Writing a Children's Story - The Gift (just for the kids)

Assignment: Write an 8-10 page children’s story. (4U students may aim for 12-14 pages).
Make your story an adaptation of an adult story. In order to deal with mature themes you will need to adapt (rather than omit) some elements.
Consult the chart above for ideas on how to (and how not to) construct it in such a way that it will appeal to children.
Include 4 major and 4 minor graphics. *If you are artistically challenged, you may trace your visuals. You may not cut and paste.
Write your story first–about 600 words is suitable



The Gift is a movie that was released in the year 2000, based on the events of a murder witnessed by a woman's fortune-telling. It's a thriller of which anyone could be the killer, they all have motives. In this rewrite that I am going to produce an animal-theme story that doesn't have death, but a kidnapping. This is my personal version of the film, without the vulgarity and nudity that may have gotten you stricken with horniness.



the Gift - the animal version

There once was an elephant named Annie,
who had quite a large fanny.
With ears so large
that she was in charge
of the village's safety brigade.

Annie had the largest ears of all the animals in the entire village. She could hear from here and there and everywhere else. Almost all of the animals liked Annie, except for Donnie the mole.

Donnie was stepped on while digging into the ground. He also had a wife named Valerie the mole, who was also a friend of Annie's. Valerie did not like what Donnie had to say about Annie."That elephant is up to no good!" as he would cry, "Her ears are so large that I can't get some privacy." As he would get angry, Valerie would just go out to visit Annie. What Annie would hear were the many voices and sounds that flowed throughout the village, stories, jokes and even secrets. She would tell the jokes to make people smile and laugh, but the secrets she heard were kept secret from others.

Annie had three elephant sons, Miller, Mike and Ben. They all liked to cause trouble and get into fights, until their mother has to put them in time-outs. One day, Annie had to see the school principal, for one of the boys started a food fight.

She said to the principal "Mr. Collins, I heard that you wanted to see me." Mr. Collins started at for a moment and then burst out with a laugh. After seconds of thinking of why he was laughing, he fell out of his chair as he dropped his hat. He finally stopped laughing and got back in his chair, he licked his whiskers and groomed his hair.

Mr. Collins then told Annie what Ben had done. She told him that he's upset because he lost his pet frog. While these two were talking, Ms. King walked into the room. Mr. Collins got up and walked over to Ms. King and asked "Hello Jessica, can introduce you to Annie?" Ms. King waved to Annie as she stepped out to get Ben.

That night, as Annie's three boys were sleeping, she walked to their beds, she said "goodnight" and gave them each a kiss on the head. After she went to bed, she awoke at 1 o' clock after having a bad dream. She thought she heard a scream from outside, but she laid in her bed and then didn't sleep a wink. In the morning as she woke up her three boys, she heard the phone ring as she stumbled past the toys.

Annie picked up the phone and said "Hello", there was a long silence and then she heard a voice. "Who is this?" Annie asked, "Annie, I am Mr. Johnson. I'm calling to tell you the missing of a Ms. Jessica King." Annie was shocked, "Did you say, Jessica King?" she asked quietly. Mr. Johnson answered "Indeed I did, ma'am. I heard that your ears can help us out in our search to find Ms. King." About half an hour later, Mr. Johnson came to Annie's home. He made a light knock on the door, nobody had heard it, so Mr. Johnson had to knock louder so that someone could hear that somebody is outside.

After a couple minutes of waiting, Annie finally noticed that someone was waiting outside, so she answered the door. She had looked around, but nobody was in sight. She heard a voice, but couldnt see anybody, "Down here" said Mr. Johnson. He was a rather short skunk, with a shiny gold badge and a small slingshot.

"May I come in, Annie?" Mr. Johnson asked. Annie said "It's kind of early for you to be on duty, isn't it?", Mr. Johnson replied "There never is the time to rest for the town sheriff." Several hours later, the search for Jessica King had gone throughout the entire town and throughout the forest. The search had gone on for about five days and six nights, without any luck.

At 10 o' clock the very next day, the search got to Donnie and Valerie's home and Donnie was not happy to hear about this. Donnie argued with Mr. Johnson that he can't search his home. Mr. Johnson said "As sheriff and head of the search team, I have full rights to search around your home for clues to Jessica King's whereabouts."

In the pond out front the water started to bubble, they all gathered around and stared. "Do you think she's in there?" Annie asked, Mr. Johnson said "I'm not sure, but we need to check if we haven't found her yet." All of a sudden, the bubbling had stopped, they all looked at each other. A small fish popped out from the water and the search team sighed.

