WALDORF, Md. – Kylah Davis, a former Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) student, is a mother and a published author of her first children’s book, “Take a Deep Breath.” Davis attended CCPS schools from elementary through high school and visited Eva Turner Elementary School during Read Across Charles County to read her first book to classes at the school.
“I used to work with her mother, Martiza Davis, principal’s secretary at Wade Elementary School, and when she told me her daughter was a published author, I knew we had to have her read today to students at the school,” Mary McGlynn, reading resource teacher at Turner, said. “I thought this was a great way to showcase a young author living right here in Charles County.” Each Turner student who heard Davis read could take a copy of the book home with them to read in their own time.
Davis is a mom of two young children and the book was written with her first child in mind. “I have a three-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter and at the time that I was writing the book my then two-year-old son was going crazy,” she said. “He was having a lot of big feelings and did not know how to control them.” She would tell her son to take a deep breath and tried to find a book that could help him manage his emotions.
Davis noticed that there wasn’t a book that captured what she was trying to communicate to her son. So, she took matters into her own hands and wrote “Take a Deep Breath.” The book focuses on young children understanding and managing their big feelings. “The big feelings are OK. It’s normal to feel sad, to feel happy. ‘Take a Deep Breath’ helps you to regulate your emotions. You can still feel them, but it helps you to make rationalized choices in the midst of the feelings,” Davis said.
“Take a Deep Breath” can be purchased online on Amazon. This is Davis’ first children’s book, and she is in the process of writing her second book.
About CCPS
Charles County Public Schools provides 27,598 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 37 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.
The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Kathy Kiessling, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.
CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).