FIVE LEONARDS BOOK
For Kids & Stuff Like That
THE FIVE LEONARDS BOOK
[for ages 8 and up] for English 135
Copyright November, 1991 Lloyd Kinder
CONTENTS
(Pages)
p.1 Book-1L LEONARD GAVE A SPEECH [oh no!]
p.4 Book-2: LEONARD'S PERPETUAL CALENDAR
p.6 Book-3: LEONARD'S SPELLING GAMES AND RHYMES
p.11 Book-4: LEONARD'S NEW ENGLISH LANGUAGE [oe noe!]
p.14 Book-5: LEONARD WROTE A BOOT, OH NO, I MEAN A BOOCK!
Appendix: Henry T and Ida Mae Kinder Family's FAMILY TREE
p. 1. LEONARD GAVE A SPEECH
Leonard took a speech class both for fun and for practice for his career. He was assigned to give a speech and he had a choice among 3 kinds. He could give a demonstration, a persuasive speech, or an entertaining speech. He was in the mood for fun, so he decided to give an entertaining speech, which he also hoped would be easier to write. To make it more entertaining, he decided to be devious and do a parody of a demonstration. This is one case where deviousness really pays off for everyone.
Here's how Leonard's speech went [my comments are in [brackets] and Leonard's own comments are in (parentheses)]: "This is the last and absolutely final speech I will ever give for the rest of eternity [He had given some speeches before for the class and was now pretending to hate giving speeches--or was he?]. And I will start off with a question [That's a question?]. How many times have you ever been fooled in your life? Don't you hate when that happens? Well, I hate to say this, but it just happened one more time, because that question has absolutely nothing to do with my topic for today. Although I considered using that topic, I've since decided to use a completely different one. After my heart attack during my last speech [he was acting like he was having a heart attack the previous week, so he'd get the teacher's sympathy and not have to give the speech], I was told to take it easy for a while, so tonight I will only present a simple demonstration of how to play horseshoes" [As he said horse-shoes, he held up a sign that said "NOT HARSH OOZE!" as if anyone would think he said "harsh ooze," just because he didn't enunciate clearly].
"First, you should learn the terminology (or words) used by horseshoe players. One of my favorites is 'retaliatory,' because it has so many syllables [As he said that, he wrote on the green blackboard: RETALIATORY - TO EVEN UP THE SCORE. He didn't really care that much about the syllables; he was just deviously trying to divert attention away from the word, so that he could surprise everyone later by pointing to it for a humorous climax].
Second, get someone to play with. The rules state that each player must be no less than two feet tall, so make sure your potential player measures up before asking someone to play" [This is not really in the rules; he just thought the spectacle of a two-foot high person trying to throw normal size horseshoes might give his listeners an excuse to laugh; they didn't].
"Third, go with your opponent to look for four horse-shoes [Again, he held up the sign: NOT HARSH OOZE! for the surprise effect], that is one from each of a horsey's four feet. Don't expect to steal them at night when horses are asleep, because horses are uncivilized and sleep with their shoes on [In reality, of course, horses couldn't take off their shoes even if they wanted to, because they're nailed on to their hooves and they don't have hands and can't use claw hammers, etc. He was just being funny--ha,ha]. No [he said], the easiest way to get their shoes is from accident victims in the hospital - that is from horses that get 'accidentally' hit by vehicles (that drive by on the road) and end up in the hospital".
"That reminds me [Leonard continued] of the perennial question, 'Why did the chicken cross the road?' To get the answer, all we have to do is put ourselves in the chicken's place. So, there we are, out on the side of the road, scratching away with our little claws and pecking with our little beaks, daintily gulping down little pieces of grass and weed seeds, grasshoppers, cockroaches, centipedes, caterpillars [And I thought horses were uncivilized!] and some pieces of rock and grains of sand with which to grind up the little bugs in our little gizzards. We're minding our own business, not bothering nobody (except the bugs and anyone watching us eat them), when, suddenly, out of nowhere there appears a huge, noisy, speeding four-wheeled beast [i.e. automobile]. It comes so fast, we have no time to think straight, and even if we did have time we wouldn't know how, because we're just bird-brain chickens, so we make a mad dash in the wrong direction and become statistics. The moral is: don't be a chicken. Even chickens don't want to be chickens; they'd rather live dangerously and become statistics" [Leonard was an expert on chickens, I'm shur].