Annie heard a sound from behind her and she called out "I think I know where Jessica is." She pointed her trunk towards an old tree and then they heard a scratching sound. The animals scratched and ripped away at the tree bark until it broke open. A mountain of acorns and walnuts spilled out, and on top of that was Jessica King, who was blindfolded. Jessica's father ran over in shock and cried out for her and then he threw his arms around her to hug.

As Donnie came up, he noticed all of the nuts scattered across the ground. He noticed that they found Jessica and he saw that his tree was falling apart. "What is this?" He asked, Mr. Johnson walked over to Donnie and said "Donnie Barksdale, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Jessica King."

When they got to the Sheriff's office, Mr. Johnson asked Donnie some questions. "Did you kidnap Jessica King?" Mr. Johnson asked, Donnie answered "No, someone set me up." "Who do you think would try to set you up?" Mr. Johnson asked as Donnie looked at Annie. He said "I think that Annie did it." Mr. Johnson was starting to get angry, he walked over to Donnie and said "Mr. Barksdale, we have evidence that Annie was at her house at the time of the kidnapping."

Valerie walked into the Sheriff's office and told Mr. Johnson where he was that night. He turned to Donnie and chuckled "Mr. Barksdale, your wife here just told me where you were that night. You weren't at home, but you were out with Ms. Jessica King." Everyone else in the room had gasped, but Donnie didn't react to it. Donnie then told Mr. Johnson that he wasn't the kidnapper. Mr. Johnson said "Donnie, you had something to do with Jessica at the same time that she was kidnapped. Now, what is it?" Annie looked at Mr. Collins, who was starting to sweat and she thought that he might be hiding something. Annie then stood up and interrupted Mr. Johnson, "Mr. Johnson, I believe that Mr. Collins has something to say."

Everyone turned to the nervous Mr. Collins and asked him to tell them what he might know. After this long pause, he finally spoke "I kidnapped Jessica." Everyone except Annie and Mr. Johnson gasped, "Why did you kidnap Ms. King, Wayne Collins?" asked Mr. Johnson. Mr. Collins said "I saw her and Donnie outside of the school at 12:30 at night. He was giving her nuts, acorns and walnuts, acorns and walnuts, ACORNS AND WALNUTS!" Annie told Mr. Collins to calm down and then he continued, "After waiting for Donnie to leave, I had snuck up on her, tied her up and pushed her into the back of my car. I drove to Donnie's house and placed her inside the old tree after filling it with acorns and walnuts." Mr. Johnson put hand cuffs on Mr. Collins and said "Wayne Collins, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Jessica King."

Annie left the Sheriff's office and all of the other animals yelled out "Annie, you're a hero!" as they tried to lift her off of the ground. What these animals didn't know was that she was really heavy and they couldn't hold her up. They ended up dropped her and she landed on all of them as they got squashed to the ground.

the End

Journal #6

Write about a person or people you look up to or have learned from. These could be people who have become famous historically, celebreties or even people you know or are related to. You might admire their accomplishments, their personality traits or their values. How did you learn about this person? What makes him or her remarkable? How does knowing about this person impact who you are as an individual?

I am not the kind of person who looks up to other people, but I like to hear the background story of certain individuals in their writing or of an actor's background. For example: C.S. Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, was a christian. Now in perception, the lion Aslan was Narnia's protector and was willing to sacrifice himself to save Edmund, but yet able to come back in even less time it took for Jesus Christ to rise from the dead. Now, after seeing that, it made me wonder what he was thinking while he wrote this, Jesus was dead for approximately 3 days, as Aslan was dead for one night. I mean, years ago I thought that he was actually trying to surpass Jesus in a way that leaves many with their jaws hanging open. Now in this time, I had the idea to create character based on this discovery who was just invincible and all-powerful in every way and form, even in the most unusual ways. This character came to be known as the Happy Lion, the one who rules over gods and yet he never truly dies, as physical contact with his corpse allows him to come back to life. For this little nugget of reality was sprouted into a whole new character, I have been quite amused after watching The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

Another person who I have interest in is Jim Carrey, the so called 'man of a thousand impressions'. I mean, if you have the mind to focus carefully, most of his work is the same thing, but it isn't all too bad to repeat yourself in each film. My favorite Jim Carrey film is Cable Guy, it's about a crazed stalker who goes about after his 'client' with the identity of Chip Douglas. You never get to find out his name throughout the movie and that's how it should be. I've once been told that Jim Carrey was bi-polar. Yeah, two faces are better than one in the sense that you got TWO TIMES THE FUN!!!!!!!

