May 26, 2017
A Princess Story For Jaquline
Jaquline loves to read. As a toddler she loved snuggling with me and reading “a princess story” (what she called any story with a girl in it). Her favorites were “A Little Princess,” “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” “Angel and the Ring,” and so many others (I think everything was her favorite, although we read “A Little Princess” more than most). She loved reading the Long Tail stories, the Five Alive stories, and loved my retold Bible stories like “The Living God.”
Once she curled up and asked, “Mommy, what’s your favorite fairy tale princess story?”
It’s Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Eleven Wild Swans.” But I’d never found a book copy. So I told her about the story. She asked, “what’s it about?” It is about true love; a sister’s unfaltering, sacrificial love for her brothers. She then asked, “could you make a real princess fairy tale for me?”
In the early morning the next day, before she got up, I had The Princess and the Swans. Adapted from the general idea of “The Eleven Wild Swans,” it has the same basic theme of sacrificial love. This became her favorite story. It was the first story she read to Jillian, and years later, to Lucas.
The Princess and the Swans has been one of my best-selling ebooks.
I love stories about true, hard-working, unselfish love. I believe that what we allow into our minds through our eyes and ears shapes our character. My girls call them the “gates” of the heart. I try to make sure that what I write helps encourage the good parts of character that we want to grow in ourselves and our children: determination, obedience, sacrifice, understanding, empathy.
Jaquline still likes to curl up and have someone else read her a story: especially when it’s “her” princess story. (And that is the best part of reading – sharing the love of it!)
Thanks for reading!
Type at you next time,
~Nancy Tart