“Do you remember, Wise Owl, that you and I came from a child’s imagination?” the Little Book Bird asked.
“Yes, of course I remember. You, me, and our adventures in The Book About Birds, Part 1 were imagined by a nine-year-old boy. What made you think about that?” the Wise Owl asked.
“Because I started thinking about it. It is unusual, isn’t it, that a whole book was born in a child’s imagination! And most importantly, that we appeared in it exactly as we are now. I like the way I look, and I like the way you look too. But imagine if we were not like this. What if we were not birds at all, but… little cats or little dogs? Or what if I were still a bird, but you were… a hedgehog? And what if I were not this pleasant blue color, but… orange?” The Little Book Bird could no longer go on calmly imagining different versions of herself, and she burst out laughing.
The Wise Owl laughed too. Then the Little Book Bird continued:
“Or what if I had long legs and kept tripping over the pages all the time! It is a good thing the boy imagined me exactly like this. Little. Bookish. And a bird.”
After laughing, the Little Book Bird added more quietly:
“But you know, Wise Owl, I am not only thinking about how we look. I am thinking about the fact that we might not have existed at all.”
The Wise Owl looked at her carefully.
“Yes, we might not have,” he said. “If one day a child had not imagined us, drawn us, and written down our first adventure, the LittleBookBirdAndWiseOwl world might never have begun. First, there was a child’s imagination. In it, you and I appeared, along with our first journey and our meetings with birds. And then all of it found its place on the pages of the book.”
“And now this world can continue in the imagination of other children,” the Little Book Bird added. “Do you remember how the Author told us that children’s ideas can inspire our future adventures? Every child can try to draw an idea for our next journey. Imagine you and me traveling across a strange island where all the trees are colorful pencils!” And she laughed cheerfully again.
“It could be a strange island,” the Wise Owl replied. “If a child imagines it. Our world began with a child’s imagination, drawings, and stories. That is why a child’s idea is not out of place here. It can become the first spark of a new adventure.”
The Little Book Bird thought for a moment.
“But not every child’s drawing will become a book right away, will it?”
“Of course not,” the Wise Owl answered calmly. “And not every idea will become a story right away. But that does not make it unnecessary. Sometimes a child’s drawing can suggest a direction. Sometimes – a mood. Sometimes – a question that an adult might not even think to ask.”
“Can a question begin an adventure too?” the Little Book Bird asked in surprise.
“Yes. Our new adventure can begin with a simple ‘what if?’ What if the Little Book Bird and the Wise Owl fly somewhere they have never been before? What if they meet someone they have never seen before? What if someone draws a new story for them?”
The Little Book Bird listened to the Wise Owl so carefully that she did not even move her little wings.
“In LittleBookBirdAndWiseOwl, a child’s imagination was not only there at the beginning of the first book,” the Wise Owl continued. “It can appear again – in new children’s drawings. That is why our books have a special page where a child can draw an idea for the next adventure. Not just color in a finished picture, not just complete an activity, but suggest where the Little Book Bird and the Wise Owl could go next.”
“Yes!” the Little Book Bird chirped happily. “It is not just an empty page. It is a place where our new journey can begin! And even a small child’s idea can find its place there!”
“Exactly,” the Wise Owl added. “In our books, a child not only reads a finished adventure, but can also leave an idea for it. LittleBookBirdAndWiseOwl is a world where a child’s imagination finds its place.”