When Lauren Reid was a first grade student at St. Justin School, she wrote a blurb about things she liked to do to make her mother happy as part of a writing assignment. Her mother, Anita Volta, cherished that piece of writing.
“[When I was older], I thought about writing an actual book for Mother’s Day,” says Reid. So she developed her old writing assignment and self-published “How to Make Moms Happy,” a picture book released in February.
The book offers practical tips for making mothers happy with illustrations depicting cultures from around the globe. According to Reid, the book shows a Japanese girl making tea, British children saying “please” and “thank you,” Jamaican children making their mother laugh, a Chinese boy cleaning his room, and Mexican children washing a Chihuahua.
“I’ve always enjoyed other cultures, and I thought it was important to have kids be more aware of other ways of living in other parts of the world,” Reid says. “There are also little hidden flags of different countries added through the book. Kids can search for these flags to help them stay engaged in the book.”
The illustrator of “How to Make Moms Happy” is Diane Lucas. On the book cover, Reid points out the character intended to be her mother is the woman holding hands with the children. Reid is supposed to be the girl with the cupcake on her shirt, and her brother has a basketball on his shirt. On the back page is a family portrait featuring Reid’s father.
Reid recently graduated with honors from Santa Clara University, receiving a Bachelors of Science in Commerce (B.S.C.) with a major in Accounting. She is currently studying for a Certified Public Accountant exam.
