capri0mni | Whew! Rough draft done!

In this post, here, I mentioned I was trying to write a story based on Goodnight Moon for a toddler boy (between 2 and 3) with limited language skills. Frankly, I've been procrastinating, because as he gets older, the more he'll be able to understand, and I won't have such a limited pallette to work with.*

Luckily, the grandmother who commissioned the piece, says she has a friend who can illustrate it. So my draft is just basically a scaffold for those pictures, which I can paste into the document when I print it up.

So anyway, here's that draft -- my suggestions for pictures are in blue.

In the great, dark sky
there were stars and the moon
and a breeze that whispered through the trees:
"Morning comes soon."

And under that sky, in a house snug and neat,
everyone was sound asleep.

The boy was sleeping under his quilt.
The kitten was sleeping on the window sill.

The mouse was sleeping in his mouse hole.
The goldfish was sleeping in his fish bowl.

The old dog was sleeping on the cool kitchen floor,
and outside the house, beyond the front door -

A butterfly slept in the flowerbed. (maybe a picture, here, of a butterfly sleeping on the underside of a flower's leaf)

The black and white cow slept in the cow shed.

The rooster was sleeping, and so was the hen.

The goat was sleeping in her pen. (With a pile of rocks in the enclosure)

The little brown pony was asleep by the rail,
near five sleeping piglets, with funny curled tails.

The wild birds were asleep high in the trees,
When the first ray of sunlight warmed up the breeze.

The breeze started singing: "Morning has come!
Won't you join me in dancing, and join in the fun?"

"Good morning, birds -- time to flutter your wings,
open your beaks to twitter and sing!"

"Good morning, piglets! Jump up on your toes!"

"Good morning, pony, with your velvety nose!" (maybe with a picture of the pony sniffing a flower, here)

"Good morning goat, with a beard on your chin!
Climb high on the rocks, for it's time to begin."

"Wake up, hen and rooster! Start clucking and crowing!"

"Wake, Mrs. Cow, taste the sweet grass that's growing!"

"The flowers are blooming, with colors so bright. Good morning, butterfly! Wake up and take flight!"

"Good morning, old dog, curled up by the door. Drum with your tail, thumpa-thump on the floor!"

Good morning, Goldfish, swim 'round your bowl."

"Good morning, wee mouse, peek out from your hole."

"Good morning, kitten, it's now time to play!"

"Good morning, my boy!"

"And Good Morning, Day!"

Now, I can deposit that check she sent me (and start playing with a plot bunny) with less guilt)

* (Writing for very young kids is kind of like trying to build structurally sound house using only two-by-fours, a hammer, and nails -- you have to really know what you're doing. Maybe I'll update my brochure again, and say that my stories are for kids 6 and up -- the age where they can sit an listen for a while)