My daughter's kindergarten teacher knows I'm a writer. She has asked to read something of mine in the past. When I finished my MG story, I printed it out for her to read. However, at 45 pages, I thought it might be too long for her to share with the class. If that's what she wanted to do! So I looked through some stories I'd written for children. ALL of them are not yet published. I decided on one story I wrote called "The Yellow Rose" and printed that one out, too. I took them to her and she did indeed say she was going to read one of them to the children. As I figured, the shorter one. (It was more age-appropriate, anyway.) She read it to the class and she told me she had the children draw pictures for it. I thought that was wonderful! It would be so neat to see what kind of pictures they would draw to go with the story.
But the pictures they ended up drawing weren't ones to "go with" my story. Actually, they were all commentaries on the stories. And today, I was a "guest" in the class as the teacher showed me the artwork put together in a "book" and all the kids gathered together as we looked at it. One child wrote, "The flower likes to stay in the ground." Another wrote, "It is happy to be back on the island healthy and strong." And my own daughter wrote, "One day a boy saw a yellow rose. He jumped in a sight. He could not believe his eyes." Of course, it was not all spelled correctly but just as good. Above their comments were pictures they drew relating to my story: Pictures of the farmer holding his yellow rose, the rose next to a volcano (though there isn't a volcano in the story but, heck, it DOES live on an island! LOL) and a picture of the farmer looking in surprise at the yellow rose. It was all so very sweet and very beautiful. I started crying as the teacher went through each page, showing the classroom. It was such a wonderful gift!! I was so deeply touched by their thoughtfulness and I loved each and every drawing the child had done.
Now I want to do something special in return. I am trying to think of something special to "remember" this occasion with. My story has not found a publisher YET. I'm still trying to find a publisher to submit it to. (It's been rejected by the two publishers who publish books like this.) Maybe I can dedicate it to the whole class. Would that be a good idea? I can just use their first names in the dedication. I want them to be "spotlighted" for doing this, but I understand the need to protect their privacy. I mean, they ARE just children! But maybe the dedication would work. And I could give each child a signed copy. Oh, and the teacher, too. LOL
I think that would be enough. Sound good?
Now I'm REALLY going to jumpstart trying to find some MORE publishers to submit my story to! And not just one at a time.... I just wish there was a way to include their drawings, too. That would make it EXTRA special!
I am going to treasure THEIR book even more than my own, for a very long time.
But the pictures they ended up drawing weren't ones to "go with" my story. Actually, they were all commentaries on the stories. And today, I was a "guest" in the class as the teacher showed me the artwork put together in a "book" and all the kids gathered together as we looked at it. One child wrote, "The flower likes to stay in the ground." Another wrote, "It is happy to be back on the island healthy and strong." And my own daughter wrote, "One day a boy saw a yellow rose. He jumped in a sight. He could not believe his eyes." Of course, it was not all spelled correctly but just as good. Above their comments were pictures they drew relating to my story: Pictures of the farmer holding his yellow rose, the rose next to a volcano (though there isn't a volcano in the story but, heck, it DOES live on an island! LOL) and a picture of the farmer looking in surprise at the yellow rose. It was all so very sweet and very beautiful. I started crying as the teacher went through each page, showing the classroom. It was such a wonderful gift!! I was so deeply touched by their thoughtfulness and I loved each and every drawing the child had done.
Now I want to do something special in return. I am trying to think of something special to "remember" this occasion with. My story has not found a publisher YET. I'm still trying to find a publisher to submit it to. (It's been rejected by the two publishers who publish books like this.) Maybe I can dedicate it to the whole class. Would that be a good idea? I can just use their first names in the dedication. I want them to be "spotlighted" for doing this, but I understand the need to protect their privacy. I mean, they ARE just children! But maybe the dedication would work. And I could give each child a signed copy. Oh, and the teacher, too. LOL
I think that would be enough. Sound good?Now I'm REALLY going to jumpstart trying to find some MORE publishers to submit my story to! And not just one at a time.... I just wish there was a way to include their drawings, too. That would make it EXTRA special!
I am going to treasure THEIR book even more than my own, for a very long time.