If you have ever heard of the 'Angry Video Game Nerd' (James Rolfe), he is a critic that reviews games and some movies, but if you you heard of him, you may know about the Irate Gamer.

The Irate Gamer (Chris Bores) is an imitator of AVGN, and reviews some of the same games in the process, he even stole some of his dialogue and used it in some of his reviews. Anyways, there's an old philosophy that remains men to this day, but this expression is used for the case of girlfriends, wives, etc. This expression I have in mind is "Never cross swords."I am not too fond of other people's work being taken credit for by other people, unless if they manage to mix it up as something new. The Irate Gamer ignores that and plays forward as the cheap imitation of AVGN, causing a lot of angry viewers, so why does he do it?
I've just come to the thinking that it's more of a popularity thing, just to sell his roundness on the internet. But what I have come to learn from Chris Bores was that you gotta do what he's not doing, being yourself, as a bigger and better person. It's kind of weird to find something good out of someone you don't like because it really lets you to get a hold of who you really are.

Journal #5

The concept of childhood as we understand it is a product of 19th Century Victorian ideals. Prior to that time, there was no general sense that there was any particular need to shelter children from the unpleasant side of life. Children were put to work as soon as they were able. Almost two hundred years later, we have a sense that children should be almost entirely sheltered until they reach sufficient age. In our society, full adulthood is often delayed until individuals are well into their twenties.What is your take? Do we overprotect our children? Feel free to reminisce about your own childhood and to speculate about the kind of parent you think you will be based on your convictions.

These are all interesting questions, the true answers lie in the parent's actions. This also applies to the parents' parents, and so on. Now, they may be trying to act the same or act differently from their parents, just like my old man pretty much. My dad says that we're almost exactly alike, but I can never seem to find that actual connection, I draw and he never does, except for rough blueprints. He believes that he knows everything about me, but really he doesn't (not in a bad way). What he did know was that I could handle stuff on my own, without any major problems. My mom is just another story, she knows almost nothing about me and seems to criticize every time I take a breath (okay, not exactly THAT much). If she sees me writing or drawing something, she asks about what it is, but then it just gets thrown off course. She acts almost like a critic on my everyday life and I'm not kidding...

Yes, I know a critic is not out to get you, but this woman just crams the biggest load of crap down your throat and expects you to swallow it, overprotective much?


Here's what I'm getting at, as a parent, you gotta balance being with you kids and allowing them to function on their own as well. I mean that if you're with you too much, they become dependent of you and if you spend too little time with them, then they're not going to listen to you. Don't hover over kids, it just takes away their sense of privacy and convenience, which makes them respect you just a little bit more. When parents ask themselves what wrong happened to their kids, they're the partial blame in the scenario.

I do admit that I am a pest to my parents, but why else would I be like that? The problem for myself is mainly my mom, my dad only pops in on occasion to bark at me for something that
I did wrong or what I'm being accused of.

Journal #4

“Free Writing”

For some people, free writing is more difficult than having a topic assigned. For this reason, I suggest keeping a list of ideas for a rainy day somewhere in your Writer’s Notebooks.

Keep in mind that any topic is fair game as long as you do your best to write about it reflectively. I’ll discuss the whole business of reflective writing below.

Describing an experience or writing factually about a topic is what I refer to as “surface level” writing. You can be interesting, accurate, funny and informative, but ultimately you are leaving some of your subject unexplored.

Reflective writing attempts to go beyond the obvious aspects of a topic. It is a way of looking at your subject from different angles and exploring alternate points of view. Good journal writing is a balance of “surface level” and reflective writing.

I've never been the smartest or the coolest kid, but the loner among all others. I have had many friends who came and went, but do they really remember me at all? Probably not. I mean, of course, I can remember people who I haven't seen since I was just a kid, but it seems that nobody can remember me. It's another one of those common traits about me, 'easily forgettable' because I just haven't been around anybody long enough for them to be aware of my own existence. Kind of sad, really, living some sort of empty life.
I have this one childhood memory, which some people may have experienced, but in a different situation. I was eight-years-old and I got lost..... in the woods. Yes, it was the St.John's hiking grounds and I got lost because I was a loser at the time, seriously, I hated life when I was eight. After roaming around for about six hours alone on the trails, I noticed that as it got colder, I became more afraid, more afraid of staying alone for the rest of my life. Just the thoughts that I was thinking that I would have nobody to be with as I got hungry, thirsty and needed to take a leak. Taking a leak was an easy thing, just piss somewhere along the path and there, the tank is empty. Getting food was another thing, unless if you wanted to be like Yogi Bear and steal some picnic baskets, only to get yelled at by the person whose basket you attempted to steal, stupid bear... go eat some bear food. That experience has left a certain little thought drift through my mind and that is "Wherever you are, you are always alone." That statement has never been false to me because nobody can get to know the real me, even if I've known them for years.

