Self-Publishing is Easy!

"All children, except one, grow up."

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Yesterday Emma came up to me at church and asked if I would be able to babysit Hannah this morning as she ran into some last-minute child-care issues. I was happy to help out and ended up sleeping on their couch last night to save Emma the hassle of picking me up extra-early and to save me the hassle of catching two buses to reach their house. Hannah was quite thrilled that I was sleeping over and I loved waking up to two little girls toddling into the living room with big grins.

After Emma left, I played with Hannah for a little while, but she also seemed really content to play by herself so I left her alone while I cleaned up from breakfast. I curled up on the couch and watched quietly as Hannah played by herself. She knew I was there but she didn't ask me to join in like most kids do. I remember playing with toys and creating voices and characters for each one, but I don't remember when or why I stopped doing that. It's so beautiful to watch the way children's minds work as they create stories and make the simplest of toys come to life. I'm so glad my dad secretly set up the video camera when me and my siblings were young in order to capture literally hours of us playing with Playmobil or Barbies. He captured the voices and storylines we invented along with the childish disagreements about what each toy should be doing. When I go back and watch those clips I remember the feeling of playing like that but I feel too ridiculous when I try to do it now.

"Do you know," Peter asked, "why swallows build in the eaves of houses? It is to listen to the stories."
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Hannah loves reading stories, especially those with flaps to lift and peek under. I asked her if she wanted to make our own book and she seemed disinterested until I cut out the paper, stapled the sheets together, and she saw a book taking form. I've typed out our conversation word-for-word from what I can remember. Enjoy this glimpse into the mind of a four-year-old.

"Hannah, what should the cover look like?"
"Nothing."
"What should we call our book?"
"I don't want a name on it."
"Okay - we'll leave it plain."
"Good."

By Hannah and Amanda
20-July-09

"Who should the book be about?"
"Princess Barbie."
"Who else should be in the book?"
"Jesus."
"If we're going to do a book with flaps to peek under, Princess Barbie and Jesus should be looking for something. What do you think they'd look for?"
"Princess Barbie's crown."
"Who took Princess Barbie's crown?"
"The pirates!"
"How did the pirates get the crown?"
"The pirates caught Princess Barbie and Jesus."

The pirates caught Princess Barbie and Jesus.

"Hannah, how about if you draw a pirate on this page."
"I can't draw a pirate."
"Sure you can! You just do a circle like this for a face. You draw one eye and put a patch over the other eye like this. Then draw a big frown because pirates are nasty. You can copy my picture."
"Hmmm... okay!"
"Why did you draw the pirate smiling?"
"Because he's a happy pirate!"
"But he stole Princess Barbie's crown."
"Yup!"

"Can you draw a picture of the crown on this page?"
"Yeah."

The happy pirate stole Princess Barbie's crown.

"What did Princess Barbie say when she found out her crown was gone?"
" 'Oh my crown is lost! I don't know where it is!' " (high-pitched voice)
"How would she say it?"
(blank expression from Hannah)
"I mean, would she say it, yell it, scream it, cry it?"
"She'd scream it."
"How about if you draw a picture of Princess Barbie on this page?"
"Okay."
"Why is she smiling if her crown was stolen?"
"Because she's happy."
"Ah, okay, I see a theme here."

"Oh, my crown is lost! I don't know where it is!" screamed Princess Barbie.

"If you were looking for a crown, where would you look first?"
"In a bush."
"How about if you draw a bush?"
"I can't."
"Just scribble all over this piece of paper and I'll cut it out."
"Okay!"

"What should Jesus say when he looks for the crown?"
" 'Where is it?' "
"Sure - that makes sense."

"Were is it?" asked Jesus.
Jesus looked in the bush.

"What should Jesus find in the bush instead of the crown?"
"A bird."
"Do you want to draw it?"
"No, you can do it."

It's not here!

"Where should Jesus look next?"
"I don't know."
"How about behind a flower?"
"Yeah!"
"I'll cut out the flower and you can colour whatever you want on it."

"Is it behind the flower?" asked Jesus.

"What should be behind the flower instead of the crown?"
"A kitten."
"I guess I'll be drawing this one, too?"
"Yes."

The crown isn't here!

"Where should Jesus find Princess Barbie's crown?"
"In a treasure chest!"
"What should they say when they find it?"
" 'Yay! Princess Barbie's crown is here!' "

Yay! Princess Barbie's crown is here!

I'm not sure which of us had more fun today.