I don't remember having too many books as a young child. I only recall a couple of books, and I can't say they were very exciting - the stories, illustrations, and even the language were very "old fashioned" and not really relevant to my reality as a small child. They spoke about princesses and princes, witches, and scary creatures, which I have to confess I found quite dull. Most of them were folk tales with the sole purpose of scaring kids into having nightmares.
As a teenager, my mum would always ask me to read more, and, of course, as a teenager, I would absolutely dread it. Mainly because I was asked to do it, but also because the books we had were terribly boring!
To some degree, I still dread it now, unless it’s fun, and then I devour it! The only thing that keeps me engaged (apart from a very good plot, of course) is good humor. Laughter is my love language, and I think it always has been - love for books, love for my friends,
love for my son, love for our times together. Laughter is how we communicate best: we have fun, tell jokes, and look at the world through funny glasses. Basically, in my view - if it’s not fun, it's not worth doing.
My mind has always worked in short little stories, too. When I was a child, I used to tell myself little stories, or rather, they were running like short little cartoon episodes in my mind alongside my play. Even today, I visualize my stories before they go "on paper," playing in my head as little cartoon episodes.
Once I had my son, I realized that's how I naturally engage with him too - our playtime was mostly little stories, pretend play, games, and word mashups that would make him giggle and laugh. I started reading to him short stories when he younger than one, and he grew up around books. He is turning 5 soon, and books are still his favorite "toy" or "activity," and the only "baby thing" he refuses to let go of - he still cherishes all his baby board books!
When traveling and away from our rather impressive children's book collection, I would make up stories on the spot just to keep him entertained on long walks or instead of bedtime stories. He found them terribly amusing, and I found it very rewarding to entertain him that way. I also relished in the entire process of coming up with the funniest, craziest details that would crack him up. This was (and still is) my favorite way of connecting with him and sharing my creativity, but also how I encouraged him to share his.
And when he started to reference exact quotes from these made-up-on-the-spot stories (that I sometimes even forgot the details of!), I realized I should probably write them down.
At the risk of sounding very mainstream rom-com, once I started putting my ideas down, it felt like the most natural thing to do, more natural than my day job (which I've been doing for almost 20 years now!) and terribly rewarding. It felt easy, fun, and refreshing, like a dip in a swimming pool on a hot summer day.
And now it's time for me to release them into the world, hoping that other children will enjoy them as much as my son does. My aim is to demonstrate to children that fun and books can coexist in stories that bring about problem-solving, creative solutions, and inspire confidence.
The BEGINNING.
(In the image above, you can see my son "reading" one of his books, aged aprox 11 -12 months)