Several local young people will soon have their short stories in a book, thanks to a program offered at the Estevan Public Library for the TD Canadian Children’s Book Week.
They gathered at the library each day from Tuesday to Thursday, and worked on short stories using their own imagination and a computer program named Storybird.
Tuesday was dedicated to writing their tales, which pertain to the circus.
“We had stories about trapeze cats and missing elephants and things like that,” said Victoria Utman, the library’s children’s program co-ordinator, in an interview with Lifestyles.
“They were encouraged to write whatever came to their minds. There were also some story prompts if they were having troubles getting their creativity flowing. They came up with some really great stuff.”
They spent their time on Wednesday editing the short stories and typing them on a computer. And on Thursday, they used the online Storybird software that formats the children’s tales, and allows their work to be in a book.
“We wanted to provide some programming to celebrate Canadian children’s books, as well as encourage children to get involved with literacy in a very hands-on way,” said Utman.
The library hoped to have more children registered, but they also recognize it’s a three-day program, which can be a big time commitment for busy families. So they will probably wind up with four children’s stories.
Utman will submit a story of her own, and she has reached out to the Estevan Writers’ Group to encourage them to submit some circus-related stories.
“Hopefully, we will have about 10 to 15 short stories in this … book,” said Utman. “It won’t be big. It will be like a picture book. We want to definitely showcase the young talent, and we still want the book to be something that families will read with their kids as well.”
The deadline for the writers’ group members to be involved was on May 13, and then Utman will go through the stories. She expects to order the book on May 16, and hopes it will be available for people to borrow from the library before the end of the month.
Utman noted that Storybird is a resource offered at the library for programming, and it formats the book for participants. It has stock images, pictures, layouts and templates, and users will work with them until they have the final appearance that they were looking for.
If people want to purchase a copy of their story in book format, Storybird will print and mail it.
The children who are participating in the program are very excited to have their work printed, since it is such a unique opportunity.
“They will be able to say that ‘When I was in Grade 4, I made this book,’” said Utman. “That’s a really cool legacy, even at such a young age. And we have some really enthusiastic writers. It was really encouraging that there are young people who love writing, and they’re really creative.”
The youngest participant, who just turned six, wanted to write a story about a cat named Trapeze who is a flying trapeze artist. The cat practices his act for the circus, makes a mistake, and has to reconcile the error. At the end, the cat successfully completes the trick.
“It all came out of her head, and I just kind of helped her with the actual writing part,” said Utman.
Another story was about a circus run by animals that Utman said has some very humorous moments.
Utman noted the library traditionally tried to bring in an author for Children’s Book Week each year, but there wasn’t enough participation from the other libraries in the region to do that this year. So she thought it would be a good idea for local children to make their own book.
“Part of the mandate of Children’s Book Week is to encourage kids to read, of course,” said Utman. “We always want to instill a love of reading in our young people, but also to give them an understanding of the work that goes into making these children’s books.”
There are a lot of great Canadian children’s authors out there, she said, but getting the young people involved with the writing and editing process, and allowing them to create the book, is a great hands-on opportunity.
And she hopes that writing a book can become an annual venture for children at the library.
