Koala Lou: "She Loves Me. She Loves Me Not."

Creative Writing Tutorial No. 1.  This is for Quincy and everyone else interested in creative writing. There is no age limit.

Koala Lou: "She Loves Me. She Loves Me Not."

 

Sometime in 1990, I attended  a Creative Writing Workshop led by the award-winning Australian author Jackie French at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

            I adored Jackie French and I savored every word she said. But we had a conflict!

            I couldn’t see eye to eye with her regarding conflict. She told me in no uncertain terms that conflict there must be between my main characters. Stubbornly, I maintained that there wasn’t any conflict between them because they loved each other.

            How naïve of me!  How stupid!

            Just to be polite to Jackie French, the guest facilitator from Australia, I half-heartedly threw in a contrived conflict into my workshop story.

            Let’s fast-forward to 2013. My grandson asks why there’s always an antagonist who makes the life of the protagonist miserable. By way of a reply, I ask him questions.

            “If Harry Potter didn’t have an unloving and mean foster family – the Dursleys - would you emphathize with Harry as much as you do?

            “If Harry Potter didn’t have mean classmates and professors at Hogwarts School, would you have rooted for Harry as much as you have?

            “If Harry Potter didn’t have the meanest meanie of them all – Lord Voldemort – making his young life exteremely dangerous, would all of us have continued reading all seven books in the series?”

            Conflict, not love, makes the world go round.

            Having invented Harry Potter, the protagonist, and Lord Voldemort, the antagonist,  J.K.Rowling has made herself richer than the Queen of England.

            Conflict is a gold mine.

            What if it’s just an innocent picture storybook for children? Does it need conflict?  Very young children learning the alphabet and the numbers one to ten  don’t need conflict yet.

            But soon enough, conflict rears its ugly head into their young lives. It makes them appreciate conflict in the picture books read to them. (Sometimes, they ‘read’ the pictures by themselves.) Isn’t conflict the glue which holds together fairy tales? Don’t Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters make us love Cinderella more?

Let’s take the case of Koala Lou, written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Pamela Lofts. Koala Lou, the bear, was the first-born of her parents.  Mommy K loved her baby bear so very, very much. She always said, “Koala Lou, I do love you!”

Everybody loved Koala Lou. She was the superstar, the megastar, the diamond star. She was the center of the universe. She loved being loved by everyone, especially by her Mommy K who said all the time, “Koala Lou, I do love you!”

In Frame 5 of the book, conflict suddenly happened between Koala Lou and her Mommy K. How could that happen between mother and child? Between two people who loved each other?

Well, new baby bears had been born. Koala Lou had siblings and Mommy K had no more time to say, “Koala Lou, I do love you!”

Did Mem Fox, the author, put Koala Lou and Mommy K toe-to-toe like bulls in a bullfight?  No, Mem Fox didn’t. Aware that she had only 15 frames in which to develop her story, Mem Fox kept the spotlight on her main character, Koala Lou.

It was necessary to do so in order to develop the character of Koala Lou. How did Mem Fox make Koala Lou an interesting character to her readers? How did Koala Lou solve her problem? Did the conflict give her an opportunity to grow up? To shine? To discover her hidden talents and skills?

Koala Lou didn’t hate her Mommy K and her siblings. Instead, she resolved to make herself more lovable. She felt that if she could win in the Bush Olympics in the Bear Universe, she would become the center of the universe again for her Mommy K .

So Koala Lou trained long and hard for the Bush Olympics. On the day of the championship in gum-tree climbing, Koala Lou exerted every ounce of energy which she had. But it wasn’t good enough. She was only second best.

Koala Lou’s strategy to win back her mother’s love was a failure. Koala Lou was heart-broken. She went off somewhere to cry and be alone.

Surprise!  When Koala Lou crept home, Mommy K who had been waiting gave her a long, long hug and whispered, “Koala Lou, I do love you!”  

 

                 This surprise ending was in the last frame, of course. It is the most important frame because it shows the theme or message or moral lesson of the story without preaching.     

 

 

A Mother's Day Poem: "Something She'll Appreciate"

Something She’ll Appreciate

                                                           by Alyssa Jamela Dadayan
                                                              Draft 3, May 8, 2013

 It's Mother's Day today. What should I give Mom?                                                       

          I want something different,
          I want something special,
          I want something she’ll appreciate.
How about a card? With beautiful bright colors,
Shapes, and flowers in the middle.
How about a cake? Mom loves chocolate cakes.
Or a soft green pillow? She’ll love that.