Journal #3

"The Irony of Education"Why is it that in North America we (as a society) seem to take education for granted? In other countries students will take any opportunity they can get to improve themselves. In our society, educators sometimes have to take extreme measures to perform their function.

Maybe it is that we can tend to underestimate the potential that we can receive from our education system. What we (the learners) have a problem with is the idea of where we can actually use the information that we are getting from it. We do not understand where to use it and surely do not know how to make it right, for some of the students out there. That's the problem right there, do students really care about the education? Not always, kids just try to breeze through with that one thought "Oh, who cares if I failed this class? I won't need this for anytime in the future." That's one of the weaknesses to the student's mind, If they can't get something in the first try, they just give up.

Another source of problem can rest within the teacher. Not all teachers are bad, but within a random flock of teachers, there can be a defective one. The 'defective' teacher does not really care what it is that the student does or doesn't do, why not? Maybe the teacher gave up on them or maybe they just really don't want kids to succeed. The defective teacher's side of the story is never told, but in general, would it really matter? Probably not, take this into consideration but don't judge teachers by the way they teach, they just go by different forms of approach. If you happen to have a bad teacher, switch to a similar class to a teacher who is willing to help you out.

One Act Radio Play - True Feelings of the Hero

Task: Write a 4 page (radio play) in which you use 2-3 characters to introduce some sort of a problem and work it through to some sort of a resolution.

Avoid using a narrator.


True Feelings of the Hero - One Act Radio Play by Kyle Lowe

[Alarm clock sounds as a groaning sound rises, then fades. It is 7 o' clock in the morning]

Drake:
Ugh, what the hell happened here? (Footsteps can be heard while rustling through beer cans on the floor) Alex! Alex!..... Alex! Where's my toothbrush? (pounds on door)

[Door opens and a young man, about 20 years of age enters, slightly dazed.]

Alex:
(Yawns) What is with all this racket?

Drake:
I know I left my toothbrush in your room?

Alex:
In my room... Now, why would your toothbrush be in here?

Drake:
Well, just between you and me, I just so happen to sleepwalk through people's bedrooms with my toothbrush in my mouth.

Alex:
(Scratches head) What are you trying to say?

Drake:
Take a look, see anything interesting?

Alex:
(Confused) Wait here.

(Closes door, then opens the door several seconds later)

(Screaming) What the hell is that?

Drake:
(Laughs) Ooh, let me see! (Floor creaks) I believe that is called a Creeper.

Alex:
(Still screaming) Why is there and old man sitting on my chair?!?!?

Drake:
Funny story actually. You see, this guy was following me around last night and I mean, (Chuckles) he was persistent. The point is, he promised that he wasn't a pervert. Can we keep him? (Excitedly) I always wanted a pet. I'll feed him and change him and I'll tell him goodnight stories and lets not forget, give him his medication.

Alex:
Normally, I try to ignore all of the shenanigans that you get yourself into, but I cannot take having an old man staring at me constantly while I'm trying to sleep at night!

Drake:
(Discouraged) So I can't keep him? What if I got another bed so you two can share a room?

Alex:
(Screaming) Get him out of here!

Drake:
Alright. (Starts walking away and then walks back over) On one condition!

Alex:
(Sighs) What is it?

Drake:
We're both reasonable men right? If I do what you want, you gotta do something for me.

Alex:
(Annoyed tone) Mhmmm... So what do you want?

Drake:
I want you sir, to find the one responsible for the theft of my toothbrush.

Alex:
(Pulls out a comb and combs his hair) What makes you so certain that somebody would walk in between the time that you were sleep walking and now to steal a toothbrush?

Drake:
Trust me, I know A LOT of people who are sinister to steal one man's toothbrush. It is an absolute threat.

Alex:
(Sarcastic) What kind of person steals toothbrushes?

Drake:
(Stomps on floor) Dentists, men in trench coats, men with poor oral hygiene and even...

(Taps on window)


Alex:
(Flustered) Drake, a window cannot move on its own.


Drake:
No, not that. Crossing guards.

[Enter a young woman, about 20 years of age. She is completely unaware of the conversation.]

Crossing guards are the greatest evil that the world has come to know!

Michelle:
Did I come at a bad time?

Drake:
(Loudly) Yes you did! (Slams desk)

Alex:
(Sighs) Okay, I've heard enough. Good luck getting your toothbrush.

