Everyone has one day they think is their worst ever. Gabrielle Grimaldi’s book, “Lina’s Very Best Worst Day Ever: A Bird’s Eye View,” goes through Lina’s own version of that. Except her encounter with the Little Red Bird changes her point of view, and when she recounts her day to her mother, she sees all the good things that happened and changes her perspective.

Grimaldi, a Pelham resident, used her knowledge as an art therapist to create the book.

“The lesson about perspective in the book is definitely from my art-therapy mentality,” Grimaldi said. “It’s about how to view things in different ways and how to respect people and how to enjoy your life,”

Grimaldi gave an author talk about the book at the Town of Pelham Public Library last month, and being from Pelham, she said she sees the benefit of such events.

“The very interesting thing about this author talk was that this is my hometown,” she said. “This is where I live now, and it’s where I grew up. And I remember when they were fundraising for this library, and I think it is really important to bring the community in.”

The library event included activities for listeners. During the first, the children drew the equivalent to the Little Red Bird symbol in the book. The second activity had Grimaldi drawing along with audience members.

“I think celebrating the different types of creativity we have here in Pelham, whether it’s writing or fine art, is really important to community, and I think Pelham does it really well,” Grimaldi said.

“Lina’s Very Best Worst Day Ever: A Bird’s Eye View” is self-published, which was a learning process for Grimaldi. She did the design and illustrations, including the cover and the book jacket. As an art therapist, she said she naturally gravitates more towards the arts, but she did have a point to make with the book.

“I wanted to get a lesson across about viewing things differently,” she said. “My advice for young artists is to write, illustrate or any form of creativity that you can because it helps you better process your emotions.”

At the end of the book, there are nine introspective activities that promote insight and self-reflection for all ages. These include helping others, goal setting, positive affirmations, meditation, journaling, creative expression, developing new skills and sharing positivity.

“Lina’s Very Best Worst Day Ever: A Bird’s Eye View” is available for purchase on Gabrielle Grimaldi’s website.

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