by Clopha Deshotel
Let's start here by getting a grip on something. Every eleven-year-old blessed child will be twenty-one in ten years. Hold that thought.
The technology for their creative expression has been, and is being, improved at an alarming rate. Some of it has already caught their attention. God only knows what will be available this time next year.
Some of them are thinking now about becoming writers. Writers for this newspaper. Those brain cells are developing at the very moment you read this paragraph! Some will write scripts for the movies and TV programs which our grandchildren will we watching.
Where is this going? The American Library Association has given an award for outstanding children's books every year since 1922-the Newbery Award. As you read the brief description of their first, imagine having the author time-travel to a lecture on Historical Parallels and you could have the seed of a TV mini-series, or an Oscar-winning box-office hit.
The Story of Mankind by Hendrick Willem vanLoon: Speaking directly to the reader, the author provides a fascinating picture of history from cave peoples to 1920. Ideas, movements and people are more important than dates, and history is shown as something which builds upon itself.
If you are still reading this article, you must know a blessed child who has a desire to be a successful writer some day. Before the income-producing potential sends chills down your spine, give him/her enough money to buy the most awesome pen and journal of their choice. You may be renting one of their videos to watch with your grandchildren. Not only will it be decent, it will be divine.