Writing a Book with a Lesson
I have personalized many of my children’s books by featuring my grandchildren. What I love about these kiddos is how caring they are for one another. Phoebe may hit her twin brother, but no one else better, or they will have her to deal with. Kayley is a great big sister always watching out for her cousin, and younger brother and sister. Cody adores his cousins. For the most part, they all play well together. The idea for this story came out of the love of competition.
“Mom would judge the contest and the kids had all agreed that she would have the final say.”
Generating a Concept
My grandchildren love the snow and playing outside. They also love to compete and so “The Snowman Contest” was born, The setting was the first big snowstorm of the season. The kids had decided that they would have a snowman contest to see who could build the best snowman. Mom would be the judge and the contest was on.
The Characters
The characters are all based on my grandchildren and their interests. Kayley is interested in princesses, Phoebe loves cats and Cody likes superheroes. William is most happy playing and doing his own thing.
The Plot
After breakfast, the children head outside to make their snowmen. Kayley, Cody, and Phoebe all get right to work creating their snowmen. William, on the other hand, decides that make snow angels is more fun. When the three other children have just about completed their snowmen, Cody realizes that William hasn’t even gotten started. He helps William get started. ThenKayley and Phoebe join in to help William make his snowman.
Tying It All Together
The children have so much fun helping William make his snowman that they decide his is the “Best” snowman.
The Conclusion
When their mom calls the kiddos in for lunch, she starts by telling them what an amazing job they have all done. She tells Kayley that her princess is beautiful and regal. She tells Phoebe that she can almost hear her snowcat meowing. She tells Cody that she can almost see his snow hero flying in the sky. The children tell her that she no longer needs to judge because they have all decided that William’s snowman is the best. When she asked them how they reached the decision, the children tell her it is the best because they had such fun working on it together! THUS THE LESSON LEARNED, working together is MORE fun than working alone.
Illustrating the Story
So once the story was written, the illustrations came next. For this book, I used my IPad’s program Procreate to draw the illustrations. I really like this program because it allows you to grab an illustration on one page and take it to another. You can resize it and change part of the drawing without having to redraw the whole character.
Your Turn to Create a Story
You can do this too! Think of a lesson that you would like to teach a child. What event can you imagine that will let this lesson unfold naturally? Let your imagination be your guide! Create your characters. Outline where you will go and how your story will come to an end. Try illustrating either through drawings or pictures. Give it a try! Just think of how special it would be to have a story written about your child by YOU. I truly believe we all have it in us to do.
