Already All the Love – A Baha’i Inspired Board Book by Diana Farid

Looking for a sweet baby book that conveys the nobility of the human soul? Already All the Love is a beautifully illustrated, movingly written new book for wee ones by Diana Farid! A couple of years ago I interviewed Diana about her novel featuring a Baha’i teen surfer and I was thrilled to chat with Diana about her latest project:

Can you please tell us a little bit about Already All the Love?

Already all the Love is a newly released board book written by me and gorgeously illustrated by the talented Polynesian artist, Shar Tui’asoa, published by Little Bee Books. At 8 x 8 inches, it’s a bit larger than many board books, making it a lovely size for lap reads with little ones and very giftable.

What inspired you to create this book? 

When looking for first books for my own children, I noticed than many of them focused on accomplishments or were future oriented. And, as a physician, I noticed that most were oriented toward specific body images that didn’t account for humanity’s physical diversity that I saw in my professional practice. Even now, as I care for college students, I see some of the negative impacts of an identity overly focussed on accomplishments and external recognitions.

In addition, I still recall the intensity and fullness of holding my babies. I still feel the sensation of staring into their eyes, in soaking in the understanding that a new being was present in my life. I still recall recognizing clearly that this soul in my arms has arrived, already having fulfilled a state of utmost presence and love, and that growing up in our societies today easily chips away at these states.

I wanted to write a book that reminded my kiddos, myself, and all of us really, that simply by being and getting to share the experience of life as parent and child, we are already accomplished in the most valuable way, an ensign of wonder, a state full of love and worth.

I wanted to reflect the spirit of Baha’u’llah’s words:

“O SON OF SPIRIT! I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.”

Could you tell us a little bit about its illustrations?

The art in the book was created by Shar Tui’asoa. She has a signature way of bringing beautiful, bold, and heart-warming images to the text that immediately place you in the day of the parent and child pictured on the pages of the book. Any caregiver of a young child will immediately recognize and connect to the scenes. A few of my favourite things in the art are the ways that Shar brilliantly communicates how the universe holds us in its arms as a parent holds a baby, and looks after us, personified in the sun and moon having faces, and shines on us the way a parent’s face orients to a child’s. The palate and clear lines are perfect for holding the attention of a little one.

How is it different from your other books?

Already All the Love is my debut board book, so it is different from my other books in that it’s my first that is appropriate for babies. All of Already All the Love‘s pages are rigid, which make it sturdy and able to get through getting chewed on during the teething stage.

My picture books, When You Breathe and The Light of Home, are picture books for preschool aged readers and up. And my novel, Wave, is for age ten and up.

However, Already All the Love isn’t different than my other books in that it shares a poetic tone, has something any aged reader can connect to, and celebrates the power of recognizing our intrinsic nobility.

Who is its audience?

The immediately obvious audience is a parent or caregiver, and a baby or young child. It’s a lovely early reader for children learning how to read as well. Foreword Reviews calls Already All the Love “an excellent choice for early readers.”

Though, I have had many adults share with me how comforting they have found the book, and a number were even brought to tears. This makes sense to me because essentially the book is an illustrated poem that reminds us adults of our worth, and is a reprieve from the soul-sucking narrative we can fall into of scarcity and to seek light outside of ourselves. The message in Already All the Love reminds me of Baha’u’llah’s call to us in The Hidden Words: ” O SON OF BEING! Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee. Get thou from it thy radiance and seek none other than Me. For I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My favor upon thee.”

What’s something you’ve learned in the process of making this book?

I’ve learned that making the thing I wished to see in the world is an important mindset in writing and in making art in general.

What is some advice you’d give to anyone pursuing Baha’i-inspired creative work?

I’d ask them what idea or narrative or image keeps them up at night and what medium they seem to constantly gravitate towards. I’d ask them to ask themselves what they would make if they knew they couldn’t fail, or more importantly, if they knew they’d be happy to simply see the thing made, even if there was no obvious or immediate recognition of it from others. I’d ask them these things, because in the answers, they’ll be able to hone in on what story they want to tell or feeling they want to convey, their sense of purpose, the motivation needed to finish a project, and the satisfaction in the product itself. I’d also encourage them to remember that the joy in the creative work is in the process of experiencing the creation happening through us, the transformation we can experience in the making, how it catalyses learning about ourselves and ultimately recognizing how we have been “[molded] out of the clay of love.”

Thank you so very much, Diana, for sharing this with us!

You can purchase Already All the Love from a variety of book retailers including Amazon.

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.