Who needs children’s book authors when we have children themselves?
The answer to that, is we all do, bless their very existence, but I hope by reading on, you will get my point.
Like many other parents, it seems I am constantly pulling at the few hairs of creativity I have left, in a constant search to find new things to do at home, ones that I can engage my child with, activities that hopefully have other benefits than merely plugging up time.
The winter is much more difficult than the summer, partly as outdoor activities are more limited, and because, well it certainly feels like, children have more days stuck at home with colds. Or in very recent times, days at home, with the country at a snowy standstill.
But like an irritating business person a wise man once said to me, and many others for that matter, every problem is an opportunity.
In cases with children, more time with them is very much a bigger picture blessing, as it is with aiding them in certain disciplines, practices that will bode well for their future.
Reading is one of the obvious things to do, when we have limited, or are limited by our resources. That is one of its beauties, reading can be done anywhere and by many means, a good reason it is a top choice, or should be, when options are actually unlimited.
I wrote previously about engaging children in literature without words, a concept not always well understood, nor emphasised eloquently enough – certain not by me – but I believe, it makes sense that story making starts with understanding the concept of what ‘a story’ actually is.
Which, is of course, anything you want it to be.
This brings me to a blog post I recently read over at The Book Chook. A post including some wonderful links to some great sites, that help children, assisted by their parents, put together story books themselves.
Like The Book Chook says, it is a great way of exploring, and exposing children, to the link between reading and writing.
The link I picked up on, took me to bookr, which is an on-line tool by pimpampum. I was led there, as my child is only just of school age, but those with older children, may want to try Glogster, which seems like a great resource, but where child supervision is still recommended.
Failing that, there is nothing wrong with pencil and paper, that is, unless the former needs sharpening.
This is what I came up with on bookr, it took me a little while to get my photos onto Flickr, the site it uses for uploading photos. But armed with the experience of creating one book, I am sure any further ‘published’ works would not take as long.
You do not actually have to use your own photos, you can use tag words to search Flickr for photos relevant to the book you are creating.
Anyway, here is what I created. You can flick through the pages by clicking on the very top left corner, or very bottom right corner of the images. And failing that, you can go straight to an easy to control version by clicking on the link below the book.
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Ian, what creative kids you must have! The photos in the book are delightful. I think using our own photos makes the little books so much more personal. It’s a great family project and may well start kids off on a book-making crusade of their own.
Thanks for linking to my post at the Book Chook, and introducing your blog to me.
Hi Susan, thanks for dropping by, and inspiring this post. You are very kind, and I agree making the books so much more personal is nice.