But I have no materials for a colorful card.

I have no money for either a sweet chocolate cake or a pillow.
I guess I can’t give Mom a gift. All I can give her is LOVE.
But still, I want something different,
              I want something special,
              I want something she’ll appreciate.
I’ll just pick five red roses from our garden,
take off the thorns, tie them with a white ribbon.
And put a little note on it.
When she gets home, I’ll kiss her and say,
“I love you, Mom, very much!”
          That’s something different,
          It’s something special,
          It’s something she’ll appreciate.

Alyssa Jamela Dadayan's DRAFT 6

The Chair and the Table

by Alyssa Jamela A. Dadayan

 

Yesterday, 2013 April 16, was Alyssa's second session in Creative Writing. During the first session, she started drafting a dialogue poem by imitating the format of Shel Silverstein's "The Little Boy and the Old Man."  Alyssa is drafting a dialogue poem between a chair and a table. This is draft 6. Although it's still less than perfect, I think it is safe to publish it. Alyssa's only 12 years old right now. When she's older, I'm sure she'll have new insights and she may wish to revise one more time...

“I’m more useful than you!” said the chair to the table.

“No, you’re not!” argued the table. “I’m more useful than you!

“I have more uses than just sitting on.  

 

 I can make people feel more comfortable. 

 They can rest and relax on me!” yelled the chair.

“Well, the priest cannot proceed to the consecration 

  without me,” said the table proudly.

“People can stand and walk on me whenever 

  there’s an emergency!” screamed the chair.

“People can use me for their cooking preparations,” rumbled the table.

“I show position in society,” rattled the chair.

“I can save people’s lives as an operating table!” roared the table.

“Huh, looks like I have more uses than you, chair. 

 Goodbye!”  The table stormed out.

“Wait a minute, table,” said the chair sadly.

“Why?” asked the table.

“I’m so sorry, table. I’ve been so proud of myself.

  But I think it will be better if we work together,”

  said the chair with a hopeful smile on its face.

Imitating Shel Silverstein's Dialogue Poem

It's Summer 2013 in the Philippines. April and May are spring time elsewhere, but it's scorching summer in the Philippines! Some kids go to the beach, some kids go to the malls, and some kids take summer classes.

For the second summer, I'm offering speech and writing classes in my hometown, Nasugbu, Batangas. My host school is Adelaido A. Bayot Memorial School, Inc.

Alyssa Jamela Dadayan, an accomplished 12-year old swimmer with many medals won from many competitions, decided to stick to her Creative Writing Class even if she's the only student. Her would-be classmates had transferred to Academic Writing for practical reasons.

And so I decided to keep the Creative Writing Class even if I have only one student.

Our first session was on writing a dialogue poem. I don't lecture. I let my writing students dive into the pool immediately. And that's what I did with Alyssa. She's a be-medalled swimmer, after all.

However, Alyssa came right up gasping for air. Ooops, I'm getting ahead of my story.

How did I proceed? First, Alyssa and I did a dramatic reading of Shel Silverstein's dialogue poem, "The Little Boy and the Old Man."

Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man, "I do that too."
The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, "I often cry."
The old man nodded, "So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems
Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.   

After reading the poem, I told Alyssa to write her own dialogue poem between two persons or two objects. She said she'd write a conversation between a table and a chair. "Okay, you've got 15 minutes to write," I said.

In a manner of speaking, I threw her into the pool. And she came right up gasping for air. "I cannot think of what to write," she said. Her draft 1 was two lines long.

So I showed her how to do a mind map of the chair's uses and the table's uses. Then I gave her 20 minutes to work on her second draft. Afterwards, she said it was too long and sort of rambled. It was prosaic, not poetic.

I told her to choose only the more important ideas which means excluding the less important ones. I told her to work on draft 3. When she finished draft 3, she said she didn't know how to end it.

I asked her which one she wanted to win the argument between the table and the chair. Let the winner have the last say.

Her draft 4 was a pleasant surprise!  She said she didn't think she could finish a dialogue poem in one session. And she's very happy with the result. Alyssa's draft 4 is far from perfect, but already has the making of an original poem with an original message.

As soon as Alyssa's ready with her draft 5, I'll publish it in this blog. I'm sure you'll love it!

National Children's Book Awards:Philippines

Finally, a 'Best Reads List' for children

by Neni Sta. Romana Cruz

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz (nenisrc@gmail.com) is a member of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, the Foundation for Worldwide People Power, and a trustee of the Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation.

Ms. Cruz has graciously given her permission to re-post her article in this blog. It was originally published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on March 27, 2010.