[Getting back to the "demonstration," Leonard went on:] "Now that you have your four horseshoes [he dutifully held up the sign again: NOT HARSH OOZE!], you still need two stakes. Don't bother asking for them at 'Steak 'n' Shake,' because if you ask, for example, 'Can I have two horseshoe stakes, please?,' they'll just look at you as if they don't know what you're talking about [How do you think Leonard knew this?]. The best place to get the stakes is actually where people play horseshoes [NOT HARSH OOZE! ha, ha]. Use a hammer to break the stakes loose, then just pull up stakes [ha-ha-ho-hum; 'pull up stakes' is an expression that means to 'move to a new home' - Leonard loved puns, it seems, but nobody else seemed to] and take them to where you want to play. Place the stakes about the square root of PIE - R squared millipedes apart in a vertical position [He used math terms in order to sound sophisticated; he didn't really know how far apart, but "millipedes" were supposed to be funny units of measure]. Push them into the ground until they stand alone - I mean the stakes, not the millipedes. If the ground is hard, you can do one of two things: you can either pray for rain, or an earthquake, or a miracle to soften the ground; OR, if you don't have that much clout (that means if God won't listen to you), you can get one of these boring devices and bore your way into the dirt [Then he held up a model of an auger that he made out of a wire clothes-hanger, like this.
This is not a real boring device [he said], just a model of a boring device. I have lots of experience at boring [He was joking, of course - or was he?] and I would be glad to demonstrate, if it were not for the strain it would put on my heart." [Boy, does he try to take advantage of his make-believe ailments!].
With your stakes inserted in your boreholes, you're all set to play... [He held up the sign without even bothering to say 'horseshoes' this time]. But first you need to be sure there is a clear path. If there are any trees, buildings, or other obstacles between the stakes, you will need to have them bulldozed out of the way, so they won't interfere with your throwing" [Actually, it just might be a bit easier to move the stakes than such "obstacles"]. "Then each player takes a position standing beside a stake. Whoever is holding the shoes-of-a-horse throws first [He said 'shoes- of-a-horse' because he didn't want to have to hold up the sign again that said guess what]. I will now demonstrate how to toss the shoes-of-a-horse according to the illustrations in my rule book for the game of shoes-of-a-horse [He used a cardboard model horseshoe].
First, take position one, holding shoe (of horse) in front of face to aim; then, do position two, holding arm outstretched behind you; then, do position three, holding arm and horseshoe down by side; and finally, do position four, holding arm straight in front of you and let go (of shoe, not arm). [The horseshoe fell straight down, to Leonard's embarrassment, so he made up an excuse, saying:] Apparently, I haven't mustered enough positive thinking to make the horseshoe roll to the other stake [Leonard thought positive thinking could do anything - or was he making fun of it?]. But, to keep score, a near miss counts one point; a leaner counts two [He showed the horseshoe model leaning against the podium]; and a ringer counts three points [He showed the horseshoe model ringing someone's neck]. Striking your opponent is called a strike and after three strikes you're out - usually by a RETALIATORY strike" [That's when he pointed to the word he had written on the green blackboard at the start - his supposed favorite word].
[Someone else actually had given a speech about safe sex the previous week - the only safe sex is neuter - so Leonard continued anticlimactically:] "Last week we learned about safe sex ... and now you know all about safe humor ... not to mention boring [holding up boring device]. I thought I said 'not to mention boring'" [Do you get the joke?... Then he hung the boring device over his shoulder so that it looked like an arrow through his chest]. Leonard might have gotten an A, not to mention some laughs, for his speech, if only he'd not forgotten that it was his Polish speech class. I thought I said "not to mention ... some laughs." Quoth the raven, "Never mind." P.S., if you laughed at every sentence in Leonard's speech [and my comments], you obviously have a high IQ; otherwise, you need to practice laughing at them, so you can raise it [or aren't you into IQ?]. Okay, enough is too much.
p. 4. LEONARD'S PERPETUAL CALENDAR [oh no!]
Leonard wanted to be able to figure out what days of the week people were born on, when he knew the birthdates. It was hard to figure out with available technology, so he devised his own calendar for figuring out what weekdays dates fell or fall on. He later learned that such a calendar is called a perpetual calendar. With this calendar you can find what day of the week any date fell or falls on from 1900 to 2025. That means you can find on what day of the week anyone was born on, if you know their birthdate and birthyear.
