Abilene is the Storybook Capital of America. Part of the reason for this is the annual Children’s Art and Literacy Festival, CALF.

That happened this last weekend and I was able to participate as part of the Write & Illustrate Your Own Storybook workshop. It was so much fun.

The children got to make up their own stories and the creativity in the room went wild.

On Friday: One wrote about a calf going to CALF! One wrote about a trip to the Eiffel Tower by a dog. One wrote about a cat getting lost and how the cat followed the owner around as she posted signs about the lost cat. Another favorite was “The Crazy Carrot.”

If they were stuck at the beginning, I would recommend turning the book over and writing the “About the Author” section and drawing their own picture. That got them moving.