THE INSPIRATION FOR A CHILDREN'S STORY

                

A kind friend gave me a balloon for my birthday at the beginning of September. The balloon, a helium-filled one, has lasted much longer than most. The balloon started out tied to a chair across from me at our breakfast table. I looked at it each morning and it made me smile. About a week ago, the balloon started dipping down, so I untied it to let it drift. 

It lingering in the dining room for a day, and then to our surprise, began to wander around the house. We would get up in the morning to find it waiting patiently for us in the kitchen or hallway or at the bottom of the stairs. Today, September 30, was its last day, I think, as the bottom of the balloon touched the floor with the string circling around it.

Wouldn't this quiet balloon's movements make a good children's story? One about resilence, steadfastness, or loneliness? Many themes such as these appear in children's tales giving readers a sense of what they need to carry them through the big problems that they encounter through life. 

The best children's stories often use simple objects such as the broom in The Sorcerer's Apprentice or Lily's plastic purse from the book by the same name by Kevin Henkes to create meaningful characters. Can you think of an object or an animal that could represent qualities you would want to pass down to the next generation? If so, you have the makings of a children's story.

Do You Know Cats? by Martha Slavin

I taught a class called Quest to junior high school students. The class helped students understand how their words and actions could affect others. I used one exercise called the Bucket Tale, which was similar to a children's story. Each time the main character did something that harmed, ridiculed, or demeaned someone else, one of the students dropped a small stone into the bucket. The clang rang throughout the classroom as the bucket filled up quickly. The students got the point just as quickly. Carol McCloud turned this story around and wrote a book about kindness called Have You Filled Your Bucket Today? Another book, David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon, gives us examples of the importance of honesty. How our actions affect others can be found in What If Everyone Did That? by Ellen Javernick. Maybe, this year, we all need to go back to reading children's books to remind outselves of what we value most.

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I finished a 30-day painting challenge. I selected some of the drawings and made a mosaic of them:

You can find more children's books here:

Good Reads for Children 

PikMonkey is one of many websites that help to create photo mosaics. They offer a 7-day free trial.

Photo Mosaic site