​Bringing Books to Life

As much as my daughter loves snuggly reading marathons, she also loves to act the books out, repeat favorite lines, draw and “write” about them, and use toys to extend the story. Building on my LEGO theme this month, here are two of our picture book-inspired LEGO creations.

After seeing a cover reveal blog post for Tanya Valentine’s adorable book Little Taco Truck, we created our own food truck serving up pizza and ice cream outside the community library and park.

Writing With The Stars founder Tara Luebbe’s book I Am Famous inspired an amphitheater and stage with a revolving platform (thanks Les Misérables).

​For more book-inspired LEGO creations, check out the art of Marcie Colleen’s husband Jonathan Lopes. His literature-inspired work includes Dan Santat’s Beekle, Peter Brown’s Mr. Tiger, Marcie’s Love, Triangle cast, and more. And while you are at it, check out Marcie’s Study Hall program – an amazing mentor-led critique group for picture book writers.

In addition to LEGO bricks, we have used blocks to act out Cori Doerrfeld’s The Rabbit Listened with my daughter’s favorite line, “It’s going to be amazing!” We have constructed train tracks and pushed Two Little Trains west after reading Margaret Wise Brown’s classic. And we have emptied the contents of the play fridge to create our own food world like the one Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney created in The Stinky Stench.

As a former teacher, I love enhancing our reading with learning and play activities that create real-world connections and build my daughter's big imagination. Plus, if I cannot carve out writing time while the kiddos are awake, building literature-inspired worlds is a worthy alternative.