MENTAL HEALTH
How heartbreak led Danuza Silva to find healing in a children’s book
WORDS: Katie Gallagher PHOTOGRAPHY Supplied
Gold Coast based children’s author Danuza
The beautifully illustrated story was inspired by Danuza’s own journey with grief and heartache.
Six years ago, Danuza was living the dream with a wonderful marriage and her cherished daughter, Sophie, but life threw curveballs she couldn’t have imagined.
“When Sophie turned two and a half, we had a heartfelt conversation about giving her a sibling. She had always been fascinated with babies and kept asking when she’d get a little ‘sister’,” Danuza said.
“And so, we began trying again. But this time, the road was not as smooth as my first pregnancy.”
At nine weeks, Danuza lost the baby, and was heartbroken.
She and her husband were determined to continue their dream of growing their family, and Danuza fell pregnant again and miscarried again.
“In early 2021, I fell pregnant for the third time. Because of my history, my doctor recommended more frequent scans. At 14 and a half weeks, I went in for an extra ultrasound. I had no bleeding, no pain, just a hopeful heart that everything would be fine this time,” she said.
“But on that day, I found out I had been carrying twins (which was missed in all previous scans). And both of their tiny heartbeats had stopped.”
Aside from the personal grief, Danuza
“Sitting with her and explaining that the babies’ little hearts had stopped beating shattered me. I tried my best to be kind with my words and explain in a very gentle and soft way everything that was happening. She cried, gave me a big hug, and looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, ‘Mummy don’t cry. I feel my sister is coming anyway’.”
A traumatic miscarriage followed, and then just before starting IVF in 2022, her marriage ended abruptly.
Danuza describes that heartbreak as the most painful of all.
As she tried to pick up the pieces, she discovered a love for writing, a healing activity she shared with her seven-year-old daughter.
“Through my writing I’ve helped myself and Sophie to re-write our story and reassure us both would be ok despite the challenges,” she said.
“Daily positive affirmations have become a part of our daily life. We tried our best to shut the negative chat in our minds and embrace the positive affirmations we would repeat to ourselves every day.”
This was the inspiration behind her debut children’s book Sophie and her Magical Backpack.
The story follows Sophie, a young girl (based on her daughter) who sometimes st
Sophie uses the positive affirmations in her magical backpack to remind herself that she is beautiful, creative, capable, loved and brave.
What began as a personal coping mechanism soon became a message Danuza knew needed to be shared with children everywhere.
“This book is designed to help children build emotional resilience and develop a kinder inner voice. Sophie and Her Magical Backpack explores negative self-talk and equips young readers with simple tools to replace fear with courage and self-doubt with self-belief,” Danuza said.
“Since its release, the book has sparked powerful responses from parents, educators, and young readers, many sharing how it has opened up important conversations about emotions and inner strength.”
Danuza now has two more children’s books in development, addressing the themes of divorce and grief.
For more information, visit https://danuzasilva.com/
