Just for Children
beginning June 7, 2019
Hi Kids! The nice people who publish Fun for Kidz Magazine, https://funforkidz.com and the illustrator, Shannon Comins, have let me share this page with you, from Hopscotch for Girls (June/July, 1999 issue). They are interesting in publishing YOUR “artwork, poetry, and other creations,” so please check them out!
I will try to share more things with you in the future.
Yours truly,
Christie Waldman
Copyright 1999 Shannon Comins (illustrations) and Christina G. Waldman (poem). For permission to reprint or copy, contact Fun For Kidz Magazine.
April 13, 2020: What is a “Children’s Corner”?
One of my three children had a special place to sit and read. It was a warm, cozy corner, in the living room, between a bookcase and one wall, next to a heat register.
As a kid, I didn’t have an actual special “corner,” but I liked to read in bed, especially on weekend nights when I was allowed to stay up later than usual. Sometimes my parents would forget to check up on whether I had “finished the next chapter” and turned out the light. You probably know how it is when you are so engrossed in a story that you just have to find out what happens next. Before you know it, you are in the next chapter, and the next, and the next!
There was a song I liked in the 1965 television movie “Cinderella” that came out when I was seven. The lovely actress Leslie Ann Warren played Cinderella. She sang, “In my own little corner in my own little house, I can be whatever I want to be” (Here is a link to the words of the song from the Rogers & Hammerstein musical. http://www.songlyrics.com/rodgers-and-hammerstein/my-own-little-corner-lyrics/.).
Maybe your bed is your special place, or a fort you have made. It might be behind the sofa or a table covered by a blanket, making a tent, or a big cardboard box. Maybe you don’t leave it up all the time, but just for awhile.
Or, maybe your special place is a swing outside, or sitting on a branch of a tree, or a place where you like to walk. It can be anyplace that works for you.
This idea of having a special place where you can go to think your private thoughts, doodle and dream, read and imagine–whatever you want, really–is what I had in mind when I named this page the “Children’s Corner.” My wish for you is that you make your dreams come true.
April 5, 2020: (updated 1-21-21), “A New Twist on the Christmas Gum-Wrapper Chain: Use Foil Teabag Wrappers.” A recycling craft idea for all. https://christinagwaldman.com/2020/04/05/new-twist-christmas-chain-foil-teabag-wrappers/. I thought this idea would really take off, because: it uses something you would just throw away; the foil is shiny and pretty on the tree. These chains are stronger than the construction paper ones we used to make in grade school. If you can leave your project out and just do a little bit every day, (while your tea is getting hot, maybe), in no time at all you will have a chain for your Christmas tree!
April 20, 2020 (updated 10-11-22): “Pink Bunny Slippers,” composed and performed by Eliza Waldman (of Eliza Waldman & The Organix), with my accompanying story, “Molly’s Slippers.” https://christinagwaldman.com/pink-bunny-slippers-Molly’s-slippers. Eliza and I wrote this during the pandemic. We hope you enjoy it. Eliza composed the song when she was just ten years old. I’ve always liked it.
August 11, 2020. “Books to Beg, Borrow, but not Steal: Favorite Children’s Books,” https://christinagwaldman.com/2020/08/11/books-to-beg-borrow-but-not-steal-favorite-childrens-books/. These are just some of my and my children’s favorite books from a “few years'” back which have stood the test of time.
October 30, 2021. You can read my short story, “Something to Look Forward To,” online at Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things on October 27, 2021, https://read.emberjournal.org/. It is about a little girl who had to say good-bye to something that was important to her.
October 11, 2022. “Finger Puppet Shakespeare” by “Books and Questions.” I hear this is very popular! This is the website of someone I know and respect as a Shakespeare scholar who is also a talented performer. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ihT8831oUICFvVqaHORqw.
Sept. 5, 2023. My short story, “The King of Maragor,” a retelling of a Jataka folktale, was published at Skipping Stones, an international multicultural journal for young people online. You can read it there. It is under “Folktales.”
On November 5, 2022, the The Rochester Children’s Book Festival in Rochester, New York celebrated its 25th year anniversary. On Nov. 4, 2023, they will be back in their regular location at Monroe Community College. Check the website for details. There will be booths and author signings, chances for kids to meet their favorite authors. https://www.rcbfestival.com/.
Last updated Sept. 9, 2023.
I really liked this sentiment! You know how cruel young folk can be to others about this sort of thing, a matter also addressed in Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colours.
Thank you, Mary R!