To use this calendar, for dates from March thru December, first find the year you want below. At the bottom and top of the column is a letter from A to G. See which lettered column your year is in. If you're looking up a date for Jan. or Feb, find the column below of the year before the year you want because the calendar has to go from Mar to Feb. Next find the date you want in the calendar on the left. Then follow that column down to the row at bottom which has the letter of your year column. Where
your date column lands in that row has the day of the week on which the date falls or fell. An example is Feb 29, & Mar 1, 1980. For Feb, you must look in the previous year column, 1979, which is in column E. In row E Feb 29 is on Friday. 1980 is in column G & in row G Mar 1 = Saturday. So it checks out, as Mar 1 is one day after Feb 29. YEARS from 1896 to 2025. And Saturday is one day after Friday.
{NOTE: I need to edit this some day to make it work right and to clarify how.}
March -- -- -- -- -- 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 | 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | 29 30 31 April -- 01 02 03 04 | 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | 26 27 28 29 30 May -- -- -- -- 01 02 | 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 31 June- -- -- -- -- -- -- 01 02 03 04 05 06 | 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 28 29 30 July - -- 01 02 03 04 | 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | 26 27 28 29 30 31 August -- -- -- -- 01 | 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 | 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | 30 31 September-- -- -- -- -- -- 01 02 03 04 05 | 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | 27 28 29 30 October -- 01 02 03 | 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 | 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | November -- -- -- -- 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 | 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | 29 30 December -- -- -- -- -- -- 01 02 03 04 05 | 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | 27 28 29 30 31 January- -- -- 01 02 | 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 31 February -- -- -- -- -- 01 02 03 04 05 06 | 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 28 29 A- B- C- D- E- F- G- -- -- -1900 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2K 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 A ---- Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat A| | | | | | B ---- Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun ------- B | | | | | C ---- Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon ------- ------- C | | | | D ---- Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue ------- ------- ------- D | | | E ---- Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed ------- ------- ------- ------- E | | F ---- Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- F | G ---- Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- G
p. 6. LEONARD'S SPELLING GAMES AND RHYMES
[oh no!] Leonard had trouble spelling and pronouncing certain kinds of words; he noticed that words that have G-H together were the most confusing to him, so he decided to make a list of G-H words and make rhymes for them, so he would learn them better and have some fun with them, too - Here's what he did:
He found that: There are 72 G-H main words, called root words:
4 of them start with G-H,
30 of them have i-G-H,
{And} +38 of them have u-G-H. (Add 4, 30 & 38) (=) 72 total (Right?)
After grouping all of the G-H words into groups that were alike, he made rhymes for the words to help remember the right sounds, or pronunciation. Here are the groups and rhymes. Do you like them?
--------------------------------------------------
Group 1 has 4 words that start with GH that sounds like G as in GIRL;
The 04 words are:
1. GH-ASTLY
2. GH-ETTO
3. GH-OST
4. GH-OUL
I saw some ghastly ghosts and a ghoul
by the edge of their graveyard ghetto.
I yelled ugh! with a shrug like a fool,
and I fled with a shriek in falsetto.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 2 has 8 words with AIGH or EIGH that sounds like long A as in ATE:
1. STR AIGH T
2. EIGH T
3. FR EIGH T
4. L EIGH
5. N EIGH
6. N EIGH BOR
7. SL EIGH
8. W EIGH
Remember in words with IGH the GH is silent. Surprise later.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 3 has 2 words with EIGH that sounds like long I as in I:
1. SL EIGH T
2. H EIGH T
It seems that my sleight of hand
cannot reach the height I planned.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 4 has 20 words with IGH that also sounds like long I as in I:
1. H IGH
2. N IGH
3. S IGH
4. TH IGH
5. BL IGH T
6. BR IGH T
7. F IGH T
8. FL IGH T
9. FR IGH T
10. L IGH T
11. M IGH T
12. N IGH T
13. PL IGH T
14. R IGH T
15. R IGH TEOUS
16. S IGH T
17. SL IGH T
18 SPR IGH TLY
19. T IGH T
20. WR IGH T
Continue to remember that in words with IGH the GH is silent.
Surprise Note is waiting at the end.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 5 has 1 word with UGH that sounds like UG.