AT LAST YEAR'S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS (NBA), the children's literature industry stakeholders were disturbed that the usual category for children's literature was not even in the line-up of contenders anymore, as it had been for many years before.

This was especially disappointing as the yearly output of publishers has been steadily increasing, encouraged by the growing public awareness of noteworthy Philippine titles for children and certainly boosted by the popular storytelling and read-aloud sessions by institutions like the Inquirer.

I am the first to admit that more titles do not always correspond to better quality; and I was awaiting the perfectly legitimate and acceptable-and yes, perhaps justified-reason from the Manila Critics Circle: that unfortunately, there was no book that met the standards of literary excellence for 2008. And what a helpful, though damning, statement that would have been for the genre.

No official reason was ever given or received. But moving from the endless conjecturing and the perils of sounding like sour grapes, could the category simply have been overlooked? That does not sound like the handiwork of a Manila Critics Circle-National Book Development Board (NBDB) collaboration.

Was it because for the first time, the NBA carried with it a cash prize aside from the coveted trophy by the year's invited artist? Was the children's literature category combined with or, horrors, subsumed by another?

The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) led by chair Zarah Gagatiga and secretary-general Ani Almario, Emily Abrera, RayVi Sunico and Karina Bolasco, sat down with NBDB executive director and booklover Andrea Pasion Flores to discuss where the industry could go from there.

And in typical Andrea fashion (pun unintended), a long held elusive dream of the multi-sectoral PBBY became a reality: the creation of the National Children's Book Award (NCBA), an NBDB-PBBY endeavor which will name not just one top book or the usual tiered roster of winners, but a "Best Reads List" of a maximum of 10 titles year after year.

Books selected for the year, after this initial 2010 competition, will be titles published in the preceding calendar year. The final selection will not be ranked. The board of judges is not compelled to name any minimum number of recommended reading titles should it not find any nominee deserving of inclusion.

NCBA captures much of PBBY's reason for being-to bring children and books together. What is essential to the organization is not only to encourage the writing, illustrating and publishing of quality children's books but also to make these known to parents and teachers, and the young readers who are the intended primary audience.

Finally, this looks like the beginning of the compilation of reading lists, requests for which we are endlessly besieged with.

This should also be the distinct recognition that the talents behind the production of an excellent book will finally be credited with.

The 1st NCBA has just officially begun, barely after the ink has dried on memorandums of agreement. This year's contest rules are condensed below:

1. Anybody, whether publisher, author or illustrator may nominate a children's/young people's book, fiction or nonfiction, for ages 0 to 19 published in the years 2008 and 2009. Not under consideration as yet are electronic books or textbooks.

2. The nominating party must be registered with the NBDB as publisher, author or illustrator.

3. The book must be authored by a Filipino citizen and may be written in English or Filipino. Books in other Filipino languages may be accepted, as specified in contest rules over the years.

4. The book must have been released to the public in the eligible years specified with proof of any of the following: delivery to a bookstore or a jobber; donation to a school or library; distributed to bookstores or entities that sell the book, including online distribution; produced or printed by an entity in quantities consistent with the act of publication.

5. Nomination forms have to be submitted for each title, along with seven copies of the book for the five-member board of judges.

Deadline for submission of all entries is April 15, 2010.

Nomination forms may be downloaded from the NBDB (www.nbdb.gov.ph) and the PBBY (www.pbby.org.ph) websites.

All submissions must be accompanied by a letter of nomination addressed to:

The Executive Director
National Book Development Board
2/F National Printing Office Bldg.
Edsa cor. NIA Northside Road
Bgy. Pinyahan, Quezon City
Subject: The National Children's Book Awards

Each selected title will be awarded a trophy. A citation from the board of judges for each book will be read during the awards ceremony.

The special logo for the NCBA was created by talented illustrator and former PBBY chair Totet de Jesus.

May the Best Reads List for 2010 --to be announced in July at a special awards program --open up young minds to worlds (and yes, words, too) beyond their ken and nurture discriminating, critical readers. We owe our youth that.

Reading Response Journal: The Little Prince

Nur Hasanah Binte Osman was a classmate of Yvone Koo. But I didn’t meet her in person until after four or five weeks into the semester. She was pregnant and was about to give birth when classes began in August 2009. So we made use of distance learning to the hilt.

When Hasanah did come to class in person to join her classmates, she blended easily and took part actively in group tasks. It seemed as if she had been there all the time because she had followed the course outline diligently and had done all the required readings and the learning tasks via our electronic learning platform.

