{"id":248277,"date":"2026-07-31T14:39:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=248277"},"modified":"2026-07-31T14:39:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:09:40","slug":"encouraging-children-to-find-themselves-through-creativity-the-girl-with-the-talking-flower-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/encouraging-children-to-find-themselves-through-creativity-the-girl-with-the-talking-flower-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"Encouraging Children To Find Themselves Through Creativity: The Girl With The Talking Flower Crown"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gayanga Dissanayaka<\/a> –<\/b><\/p>\n

Archana Mendis grew up reading a lot of children\u2019s books from Roald Dahl to Tolkien which is the kind of fictional setting she grew up with. Being in love with all those stories and believing in that magic is the childhood she remembers. Still to this day, Archana nurtures that child in her by revisiting these stories that she used to read and listen to when she was a kid. She has never really lost touch with that side of her life. Therefore, her background definitely comes from a very whimsical, magical place which cascaded down into her wanting to publish her own book as well. More than publishing a book per say, it was about creating more stories. “I remember even when I was small, me and my two brothers would create comic strips and make our own little comic books,” Archana reminisced. These stories and pathways were kind of like an escape for us as well. So they stayed with us. As we also grew older and got a bit more mature in our thinking, we still always nurtured that childlike wonder.” Today she is also a children’s author of her maiden book, “The Girl with the Talking Flower Crown” published by The Jam Fruit Tree Publications.\"\"<\/p>\n

The reason why Archana is interested in children\u2019s literature is because those are the kind of stories that she still looks up to and finds a lot of comfort in. More than appealing to a much more mature audience, she always felt that the wavelength of being a five-year-old or a six-year-old is easy. “It\u2019s easier for me to get down to their level and create and do my storytelling,” the author said. Creating stories like this is how as a responsible adult, she realised how important it is for the kids and the next generation to have these stories to look up to, simply because it cannot be a dying art. As an IT professional herself, Archana believes that we should not let go of creativity despite the advancements in technology. She believes we should always think out loud and go crazy with creating art. Whether it’s through poetry, storytelling, recitals, dance, art, music, you name it, none of these should be lost art. “I think it should be encouraged in the next generation of kids as well to actually find your creative outlet. I think my interests are a lot deeper now in children\u2019s literature than it was before while going through this journey of publishing my own children\u2019s book,” mentioned Archana.<\/p>\n

“This book in particular has a little bit of me and my family in certain characters,” the author noted. “The relationship between the mother and the daughter is very similar to what I have with my own mum. I\u2019m very close to my mother and I\u2019m proud to say I\u2019m a mother\u2019s girl. It came from a place where it felt like home to me and I could relate to the main character a lot more and how my mum always despite everything would always tell me to be myself. She would never really compare me with anybody else.” Archana shared how this gave her a lot of freedom and power in just being herself and finding her own authentic self. She never saw that kind of freedom in her friends, peers or colleagues. So she recalls having that distinctive approach in life from a young age as simply amazing. “Hats off to my mum for actually giving me that courage. The motivation behind writing such a story goes back to my childhood, how I grew up and the experiences that I collected along the way.”<\/p>\n

Archana believes she lives in this world of art, colour, rainbows, and fairies. Her friends also tell her that she’s always dreaming away. But she’s never in touch with reality as well. “I guess when you are kind of set in a certain world of whimsy and magic, it just happens,” explained Archana. “You find some positive aspects or some sunshine in everyday life. That\u2019s how all of these ideas come from. It\u2019s not like a set process where I just completely shut down and think.” To get all of the characters in place was very easy for the author. She has always liked how Roald Dahl had his own tweaks to certain characters and how he would name certain characters in a way that’s more appealing to kids. When Archana read about him and how he did his storytelling, she was amazed and deeply inspired.<\/p>\n

In her story, she talks about being authentic, about being kind and being well aware of the surroundings. “The Girl with the Talking Flower Crown” is her way of letting the world know that there are certain things in life that are priceless and valuable. Things like kindness, empathy, not comparing yourself to anyone else, finding your true power and listening to your inner voice. Therefore, if one really digs deep into it, the flower crown is actually her deep inner thoughts. What she would like for any little kid or parent reading this is that there’s so much power in owning up to who you are and being your most authentic self because no one can take that away from you. “Being kind to one another is something I definitely want to put out into the world so those aspects were definitely looked into in a very special manner,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I was thinking to myself that I have the story and the illustrations ready, but I didn\u2019t know how to publish. So I\u2019m really glad that I met Jeremy and the team at The Jam Fruit Tree Publications. Taking me through that entire publishing process was very helpful,” Archana said. “After I came and talked with my publisher, I felt very clear as to what I needed to do and the team took care of a lot of things.”<\/p>\n

Archan is very close to her two nieces. When she read this out to them whilst showing them the illustrations, the expressions on their faces was an image she can\u2019t get out of her mind. Even after publishing the book, whenever she was sent certain pictures of kids holding her book or feedback from the parents, it was a very wholesome experience. “Every kids\u2019 interpretation of any story at that age is different. And for me the most interesting parts have been how they interpret the story in their own way. It\u2019s very sweet and very endearing and it just warms my heart,” said the author fondly.<\/p>\n

“Apart from encouraging children to be their most authentic selves, this book is my way of really letting the world know that we have to help the next generation find their creative outlet because we are born with it before any other subject in the world. It was art that first came into the picture of human lives,” mentioned Archana. “The fear that it would be a lost art is\u00a0 <\/span>something that really worries me. I would definitely want children to get more exposed to art, do more creative work and get into the artistic world at least as a hobby. That is my long-term vision while being on this journey. And I\u2019m very passionate about being a voice for it as well. But with modern advancements, what we feed into the world eats us up instead. We wouldn\u2019t want our next generation to suffer that way. We want them to use art and think big and dream even bigger.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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