Page 7 - creative spark6
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FOREWORD                FOREWORD

 A quill pen. Candlelight. A knife to sharpen the quill pen.  “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be
         more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
 A notebook computer. A luminous screen. An online tech tutorial to   -Albert Einstein-
 sharpen word processing skills.
         Once upon a time M4 students of the Patumwan Demonstration School embarked on a
 Today’s writers are in a different world, but like William S. they still   fairytale journey. While girls dashed for “Prince Charming”, “witches”, and “romance”,
 need to keep one thing sharp. Their mind - the seat of imagination.   lads delved into “fights with dragons”, “pirates” or “philosophies of life”. A few stories
 The stub of a feather or the outdated OS may wear out or time out,   involved families. Clearly, not every person in this world has a complete and happy
 but imagination is here to stay. To live now, when publishing these   family, but reading the fairytales I realized the fact that no matter how bad things have
 written works is so easy is a luxury. The exercise of linguistic                 become because of shortcomings and misunderstandings, at the end of the day, your
 expression and focused imagination is indispensible. Timeless.       family or friends will always be there and will always accept you no matter how bruised
 Testifying to the worth of such practice are the works comprising this   and broken you’ve been and no matter how long you’ve been away.
 sixth edition of Creative Sparks. The creative prose - both fiction and
 non - as well as the original illustrations sandwiched between these   The students seem to have genuinely enjoyed creating fairy tales. Why? One kid has said
 paper covers is a showcase of the Talent of the Students in the      that magic stories help us to connect to our lives, dreams, and anxieties. True, children
 English Program for T... S... . Here you have the cream on top from   discover that bad things happen to everyone. No one is immune from challenges - we all
 the bucket of the said talent. These salient pieces could have been   need to build emotional muscles to hang on during tough times. Therefore, fairy tales are
 scratched out with a quill pen. They could’ve been chiseled in stone   the best way to stomach lessons. In return for making us look at our dark side, fairy tales
 for that matter. Fortunately for us, the readers, they are in one easy   give us a chance to see ourselves triumphant. They let us beat our foe; they let us see
 to carry paperback volume to be nibbled or devoured. The stuff of this   that people who have it tough can succeed, and they let us find our unicorn. Fairy tales
 sandwich are morsels to be read. Light your candle, get your glass of   give us a chance to say “I’m brave! I can handle this!” Not only do fairy tales let us do the
 wine (or grape juice), tuck in your bib, and enjoy! Bon appétit!  right thing, they let us be a hero. Which, in this world, can be the same thing.

 To the students: Your sparks are bright! Your writing and illustrations   I find that what our kids really need is a chance to dream. A chance to dare to believe that
 are so special to me! Thank you for making teaching worth it!  there’s our own happy ending somewhere out there waiting to happen; a chance to see
         that we still have good in ourselves and that good things can still happen to us; a chance
 AJARN KYLE DREHER  to see ourselves as the hero in the fairy tale, and to realize that we are the hero of our
         own life’s story. Fairy tales give us these opportunities, which is why they’re important.
         Fairy tales remind us to dream - because everyone deserves their own happily ever after.

         YEVGENI GORSHENIN
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