Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Oh, If Only I Could Come Up with Ideas Like These...

In my last few posts I've been speaking of the unspoiled creativity of children. I know, I know, I'm going on about kids a bit much, especially my kids. But I'm going to do it just a little bit more.

Emily had to write a fairy tale retelling for English class. In her version, Rapunzel is a spoiled girl who eats only rapunzel leaves. One day she screamed at her kind caretaker, calling her a witch for refusing to buy her a gold-plated dog, then refused to come out of the tower until the "witch" gave her a golden pet. The "witch" began tying baskets of rapunzel salad and rapunzel sandwiches to her hair so the girls would pull them up to the tower and not starve.

This is part of the letter Emily had Rapunzel write after she ran off with the prince:

"Last night I felt a tug on my hair. It was very heavy, and thinking it was a gold-plated dog, I pulled it up. To my dismay, it wasn't a dog, it was a prince. Well he wasn't exactly a prince, he is a hairstylist...."

So is it just me, or is she a creative thinker? I'm already planning to enlist her to help me with the plot problem I'm presently having. Right now I'm typing her 8th grade English papers. But someday I may be hoping for a dedication in one of her books.

No comments: