Life is a canvas: Throw plenty of paint at it
LIFE is a great big canvas and you should throw on all the paint you can. That’s what 11-year-old Katie realizes after her mother passed away on her 10th birthday. I don’t think the story is about a mom giving her daughter an empty box as a birthday present. “Birthday Box” by Jane Yolen is really about doing as much as you can with your life.
Katie receives gifts from nurses, doctors and, last of all, from her mother. Katie gets wonderful presents but the present that puzzles her most is the one from her mother. When she received the present, her mother forces two words out of her mouth. “It’s you,” she says. Katie is a little confused, but when she opens the box she is even more puzzled. There is nothing inside. Her mother dies soon after.
Later in the text, 11-year-old Katie wakes up thinking about her mother’s words: “It’s you.” Why had she made those two words before her last breath? Suddenly, it hit her. Her mother had meant she was the box and she must fill it up.
This is the most important message: Do something with your life. Katie shows this by writing her stories and filling the box with them. Learn from Katie. Stop staring at the wall and go outside and play a sport, learn a language, or do what Katie did: write a story. When I was in after school activities (ASA), I was sitting down looking at positive quotes for a poster. Suddenly, I saw a quote that said: “Life is a great big canvas and you should throw on all the paint you can.”