easy-to-follow plot, catering to the children between the ages of 2 and 8.
“'[Poetry] informed the writing of this book,' Hubbell shared, 'which is pretty interesting because you don’t have a lot of words to get across to the child the story, the plot and the characters. It’s not just about the plot, but it’s about creating a character and his emotions. Particularly with [Henry], he has trouble controlling his emotions when he has to transition from one activity to another, which is a prevalent theme with children.'”