I knew she was a competent student, but her sincerity and honesty were more admirable. In this reading response journal, she has a most intimate conversation with the little child in her.

“Something to Do, Something to Love,
Something to Hope For”

by Nur Hasanah Binte Osman


I discovered in this book that life is simple and the:
“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” – Joseph Addison

Truthfully, reading this book made me feel sad, disappointed and even made me question my actions in life. Am I like any of the characters that the prince mentioned? Is my love like that of the prince? Am I a good friend?

In this Reading Response Journal, I will illustrate the turmoil that I went through still searching for my answers and like the prince, I would “ . . . never in (my) whole life give up on a question once . . . I’ve asked it” and through this seeking journey, I discovered the “. . . secret, very simply: you can see things clearly with your heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Entry 1: In the Eyes of Grown-ups

“But the answer would always be: ‘That is a hat.’ In which case I would not talk to that person about boa constrictors, or virgin forests, or stars. I would place myself on their level. I would talk about bridge and gold, about politics and neckties. And the grown-up would be very pleased to have made the acquaintance of such a sensible fellow.”

Adulthood is a state of mind. Being an adult, most of us are trapped with our busy schedules and we become rather narrow-minded and single track-minded. I was taken aback when I first realized this. Nevertheless, when I looked back at my actions and reactions to my pupils and children, I had to agree.

There was an incident when I jumped in anger because a child had brought an empty can for his ‘show and tell’ activity. I did not want to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was only later that I realized there was a story behind the empty can.

As adults, we constantly make the mistake of rushing through our daily chores without stopping to think and see the beauty that children see. My little girl always points to a cloud to tell me stories of the animals formed in them. She always needs to explain to me in detail, as written in the Little Prince, “ Grown –ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children always and forever to be giving explanations” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, p6 ) .

I have to be more of a child.

Entry 2 : Looking with our Hearts

“If someone loves a flower, of which there is only one example among all the millions and millions of stars, that is enough to make him happy when he looks up at the night sky. He says to himself: “Somewhere out there is my flower.” But if a sheep eats the flower, it’s as though all the stars have suddenly gone out! But I suppose that, too, is of no importance!”(Antoine de Saint-Exupery, p 27)

I am often guilty of not loving with all my heart. At times, the selfish side wins over the better side of myself. I forget what is more important as I rush through my days. Only lately, with my newborn baby, have I discovered this love again. I realized the things that are more important in my life.

My family and friends are important to me. However, I have been taking them for granted. Work and daily tasks had seemed to overtake all that I truly love. I’d forgotten about my passion. As a teenager, I was an active community volunteer. It made me happy. Now, I suppose, this passion had taken a step back. It is sad, when our priorities have changed.

Life has to be simple as stated, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” (Confucius) If only we could see the beauty in the flower like how the prince had loved it.
If each one of us cared enough for the things that are truly important, this whole place would be different.

There would not be any concern for a dying planet. Children would not be abused. Hunger and poverty would be minimized. Humanitarian activities would be everybody’s job. Then we would be like the prince, “ . . .his loyalty to a flower, to the image of a rose, which shines inside him like the flame of a lamp . . .” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, p 77)

I have to love the simple things in life.

Entry 3: Time and Friendship

“One only ever understands what one tames. People no longer have the time to understand anything. They buy everything ready-made from the shops. But there is no shop where friends can be bought, so people no longer have friends.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, p 69)

This insight truly stood out for me. Friendship had been important as I was growing up. My friends were the ones I laughed with and confided in. I used to spend a lot of time with them. They were the ones who were always there by my side and were the ones who kept me warm on cold days that life has granted me.

I came from what most would say, a dysfunctional family. My father had two wives. My mother blamed us, her children, for her misery and arguments were a norm in my daily routine. It was then that friendship warmed me. It was also then I spent most of my time with friends.

It is disappointing that now I have to even check my schedule to meet up with those friends of mine. Talking about investing time on friendship? Perhaps, like what was mentioned by the fox, I no longer have friends.

I have to hope. . .

Reading Response Journal: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Yvonne Koo belongs to a group of full-time teachers who are doing part-time studies at NIE as part of their professional development. She took Children's Literature during the first semester of Academic Year 2009-2010.

In many ways, Yvonne reminded me of Quek Hsu Imm, an accountancy major who took Children's Lit as an elective in January- April 2009. Both Yvonne and Hsu Imm are quiet and unassuming. They're soft-spoken, gentle, and mild-mannered. Yvonne didn't quite register in my consciousness, unlike her outspoken classmates, until she wrote her reading response journal.

