Tags
clean romance, Harlequin romance, local libraries, love inspired books, Love Inspired romance, storytelling, sweet romance, wholesome romance
In our local library, they have all sorts of fun summer activities for families. The most recent one is The Teddy Bear Sleep Over. Even if I didn’t have a child, this would catch my attention, because it hooks right into my writerly curiosity.
This is the premise: kids bring their teddy bear to the library and leave them there over night for a sleepover. The librarians then pose the bears doing different activities, take pictures of them and post them online so that the kids can click over the next morning and see what their bear was up to during those dark, mysterious hours when the library is closed.
I’m friends with one of the librarians, and we giggled together over ideas for what the bears could do. I thought they should have some clearly posted signs saying things like, “Do not climb on the shelves,” and then have the bears breaking the rules. Then, of course, there could be a teddy bear Time Out Corner where they do their time. It’s all about the drama. And the flouting of the rules.
The teddy bears are a story about to be told. The children provide the characters, and then sit back and wait for the librarians to spin a tale. Stories are important because they ask our questions.
What happens when you break the rules? What happens in the darkness? Are people good? Are teddies good? Is the world safe?
We know the answers that the children want. And we know the truth. Somewhere between the two lies the story.
Stories
Can’t wait to hear the outcome…and how many little ones couldn’t sleep that night without their Teddy Bear (smile!).
The did everything but the Time Out Corner, and my son just loved it. They printed pictures off, so when the kids picked up their toy, they also got physical pictures of their bear’s adventures. It was well done!
My son doesn’t actually sleep with that bear… I wasn’t THAT adventurous. 😉
Want to write that story now, but there’s no way i could get a kids book published. I can’t draw… and they didn’t want my airship one with no pictures.
Kids books are a whole different kettle of fish, eh?
This is an awesome idea! I want to suggest it to my library!
It was a lot of fun! And doesn’t cost anything, either. 🙂 I’ve heard of parents doing the same thing with their kids–setting up their favorite toys as if they’ve had adventures during the night. 😉