Last week, Thursday I think, was Dr. Seuss's birthday. My daughters' school celebrated by inviting students to bring in their favourite Seuss book. My older daughter's class spent time on seussville.com, learning that Dr. Seuss's real name was Geisel and, best of all for them, making up stories using Seuss characters. Site visitors choose characters, backgrounds and music and get four panels to develop a story. My older daughter spent hours this weekend making up silly dialogue for Horton, the Who Mayor and others. Every ten minutes or so I was called to the computer so she could giggle through, er, read me another story.
Her stories were deliciously silly. She didn't need encouragement to keep going. I piled it on anyway.
But inside I was dubious, like a mother who won't allow her child to have a colouring book because it might somehow stifle creativity. (I've never banned colouring books. Turns out my two would rather draw their own pictures anyway.) What? Making up dialogue for someone else's characters? Isn't this, well, cheating somehow?
Then a great hammer came and hit me on the head. Or at least it should have.
One, my daughter's a child.
Two, the seussville.com story maker is play.
Like making up dialogue for Star Wars action figures. Or for your plush toys. Or your Barbie dolls.
Or for Achilles and Odysseus.
Gotta play more.
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