Amid the frenzy for passion projects and extracurriculars at Portola High, one student’s creative vision stood out. Senior Hannah Rhim recently combined her passion for illustration and mental health advocacy into a children’s book about overthinking.
For Rhim, authoring a children’s book was a way to bridge her love for digital drawing with her interest in psychology.
“I wanted to find a way to incorporate what I loved and what I wanted to do in the future, and that was a children’s book for me,” Rhim said.
However, coming up with the right idea was not easy at first. Rhim initially wanted to write an informative book on blood cells, but decided it was too complicated to incorporate into a children’s book. That is when she considered things from a child’s perspective.
“So, I turned to the mental health aspect, because I took psychology a year before, and I’m interested in it. A natural way to introduce mental health is taking care of yourself, so I decided to write about anxiety and overthinking,” Rhim said.
Rhim’s book, “Billy the Bunny and the Big Big Worry,” is about a bunny who is anxious about ruining his friend’s surprise birthday party. After the surprise party is a success, Billy the bunny realizes that overthinking is ineffective and that instead he should trust his friends.
After deciding on the book’s concept, Rhim’s love for drawing made the rest of the process easier. To appeal to younger kids, she focused on writing simpler sentences with rhythm and rhyme. Alexandra Carino, Rhim’s Honors English teacher for her junior year and AP English Literature and Composition teacher for her senior year, has seen Rhim’s creativity and style of writing evolve.
“It has been really great to watch Hannah grow as a writer, and I think she’s really dedicated to the details,” Carino said. “She’s good at capturing the big picture, as well as specific nuances of craft, and I’ve seen that get stronger and more thoughtful over the years.”
After publishing “Billy the Bunny and the Big Big Worry,” in September, Rhim reflects that her initial assumptions on writing a book were not true.
“It is more simple than you think it is,” Rhim said. “I thought it was going to be a complex process due to the amount of writing and drawing involved, but if you finish the critical step of mapping out the story, it is actually not that hard.”
She encourages any students who are thinking about or currently writing a book to keep going, as it is a very satisfying process. Additionally, Carino has advice to give to any aspiring student writers.
“You’ve got to start writing,” Carino said. “That is usually the scariest thing, as self doubt can make it difficult to either begin or continue and see it through. There are so many teachers on campus, myself included, who would be happy to help, but I think starting with something on the page is what is the most important first step.”
