During my first year of teaching in the Family Annex pre-K room, I began telling stories to the children before rest time. I began by telling stories I knew well and then started making up stories on the spot. For some reason, it appeared that my stories engaged the children's imaginations in a new way.

I firmly believe in the power, joy, and "magic" of telling stories that has been passed down throughout time. These experiences telling stories led me to begin writing. Currently, the trick seems to be capturing the magic of live storytelling and translating it to written words on a page that stands on its own no matter who is reading. Two stories in progress have been the result of this effort; The Princess, the Monster, and the Wall; and Weylan the Vain Dragon.

I am particularly inspired by a boy in my class named "Max". He wears a striped scarf and a satchel over his shoulder. He has a stuffed animal duck named Eduard who is seventeen years old and a baby doll named Louie. His imagination is potent and his verbal expression outrageous. Lately, Leon has organized the class in a horse race for which he handed out imaginary horses or unicorns depending on preference. He also rallied the class to play in an orchestra by handing out instruments to each child and titling the piece Barack six six one forty two five.

Continue to check back for further literary creations, they will hopefully in some small way capture the true timeless magic of life as a child.