Ok, so it may not come as a huge surprise to you, when I say that the untangible commodity called ‘imagination’, that we all have, is my most favourite thing in the whole wide world. Your imagination, costs nothing to obtain and use. You can take it anywhere and everywhere and you can use it whenever you fancy. It also happens to be my ‘right-hand-man’ so to speak, when it comes to writing my ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s series.
Like anything that you use all the time, you can take such things for granted. I am no exception to this, as I sometimes forget how truly remarkable our imagination is. That is until I am invited into a primary school and interrogated about all things writing-related, by thirty-five keen and eager children!
A particular reminder of the power of imagination, happened to me yesterday afternoon. I was fortunate enough to be invited into Ogbourne C of E Primary School in Ogbourne, Wiltshire, to read ‘Fearne Fairy And The Dandelion Clocks’ (book 8 in my Whimsy Wood series), to all their key-stage 1 children. Some mums and dads also popped in to hear the story, which was lovely.
Within this whimsical story, there happens to be a tongue-twister of sorts…..’super special, sore-head fixing, dandelion drink’, is the particular tongue-twister in question and it works especially well when there is audience participation! I’m delighted to say, that the Ogbourne Primary School children did not disappoint with their efforts and enthusiasm, where this mouthful of a sentence was concerned!
Following the story, there came a round of questions from these bright and lively children. All of which happened to be related to writing books and my ‘Whimsy Wood’ children’s series, which was a relief! Occasionally, children will throw you a curved ball question such as, “Why are you wearing that today Miss?” or, “My name’s Ben. Did you know that?” These random questions always tickle me and it’s this wonderfully free, almost left-field way of thinking, that I love about working with children!
Anyway, it was during this interrogation about writing and “What happens if you get stuck Miss?” kind of questions, that I fell into a very interesting discussion with a wee boy about badgers. Before we knew it and before everyone else’s very eyes, we had created a completely new character called ‘Boris Badger’, who was going to go on numerous adventures with Bear Grylls. They both eat grubs, so it seemed only sensible that they should be travelling companions! It was this nugget of mental gold. A snippet of shining brilliance, that was created in an instant and from absolutely nothing, that reminded me of how powerful and truly amazing our imagination is. 😊
On that note, I shall leave you with Albert Einstein’s thoughts on imagination and I shall wish you all a wonderfully whimsical and imaginative bank holiday weekend! 😉
Sarah Hill, children’s author and creator of The Whimsy Wood Series
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