WHY THIS STORY?
(scroll down for the fun facts :)! )
I wanted to teach my students important skills. I wanted to reach their hearts as well as their minds. I thought that starting with a moving story would open both the hearts and the minds of my students.
I wanted to share about God, because only with Him can we be happy now and in eternity. I thought that weaving God into such stories would introduce the young listeners to Him in a more natural way, without the danger of becoming preachy.
Self-esteem
Such stories like “Drobinka” grew in my head as I was planning my units on social skills for 10-year-olds.
Part of my teaching program in religion included social skills, e.g. self-esteem. I was not very happy with the teaching materials to the topics. They seemed dull and unimaginative. I was not sure whether theoretical conversations would sound convincing to my young audience.
On the other hand, I believed in the power of narration. I remembered my childhood experiences with stories about animals (please, check out the section “About Me”) and decided to try this path. My students responded positively to the stories. We all enjoyed discussing feelings of a mouse or a flower. Only then did I move to some examples from school. Finally, we discussed the implications in their lives and performed some activities. I doubt I could have moved so easily into discussing their personal questions without some neutral ground first. That is what the stories about animals provided.
I tried to depict positive self-esteem as a process. It did not flash onto Drobinka all of a sudden. It grew within her, with some ups and downs, as she was doing her best to contribute to the growth. It is like that in life.
Examples of simple activities regarding self-esteem are presented at the end of the book. The children can do them on their own. However, if you as an adult joined them, that would be a very precious experience for the children, and hopefully for you.
Sadness (Depression)
I never used the word depression, nor any other psychological terminology, while talking to my young students. 10-year-olds saying “developing a positive self-esteem” or “improving my communication skills” sound a little spooky to me. I much rather discuss with them “a sad mouse” or “a friendly daisy”.
In “Drobinka” I tried to depict typical signs of depression and ways to cope with it. If you look at the questions at the end of the book, you will see my attempts to discuss these signs and the coping without sounding like a sitcom therapist. The child does not need the terminology but manageable ways to cope with problems.
Prayer
“Pray to God” is a frequent piece of advice we give each other as Christians when we are sad. In the story I tried to devote some attention to prayer. It is not just rattling off some expressions. It is not always easy. It takes time to shape our hearts. Sometimes it is unexplainable mystery. Sometimes it is a secret that we share only with God.
The story can be a starting point in teaching how to pray with one’s own words. It may serve as an illustration of what may happen while we are praying, what may be difficult, what could be done. The story tries to make a step forward beyond the potentially simplistic advice: “Pray to God”. We have to explain how.
Prayer is not the primary topic of the story. Do not expect, therefore, an exhaustive teaching about it.
Fun Facts About the Story
Below are some fun and interesting facts about the story I’d like to share with the readers.
- 🙂 “Drobinka”, the main character of the story, in Polish means a cute little female. It could be a cute little girl or mouse. Short ladies love to describe themselves with this word in Poland. The word is affectionate. Many other Slavic languages feature similar words.
- 🙂 “Djadjo”, the wise old hedgehog in the story, in Polish is an affectionate name for “grandpa”. I thought we all would like to have a good old grandpa around to give us some good advice and pat us on the shoulder. Daddies have to be strict. Grandpas can afford being just caring. I know it is all stereotypes, but Drobinka’s Djadjo is such a good grandpa. By the way, in Drobinka’s world hedgehogs do not eat mice.
- 🙂 Rabbits leave their young (bunnies) unattended most of the time. Mothers come to their young every few hours to nurse them hastily. All this should help avoid getting attention from the predators. The young blend with the background and emit almost no scent.
- 🙂 Hamsters emit almost no sounds. In most cases they are not social.
- 🙂 Illustrations are done by my brother Slawomir
Also, Please do not worry yourself about the correct pronunciation of the characters names “Drobinka” or “Djadjo”. Just go ahead and pronounce these names the way you feel is best. 🙂
Father Pawel, Can’t wait to get the book for my new great-grandchildren. Wish it was around when the grandchildren were younger. Thanks, Donna
First of all – congratulations to being a great-grandma! It is something I will never achieve in my life so I am a little jealous. Wish we had pre-ordered more copies for the giftshop.
Dear Fr.Pawel, I am very interested in reading your book. I was thinking how I can approach it with my 13yr. old without it looking too “babyish”. Any ideas? Since I am a homeschool mom perhaps we can do a critique on “Is this a good childrens book? What does or doesn’t make it good? What would you add or take away from it?” That type of approach I’m thinking, what do you think Father?
Dear hsmom, you are right, he will reject the book as too “babyish”. Your method sounds very good – as part of English language project, for instance. I would feel honored if he wanted to put his critique on this blog. He may want to help you present this story to some small children – or his younger siblings. I would be happy to put up his report about this project with pictures on the blog too.
Thank you for your interest. Blessings.