In addition to being a full-time teacher, she's also a full-time wife and mother. Thus, her response to the book she journeyed with is like an album of cherished photographs of her own childhood as well as her children's. It's written straight from the heart, and it's a great read!

Bridging the Generation Gap

by Yvonne Koo

inspire4less.com

Introduction

I first read “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret”, written by Judy Blume, when I was thirteen years old. When I picked the book up again for my reading journey after two and a half decades, I could not remember the plot but the title of the book has stayed in my memory.

Reading it again as an adult gives me new insights and brings back memories about my teenage years. It makes me think of the world my children will be living in as teenagers and the world I was in back then. It is going to be a vast difference. How can I bridge this gap?

Entry #1: Simple Joy

When Margaret held the envelope in her hand she was filled with curiosity. She did not know who sent her the letter and the suspense she experienced while opening the envelope was enormous. I held my breath together with her. I recalled having the same experience as her too. In my teens I enjoyed having pen pals – writing letters and making friends especially long distance friends.

I really missed those times when I could receive letters from friends. A true letter where secrets were written and a stamp pasted on the envelope and no one could open it except the addressee. What I receive in the mails today are junk mails and bills. I do not have the joy of receiving mails anymore like I did when I was a teenager.

It was such a nostalgic feeling when I read how Margaret felt before opening her letter. “I wondered who sent it. Wondering made it much more fun than ripping it open and knowing right away.” (Judy Blume, 1978, Pg 79) I had the exact feeling like Margaret as a teenager when I received letters from my pen pals from all over the world. There were much joy and excitement when the postman arrived at the doorstep delivering mails. I waited for him in anticipation.

However, it is not so now. My daughters received less than three letters in their ten years of existence. They do not know what pen pals are. They wonder why they need to mail an invitation card instead of writing an email or a short message service (SMS) to invite their friends to their birthday party. How sad indeed. I would like to rejuvenate the joy of receiving letters in my daughters’ lives by sending them a letter every school holiday. I hope they too will experience the “wondering” that I used to experience when receiving letters as a teenager.

Entry #2: We Reap What We Sow

It is beyond my comprehension how Margaret’s dad could be so rude to Margaret’s maternal grandparents. His body language and mannerism had outwardly shown to them that they were not welcome. His behaviour had affected Margaret in a negative way. She began to dislike her maternal grandparents even more.

Being brought up in a rather conservative Chinese family, filial piety is an important value my parents instilled in me. Being filial means respecting the elders at all times – no questions asked. My parents modeled this value to me by being excellent children themselves - respecting their own parents at all times even though they may not always be right.

Teenagers of this generation may not be able to tolerate the 'nonsense' of the older generation better than my parents or my generation. However, I still want my children to respect their elders as this is the basic value one should possess – respecting oneself and others. By modeling such value in front of my children, I hope they will in turn manifest such value in their lives. There should not be compromise when respecting oneself and others is concerned, but as modern parents I believe in giving a listening ear to my children rather than forcing my ideas and rights on them.

Entry #3: Being open-minded

Margaret was worried that she was not growing as fast as her peers. When she found out that she was not the last one among her peers to get her menstruation, she was elated. I find it strange, as I do not remember having been so excited about all these changes I had to go through during puberty. In fact I was ashamed of telling my friends and talking about such changes.

My twin daughters are in Primary 4 now. I grew up in an all-girls school and so are my daughters. The difference is, my girls are not ashamed of talking about such changes in their bodies. They talk about the topic on menstruating so freely even though I have not yet sat them down to have a serious chat.

I believe children of this generation are exposed to the media and internet at a much early age. They could get information almost instantaneously and such topics are no longer a taboo like what it used to be during my time. Parents are more educated and they find it educational to share such topics with their children at an early age. In order not to be seen as “old-fashioned,” I believe I have to take on such topics with confidence and without inhibition.

Conclusion

My daughters will be in their teens in two years' time. Even though we may come from two different generations, I hope I will be able to go into their world and understand them and they in turn will come into my world to learn from the experience I have gone through. I hope that the generation gap will not be grow wider as we age; instead, we will bridge the gap as we share the bond and love we have been building all these years.

Like Margaret, I would like to end this book journey with a prayer for this new teenage experience that both my girls and I will be going through.

“Are you there, God? It’s me, Yvonne.
I hope my daughters will enjoy their teenage years as much as I had enjoyed mine.
Protect the friendship and bond we have built together all these years during those times, God.
Thank you.”