A Color Named Love

Last year I decided to change the path of my life. And since this challenge is about showing our true colors, I wanted to share here with you the story of my 1st children's book, written in beautiful rhymes.

Books have always helped me overcome personal issues. When I was a kid, it was a children's book called "Two of Everything" that allowed me to better understand my parents' divorce. Since I've been wanting to be a mother for a while and, being non-monogamous, I was looking for a children's book that would portray my family constitution. But I couldn't find anything, and this frustrated me a lot.

I want to be a non-monogamous mother in a world that shows kids endless possibilities of love and allows them the freedom of choice, so last year in the middle of the pandemic I decided to write "A Color Named Love" and launch it in a crowdfunding campaign, and it was a success!

Below, my story about how the arrival of each parent marks a moment in this little girl's life, in which she discovers how each one of them is unique and has their own colors and traits, building the loving foundation of her childhood.

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A Color Named Love

Words by M.Ellery and illustrations by Clara Reschke

(Intro page) If love had one color, what would it be?

Anna lived in Loville.

There, she learned to feel

Something she didn’t know the name of yet,

but knew it was strong and real.

It came from each beating heart

that filled and colored her world with a thrill.

She was born from the symphony of Lia’s lilac heartbeat,

in tune with the strong, red beating heart of Ed.

It was the sweetest melody yet,

and could transform in color everyone they met.

Because what they felt was so strong,

when they were together, it became a song,

overflowing the limits of their three beating hearts.

With each heartbeat, the more people they reached,

surprised and enchanted by this multicolor beat.

The fourth heart that came by was Eli,

who was as blue and big as the sky—

so big that it was he who took Anna to fly,

to see the most different families passing by.

Anna was amazed by their colors:

Some of them were pink and white,

while others were rainbow-like.

There were some the same color, and one, green and bright.

“Even if we are all so different, love is the ingredient that brings us all together!”

“And what is love?” asked Anna.

“Love is to feel safe and snug inside a very warm hug.”

“And if someday someone leaves?” asked Anna, afraid of the gloomy darkness that might come, if a color was suddenly gone.

“When the bright yellow sun says goodbye, because its time has arrived,

to give space to the shining moonlight,

do you stop feeling its warmth inside?”

“No, I still can feel it in the beating of my heart!”

“It is the same for love, which doesn’t end when you say goodbye. It uses its colors to paint other stories nearby, staying forever in your mind.

The same way that it leaves,

a new love can come by.”

Anna remembered the day

when Betty’s heart came to stay.

It was the last to arrive,

transforming them into five,

shining yellow and bright,

as the warming sunlight.

Every morning they would play, giving each color a name.

And Anna suddenly thought, she didn’t know what color love got.

“Love doesn’t have a color, because it is all of them!”

“So, that is why when we are all together, I feel like a rainbow!”

When she wanted to laugh, it was Ed who joked best.

When she wanted to be wise,

it was from Lia, with good advice.

When she wanted to play,

it was with Betty, the best way.

When she was scared,

it was Eli who most cared.

Before going to sleep, Anna got four hugs:

One super tight,

the other from the side,

one very long,

and the other eye-to-eye.

She had all this love around her, but had she any inside?

When she was sleeping alone, she felt worried and cried.

Afraid that when no one was around her,

no love would arrive.

At hearing her sad song, all four of them came, each with their color lighting the way.

When they sat around her, her heart skipped a beat,

Each of their colors was part of her heartbeat.

“You don’t need to be afraid, Anna.

When you feel alone, remember your color is all the love you’ve ever felt.

This love came from us, but now it is also part of you.

It is a love that will color everything you are and will become.”

It was inside their tinted hug,

that Anna felt safe.

Because she now knew love was inside her,

and with her it would always stay.

With her own colors,

she knew she was free.

To love who would come,

and be whoever she wanted to be.

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Poetic and beautifully illustrated, this book is dedicated to every parent who has ever felt they didn’t fit the norms and want to start an open and loving conversation with their children, creating a culture of transparency in their families and showing kids that they are loved and respected.

If you want to know more about this colorful, loving story, please click

here.