Guest post by
Sue Fliess
To
believe in magic fills the heart and mind with wonder. As a child, I always
imagined I wasn’t alone and believed that some kind of magical creatures must
exist. Were there aliens? Beings that we couldn’t see, but lived among us? So
tiny we didn’t know they were there, or so big that our Earth could fit on
their fingernail? I thought anything was possible.
In
my newest book, A Fairy Friend,
illustrated by Claire Keane and published by Macmillan, I write about magical,
mystical fairies; how they live among us, and how one only needs to know where
to look and what to do to attract one.
The
story invites the reader to join that miniature dream world by giving detailed
instructions on how to do so.
Want to have one
come to you?
Here is what you
need to do…
Build a house of
twigs and blooms,
Decorate her
fairy rooms—
Walls of
blossoms, cotton floor,
Sparrow feather
for her door.
This
is a great opportunity for you to have your class write their own set of
instructions (explaining to them that they are writing from a second person
point of view), talking directly to their reader.
Have
students choose something they are passionate about—sports, dancing, dogs, playing
an instrument, building, cooking, etc. The first few sentences can be
description about that topic or thing.
Friendly fairies
soar the skies,
Ride the backs
of dragonflies.
Wings of fairies
shimmer, spark,
Twinkle, glimmer
in the dark.
The
next part can be where they write out instructions on, for example, how to
score a goal in soccer, how to teach a dog to sit, how to pirouette, construct
a fort, or even how to make a peanut butter sandwich.
Encourage
them to be as detailed as possible, and to assume that the reader has never
tried this particular thing before. If possible, as with the dance move, have the
other students follow the instructions of their peers.
They
can wrap it up by writing about the results of following the actions – how it
feels to score a goal, what it’s like to perform a ballet recital, how yummy a
peanut butter sandwich is, and so on.
Many reluctant writers find writing instructions lots of fun. And it is a welcome change for students to be able to instruct someone else
on what do to, instead of always being told what do to.
BIO:
Sue Fliess ("fleece") is the author of numerous children's books
including A Fairy Friend, Calling All Cars, Robots, Robots Everywhere!, The Hug
Book, Tons of Trucks and Shoes for Me! Her background is in copywriting, PR,
and marketing, and her articles have appeared in O the Oprah Magazine,
Huffington Post, Writer's Digest, Education.com, and more. Her Oprah article
was included in the anthology, O's Little Book of Happiness. Fliess has also
written stories for The Walt Disney Company. Her picture books have received
honors from the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators, have been
used in school curriculums, museum educational programs, and have even been
translated into French. She's a member of SCBWI and The Children's Book Guild
of DC. Sue lives with her family and a Labrador named Charlie in Northern
Virginia. Visit her at www.suefliess.com.
