How to Take a Joywalk for Your Mental Health

Author John Schu shares the story of joywalking in his latest picture book, Lily-May’s Joyful Day, and encourages readers of all ages to find joy in taking a walk with a grateful heart.

Source: Penguin Random House/Used with permission

We’ve all heard the advice that it's good to take a walk for your mental health, but what about taking a joywalk?

Walking releases endorphins, hormones that decrease stress and promote happiness, and going for walks regularly has even been shown to reduce symptoms of clinical anxiety and depression (Xu et al., 2024).

For librarian, educator, and children’s book author John Schu, walking becomes joyful when combined with two other well-studied mental health practices—mindfulness and gratitude. Together, they form the practice of joywalking.

Schu shares the story of joywalking in his latest picture book, Lily-May’s Joyful Day, and encourages readers of all ages to find joy in taking a walk with a grateful heart.

Q: In your book, Lily-May introduces the concept of joywalking to her classmates. What is a joywalk, and how can families benefit from this practice? How might joywalking promote better mental health for children?

John Schu: I’ve been trying to write a story about joywalking since 2017, but every attempt turned into a different story. I realized I was trying too hard. I was forcing the idea instead of letting the story find me and talk to me in an authentic way.

I finally “cracked the code” during a joywalk in New York City, when I walked past the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. At the top of the fountain sits the Angel of the Waters, an angel who inspires, comforts, and somehow always helps me open up, as two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo would say, “the suitcase of my heart.”

I sat down near the angel, opened my notebook, and wrote these guiding words for my joywalking story:

A joywalk is a time
to listen,
to think,
to wander and roam,
to explore ideas,
and, most importantly,
to notice.

To notice small details.
To notice BIG details.
To reflect on the day.

That became the heart and soul of Lily-May’s Joyful Day.

A joywalk isn’t simply a walk. It’s an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and make space for curiosity and reflection. Families can benefit from practicing joywalking together because it gives them a simple way to step away from the noise and busyness of everyday life and reconnect with themselves, with one another, and with the world around them.

I think that act of noticing can be pretty powerful for children. Joywalking encourages us to pause and become present: to notice something beautiful, to wonder about something we see, to reflect on how we’re feeling, or simply to enjoy the experience of being outside. Those small moments of mindfulness can help us develop tools for managing stress and processing emotions.

In many ways, the Angel of the Waters helped me figure out how to write this story, just as she did when I was writing Louder Than Hunger, my verse novel about anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression, and the work it takes to muffle a loud negative voice. Both books, in very different ways, are about what happens when we learn to listen...to ourselves, to the world around us, and to the voices that can help guide us toward something healthier.

On Lily-May’s Joyful Day’s book birthday, Dr. Paul Mullen, a clinical child psychologist and associate professor of psychology at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, posted, “Happy book birthday to Lily-May’s Joyful Day. Joy grows from mindfulness and gratitude."

That is what I hope joywalking can help children connect with: the understanding that joy doesn’t always have to be something we chase. Sometimes, it begins with slowing down, looking around, and noticing what is already there.

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I love Lily-May, and I hope children do, too!

Q: How does reading picture books together help children learn about feelings and mental wellness?

JS: I love picture books. I collect them. I share them. I write them. Our students are never too old to be read a picture book aloud. Or to read one aloud themselves.

Too often, as young readers move toward the upper grades, they’re discouraged from checking out and reading picture books. This is both unfortunate and ironic because this is the exact same time when they can finally read them independently.

Picture books give children a safe and accessible way to explore big feelings, recognize their own experiences in the lives of characters, and begin conversations about mental wellness that might otherwise feel difficult to start. When we read them together, we’re not only sharing a story, we’re giving children language for their emotions and reminding them that they are not alone. And that’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

Source: Penguin Random House/Used with permission

Q: What do you hope readers take away from spending time with Lily-May’s Joyful Day?

JS: My hope is that Lily-May’s Joyful Day finds its way into classrooms, libraries, and homes. I hope it finds its way into the hearts and lives of children. I hope it inspires children to create Bags of Y-O-U, take joywalks, notice the little things that bring them joy, and share what inspires them. Most of all, I hope readers come away knowing that joy is something they can discover, nurture, and share.