Summer's a perfect time to show children that writing isn't drudgery. The school year's been packed with have-to writing, but for many children keeping a journal introduces pleasure writing. To this day I envy friends who still have their childhood journals! There are many new books to help you introduce the concept and show how many forms journals can take.
Journals can record the natural world. Jean Craighead George keeps a diary of three wolf pups in Look to the North (HarperCollins, $14.95; ages 6-10) and we see them grow from the moment they open their eyes to the time when they can lead the hunt. Their growth and their northern landscape is captured in beautiful paintings by Lucia Washburn and George compares the wolves' life events to those of children.
Journals can be a wonderful way to discover history. Lately some wonderful books have been published that are recorded in diary form.
Deborah Hopkinson's Birdie's Lighthouse (Simon and Schuster, $15.00; ages 6-10) is a journal kept by a young girl from the 1800's. She must leave her cat and move to lonely lighthouse, perched on barren rocks when her Papa becomes its keeper. Sensitive, poetic Birdie describes her adaption and the dramatic night when she must tend the lighthouse in a terrible storm while her father lies ill.
The youngest daughter of Russia's last tsar kept a more visual journal. Anastasia's Album (Hyperion, $17.95;ages 8-12) Pictures and letter excerpts recount her charmed royal life and later, difficult exile. Be warned that the book leaves nothing out from the elegance of Faberge eggs to the cruel execution of the royal family by the Bolsheviks.
Scholastic adds two new books to their historical fiction series which uses a journal form. New are The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell 1847 by Kristiana Gregory and The Diary of Clotee, A Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859 (both from Scholastic, $9.95; ages 8-12). Warning! These books seem so real young readers will think they're non-fiction.
The cover of Marissa Moss' Amelia Writes Again (Tricycle Press, $14.00; grades 3-6) looks a lot like a notebook. And the inside seems an accurate journal of a ten year old who glues treasured objects throughout and scratches doodles amid her writings about friendship, and the horrible burning of her school. And there's opportunity for children to keep their own in My Notebook (with help from Amelia) a journal with doodlings by Amelia that encourage your child's writing.(Tricycle Press, $9.95)
Jorah, the main character in Judith Caseley's Jorah's Journal (Greenwillow, $15.00; grades 2 and up) is unhappy about her move and the friends and school she's left behind. Her mother gives her a journal as a housewarming gift and she records all her misery and later, happier times.
Children can find fun and comfort in journals that provide a structure for their writing. For parents who want to inspire at home writing I recommend Dorling Kindersley's My Book About Me ($9.95; ages 5-7). Bright photographs and alluring questions inspire writing about family, home, school, friends, fun, favorite things, and secrets. This is a wonderful child-created treasure to capture a moment in time.
Sometimes journaling can be a great way to survive transition. Gabriel Davis' The Moving Book: A Kids' Survival Guide (Little Brown, $16.95; ages 7-10) combines journaling space with information and advice for before, during and after a move. You can write about old neighbors or give a guide to your new room. Everything in this book is child-centered and reassuring. Not only will this help transition, but it creates a wonderful scrapbook!
NC author Beverly Roman has written the game-filled Let's Make a Move: A Creative Visualiztion Activity Book for Children (BR Anchor Publishing, ages 5-8; $6.95, for ordering call 910-256-9598). The book organizes every phase of moving around word games, questions, and puzzles that will help the transition and even add some fun.
Children can learn the healing power of writing with Rachel Biale's My Pet Died (Tricycle Press, $7.95; ages 4-8). This a journal that a child could write alone or better yet, compose with a parent to move through the stages of grieving a pet's death.