[He exits. Door closes.]

Drake:
(Whispering) Now, I am following a suspect who may have the information to the whereabouts of my toothbrush. Please be warned, she may be armed and dangerous.

Michelle:
You know I can hear you, right?

Drake:
Oh, your good... (Snaps fingers) So, you think that you're innocent. Well, let's see how innocent you really are. (Clicks pen) Where were you on the day of today?

Michelle:
(Laughs) All of this for a toothbrush? You really freak out over the simplest things.

Drake:
(Yelling) I do not!

Michelle:
You want your toothbrush? Just look in the bathroom.

Drake:
(Loud footsteps) Finally! (Hits the wall)

Michelle:
After I'm done with it... (Laughs)

[Door closes and she exits. Then the shower is turned on.]

(Drake's footsteps can be heard and the sound of couch springs as he sits down)

Drake:
(Calmly) Hello out there, I'm Drake. I'm sorry you had to hear that, but that is something called life. You may be wondering what I did last night and that would be (awkward pause) that would be life as well, apart from the old man who I brought home. That old man, he represents (pause) okay, there's nothing too special about him, he is just a complete stranger I let into my house. Now, you may be asking yourself, "What the hell was he thinking?" There's a little old saying that I go by and that is 'Open your heart to those around you, treat them with care' and 'When your toothbrush goes missing, hunt for it.'

[Door opens and Alex enters]

Alex:
You're still looking for that thing?

Drake:
(Starts to cry) ...Yeah.

Alex:
Need my help?

Drake:
(Excited and yelling) Do I ever!

Alex:
You're sitting on it.

Drake:
What? What am I sitting on?

Alex:
(Smacks) You're sitting on your toothbrush!

Drake:
Oh. (Chuckles) My bad.

Alex:
Got that right.

[He exits]

Drake:
Oh Brushy, I missed you! I don't ever want to lose you again. (Footsteps, followed by the opening of a door) I'm Drake, I'm an idiot, so try to teach me slowly.

[Door closes and Drake exits]

the End

Journal #2

"The Pen is Mightier than the Sword"

Writers have an extraordinary potential to change people's minds and to create revolutions. Reflect upon some of the radical changes that have been wrought by such texts as The Declaration of Independence, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and The Communist Manifesto. What issues or topics are you interested in exploring in your writing? What changes do you feel are worth making?

I believe that words, if used correctly and effectively, can be used to express one's feelings and beliefs. Within a story or text, the writer focuses on description, creating colour in what they write, making it easier to visualize what the author wants the reader to get out of it. Without this key element to writing, the visualization becomes more vague and harder to see what exactly that the reader is trying to tell us.

Now, what I'm interested in the methods that writers tend to use in their writing style, seeing where they get their ideas from. There is a question that might be asked, "Did you receive this idea from someplace or from a personal experience?" The mind behind the writer is something vast, possibly complex in general and a useful tool to the terms of which it is manipulated. I believe that from a story based on personal experiences, we can use it as a backbone or a spine to what we are willing to create, using it as a base which we can rearrange and change it up for a better written format. That is something i want to take a deeper look into, along with trying out some of the ideas on given themes in class.

Journal # 1

“Write what you know”The first rule of writing is to “Write What You Know.” What do you know? What are the experiences, settings, topics, issues, genres, themes and characters that you feel you can comfortably write about?What are the experiences, settings, topics, issues, genres, themes and characters that you are interested in enough to research in order to write about them more effectively?What are your limitations? In other words, what topics do you feel unknowledgeable about and think you should avoid?

Well, I have produced a series of characters that I feel comfortable to write about. In my spare time, I work on a game series line of characters, maps, items and more out of the ordinary that comes to offer. With each and every character that I had made so far, has been made 'special' and unique, each bearing a set of personal qualities, strengths and weaknesses. Characters can be clever at times or ever so dim-witted at their moments to shine, here to provide a handy comic relief. If they are the courageous hero or the sinister villain, they always seem to bring their motive out before them, even if the motive is the dumbest thing that you will ever hear.

I believe that I appear to lack the ability to successfully maintain one emotion over an extended period of time (or dialogue), I know how to produce it, but I can never seem to make it last for a given extra few minutes. For this weakness in my works comes around every once in a while, I always have to use a little bit of this comic relief just to keep it rolling without getting the more serious problems. The characters used in the situations tend to possess a alternative route within the plot line, based on their personality and actions. The hero defeats the villain, but maybe the villain may return... in some way or form. Taking that in mind, I would rather enjoy learned more about what I could do in order to make the characters that I made do something in greater detail, broadening the perspective.