45. Making a Little Book
Would it not be pleasant for you and your classmates to make a class picture book? Perhaps you do not know how to make one. This is the way. Every pupil writes a few sentences that tell how he looks. These give the reader a picture of each writer. Then these pictures are all put together in a little book.
One pupil might write this picture of herself:
I am a short little girl with straight yellow hair, blue eyes, and red cheeks. My mother says I am always giggling. So my picture would show my round face covered with smiles.
Another pupil might write as follows:
I am a boy with black hair that is curly, brown eyes, and a long, thin nose. You would know me by my size, for I am the tallest pupil in the room.
Written Exercise. Write a picture of yourself. Write what will help a reader to see you as you are. You need not say that you have two eyes, two ears, two arms, and two legs. But if you have only one leg, or only one arm, say that. If you wear your hair in two braids, say that. Perhaps you will write twice, using the first writing as a help for the improved second writing, as Tom learned to do when he wrote letters.
Group Exercise. 1. When every pupil has finished his picture of himself, all these should be given to the teacher. Then the teacher will read one after another aloud, and the class will try to tell whose picture each one is. You see, this will be like a game. If the class cannot guess a picture, the teacher will read the name of the writer. Then the class will explain what should be added to the writing, or changed in it, so that it may give a true picture of the writer.
2. You and your classmates should now rewrite your pictures, making them better. After that they should be neatly copied. Then[53] all these pictures should be fastened together to form a book. A cover should be made for the book, on which may be written words like these: