Earlier in the week I wrote a Foolsletter about Walter Borden and how his appearance at my high school helped me ‘keep-a-goin’
His literary voice has impacted me deeply.
But the literary form that has impacted me the most has been literature for children.
There are fewer things that have been more rewarding than reading to my kids.
The words to “Jack and the Flum Flum Tree” haunt me to this day.
The Underneath, by Kathi Appelt I consider to be the most beautiful book ever written.
I was always on the look out for great new literature for children.
Kid lit typically is magical, full of wonder and has the guileless ability to speak profound truths beautifully.
Kid lit favorites like Goodnight Moon are incredibly cleaver. (check out this great story about Margaret Wise Brown in the New Yorker)
Having said that, I didn’t spare them the classics. Though not in heavy rotation, the story of “The Little Engine that Could” came up from time to time.
So.
When I’m starting to pick up steam creatively it’s frequently the work of two literary heroes: Walter Borden and Watty Piper.
I could imagine them engaged in a kind of call and response in my head:
Keep-a-goin’
I think I can
Keep-a-goin’
I think I can
Keep-a-goin’
I think I can.
Next?
Say them aloud and you might end up with this:
I think I can keep a goin'
Phew.
Rinse.
Repeat.
It’s like the old saying goes:
If success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration, it’s no wonder I’m feeling a bit moist.
My favourite book to read to my kids was based on Chicken Little and had the refrain, "Who's gonna help me .... Well, I'll be doin' it myself." The main character repeatedly asks for help, receives none, completes the tasks, creates something rewarding and eats the A-holes who didn't lift a finger. It's written with a Cajun phrasing and is the closest thing this nerd got to theatre with my kids. If I want to get I rise from my kids as young adults, I just need to say a line from the book in character. Truth; I had access to few books growing up, but more than my parents' did. Access to classic literature opened up to me when I was nine. I invested in great kids' books for our children. One of my favourite quotes is Einstein's, "If you want your children to be intelligent read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them lots of fairytales." It seems to work. Darn, now I want to write a kid's book. Hmmm.. that sounds remarkably foolish. Light goes on: One of your other readers wrote and illustrated one for his kids and I bought a copy. The story was a simple one of a shared everyday moment between a father and his daughter. The bigger lesson was having my children seeing a creative idea turned into reality by someone they knew as a regular person.