what books mean to me.

My son’s elementary school is holding a bookmark designing contest. One child in each cycle will win a 10$ gift certificate from our local Babar Books.

There are two rules: 1. the design can only be in black and white. 2. That the design be somehow related to books, libraries, reading, etc.

My 7-year-old was lost. Seeing he was just getting frustrated, I decided to draw my own, hoping to inspire. Here’s what came:

An open book, with wiggles that looked like waves across the page for text. Out of the book was a creature jumping. Under the open book was a bed, and under the bed at the very bottom of the page was a setting sun with rays penetrating upwards. On top of the book I drew a heart, a cloud, and some sort of mythical creature. Then I drew a moon and some stars. At the very top corner in the left I drew a swing with a stick child swinging through the cloud and heart and creature. Then I added branches that descended and falling leaves that landed under the bed. The leaves turned into music notes and floated away.

It’s all about the imagination, I told my kids, the imagination books draw out of us. When we read a story, we each see it differently.

What this? I asked pointing to the creature jumping out of the book / water.

A mermaid, said the 4-year-old.

A dolphin, said the 7-year-old.

The baby did not answer

That is why I drew things that can look like one thing, or another, depending on who’s looking, I said. And it can change each time we look at it as well.

My 7-year-old drew monsters and people, of all sorts and shapes and sizes. He didn’t use this as his final product, he went with something much more cautious (the word BOOKS, and stick figures around it). My 4 year old drew exactly what I drew.

Books give imagination life, and let it loose. Writing, to me, is just and extension of that. When I am editing, I can get caught up in the logistics of things. I can forget that a line is perfect when it ignites one of our 5 (or 6) senses, not when everything is in it’s place. Sometimes everything has to be out of place to turn an idea into something tangible. Something that we can each hold in our own unique way.

Note: Cathryn Grant, will be visiting this blog Friday January 18th, followed by Teresa Frohock on Friday January 25th.

The boy who caught a star

“Once there was a boy and the boy loved stars very much. Every night the boy watched the stars from his window and wished he had one of his very own.”

Thus begins, How to Catch a Star, by Oliver Jeffers, an early picture book. We’ve had this book for a few years, yet my kids still pull it out.

It ends with a rustic illustration of a boy walking along the shore holding hands with a star fish. “The boy had caught a star. A star of his very own.”

Every time I read this book, I am inspired to create. It sends me into writer’s heaven. Reading to my children a few days back, I finally discovered why children’s books have such a profound effect on me (although I do not yet write children’s books). It is that stories are the gateway to the imagination. The rapture on their faces while reading reminds me of how far the mind can go. Of all the possibilities a story can hold.

If the story draws on them, they will role play and produce art inspired from it for days afterwards. I realize this is something I touch on often on this blog – keeping ourselves open and responsive as writers. Not blocking ourselves to the known, but rather seeing the potentials. And for me, watching children’s films and reading children’s books is one of the best ways to do so. Not only do I experience it through my children, but I return to my inner child.

Last week also marked the week that my 6 year old began reading chapter books in french. As I was driving, (so much seems to happen in the car) I was listening to CBC (again), and there was an interview with a prof of languages from U of Calgary. He had a collection of translated Harry Potter books on display. He was interested in how Harry Potter has affected children’s literacy throughout the world. In Thailand, he said, they documented it. Prior Harry Potter, child’s literacy was 6&. Post was 22%. Here’s a newspaper article on him and his colecttion if you’re interested.  

Imagine that! How much JK Rowling feel with such numbers.  To inspire so many children to want to read. I told my son that soon he too would be reading Harry Potter. He looked at me with big eyes, uncertain how to respond.

My current wip began in a workshop held by Ilona Martonfi. I had been playing with the idea in my head for a few months, and when we were told to unleash our inner child for one particular excercise, my novel began its formation on paper. My writing deals with adult issues, yet when writing I am writing from the child in me. Where nothing is set, and I can go anywhere.