This post came from my first Kickstarter Campaign — and I’m giving it a permanent home here — enjoy!
I learn through stories. When I first meet someone, it’s not usually long before I pester them to hear their backstory. Or if I’m processing through some emotional healing, hearing someone else recount how they navigated their path helps me to gain my own footing. I’m also a fan of gaining wisdom and learning from other people's successes and failures — and stories are consistently a vehicle for that in my life.
I also think stories are just super fun. The characters! The settings! The predicaments! The uncanny solutions! And if it’s an illustrated story, I love seeing how an artist interprets the words (their own or another’s) and breathes visual life into the thing. It’s an adventure every time I open up a new picture book for the first time. There’s nothing like it. I tend to buy used library books, and whenever the kids see a new little stack of old books on the coffee table — an explosion of backpacks, shoes and stinky socks fly into the air as they beeline to the stack. They definitely caught the bug.
And while I get that the cheesiness factor can sometimes be completely off the chart — I especially love musicals. There I said it. Extra especially in person — having all of the awesomeness of the story brought to life visually AND set to song and dance. Scenes from musicals stick with me like they’re soaked in super glue. And I’m always in awe at the planning, training and skill involved in pulling together a cast, tech and everything needed to perform something live as a team. Amazing.
Oral tradition alone makes it clear that learning through story isn’t new. And while I don’t want to spoil any of Lulu’s story, I will tell you that Lulu herself learns through stories. Friends, old and new, come across her path and one by one their stories awaken courage in Lulu’s heart “to be brave, to be herself — the very best beaver she can be.”
I look forward to the day when stinky socks are exploding into the air all over the place as kids get to meet Lulu for the first time. My deepest thanks to each of you for helping to make that dream a reality. I can’t do this without you.