Fluid

 I wish I was a Crocodile,
Wearing green and a Winsome smile,




Not a half, or even quarter,
I'd get to spend ALL day in water!


Last year my local library ran a competition to write a book for 'Children's Book Week' and I thought I'd be up for the challenge and put together a whole book in less than two weeks. The illustrations were pen, pencil and marker cut and pasted (not using crtl C and V but actual scissors and glue! Just like the olden days!) on to coloured card pages. Even the text (which all rhymed) was printed out, cut into strips and pasted onto the pages.
The book was called 'I Wish I was...' and in it various kids discuss what creature they would like to be (butterflies, Orang-utans, Mountain Goats) and what was so appealing to them about that creature. Then in answer a more adult voice (who, for some reason did not have the same extensive vocabulary that the children seemed to display) gave more realistic options that took into account the young persons' passions, ie, helicopter pilot (to fly like a butterfly), eat vegies and exercise (to grow up big and strong like an orang-utan) or mountain climbing.
The future is fluid, no telling what a child can become. But they tell me what you admire in others is inherent in you. Think about the people who are your heroes. What do you admire about them? The qualities that you admire in them is in you too, although maybe not in such a developed way. The children in my story admired certain characteristics in different animals, and this can easily become part of their own character in some way.
Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were five? As I say life is fluid, it ebbs and flows, and does not always run a straight course. But it finds a way...
I wanted to be a Toymaker when I was 5. I still think that would be a very cool thing to do!
 

A Crocodile's a fine ambition,

but there's better ways to be,

If swimming is to be your mission,

Try Marine Biology!

PS. I won! And that has encouraged me to take my illustration and story telling more seriously, and my other ambition at the age of five - to write a book - is a lot closer to reality now!