From Here to There

Why are there maps in storybooks?

From the Kid Blog at Miss Missy’s School.

You’ll never guess whose maps we talk about!

Tolkien drew maps of Middle-Earth, and detailed maps of the numerous locales within Middle-Earth, before he started writing the books. He’s not alone in beginning a story this way. Why might writers begin working on their stories by drawing maps?

After we begin to answer the question, kids are encouraged to “begin thinking about a pretend world. Imagine what your pretend world looks like from a bird’s eye view. Your world can have places where dragons or mice or polar bears live, or it can just be a pretend bedroom or house. Now draw a picture–a map–of your imaginary world.

“I bet by the time you are done drawing your map, you will already be starting to think of a story that takes place in your imaginary world. Write your story! As you are writing, you can change things on the map if they don’t fit your story, and you can change your story if it doesn’t fit the map.”

I am–as you may have guessed–sharing all of these Kid Blog posts to nudge you to buy the book, Miss Missy’s School: A Pack of Farm Dogs Starts a School (on BIG SALE at Amazon). As with the posts, the book encourages kids and their grownups to learn a few things. As one reviewer put it:

Miss Missy’s School is a wonderful story with something for people of any age, making this a great book to read all together. Readers become learners with Bernstein’s unique inclusion of asides for learning history, philosophy, and vocabulary, among other things. Young readers are taught the significance of various phrases and cultural artifacts, and older readers are reminded of all the neat things we have done throughout history. Overall a very fun book.

Did I mention it’s on BIG SALE at Amazon? You can preview the book and see how I coax readers to become learners.

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