1. UGH
See Group 1 for Rhyme.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 6 has 2 words with AUGH that sound like short A-F as in STAFF:
1. L AUGH
2. DR AUGH T
We were blown in a draught
And it hurt when we laughed.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 7 has 1 word with OUGH that sounds like short O-CK as in LOCK:
1. L OUGH
Stand on a rock
and jump in a lough.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 8 has 2 words with OUGH that sounds like OFF:
1. C OUGH
2. TR OUGH
The pig in the trough
had quite a bad cough.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 9 has 5 words with OUGH that sounds like short U-F as in PUFF:
1. EN OUGH
2. R OUGH
3. SL OUGH
4. S OUGH
5. T OUGH
The dogs play too rough;
my shoes they did slough.
My feet are not tough
and I moaned in a sough;
"I've had quite enough!"
-----------------------------------------------
Group 10 has 18 words with AUGH or OUGH that sounds like AW as in AWE:
1. AUGH T
2. C AUGH T
3. D AUGH TER
4. FR AUGH T
5. H AUGH TY
6. N AUGH T
7. N AUGH TY
8. ONSL AUGH T
9. SL AUGH TER
10. T AUGH T
11. B OUGH T
12. BR OUGH T
13. F OUGH T
14. N OUGH T
15. OUGH T
16. S OUGH T
17. TH OUGH T
18. WR OUGH T
I caught my naughty daughter;
she brought quite a slaughter to them.
They fought her onslaught
and sought nought which she wrought
[The dictionary I bought
taught that aught is naught].
With guilt I was fraught
and go to their rescue I thought I ought.
But the animal crackers
were already crumbs de la cre`me.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 11 has 5 words with OUGH that sounds like OU as in OUT:
1. B OUGH
2. DR OUGH T
3. PL OUGH
4. SL OUGH
5. S OUGH
Bough is a tree limb and when it breaks,
"the cradle will fall."
Drought is a long time
without rain or snow, you all.
Plough is a farm machine, the same as a plow.
"Sough" and "slough" don't matter anyhow
[but see Group 09 for "sough" and Group 13 for "slough;"
they can be pronounced either way, and how].
-----------------------------------------------
Group 12 has 5 words with OUGH that sounds like long O as in GO:
1. D OUGH
2. TH OUGH
3. BOR OUGH
4. FURL OUGH
5. THOR OUGH
Joe Joe lost his dough on the way to Mexico.
Joe Joe made it though, all the way to Mexico.
Joe Joe went on furlough in Obispo's only borough.
Joe Joe found his dough
in a search that was quite thorough.
-----------------------------------------------
Group 13 has 2 words with OUGH that sounds like long U as in SUE:
1. SL OUGH
2. THR OUGH
The sailor sailed into a slough,
and met seven whales coming through.
-----------------------------------------------
First Final Comment - Leonard didn't think the IGH words were too hard to spell or pronounce, so he didn't bother making rhymes for them, although he couldn't help trying to think of rhymes for them anyway, because it was so much fun, or at least he sure got in a habit of trying to rhyme everything. People thought he was rapping. Anyway, he lived rappily ever after [but with terrible guilt].
Last Final Comment - Note [re guilt].
For the IGH words in Groups 2 & 4 I failed to make rhymes.
I'm a Failure! Will you please forgive me?
I can't stand myself being such a failure.
But yesterday I was weighing my eight neighbors neighing and wearing leighs with their straight sleighs full of freight.
But wait, I forgot the weight from eighteen eighty, the date.
I sigh to know I'm thigh-high in snow, or nigh so.
It's my plight to fight the bright light at night in fright.
I'm a slightly righteous, sprightly wright who fixes sleighs, all right?
Your schedule is tight, so avoid the blight and get back in flight.
That's quite a sight. I might add, a mighty odd one two, Lad or Lass.
What an odd two. Mary Kris Mass
{There are said to be over 5,700 words in English containing “GH”, but very few seem to be Root Words. An example of a root word is Light. Lightning is not a root word, since Light is its root word and Ning is a suffix. Similarly, Lighten, Enlighten, Delight, Relight, Lightly, Lighting, Highlight etc. are not root words. In 1991 I skimmed through a dictionary to try to find all the GH root words. So far, A.I. isn’t sophisticated enough to distinguish root words from non-root words, so it’s not helping.}
p. 14. LEONARD WROTE A BOOT, OH NO, I MEAN A BOOCK!
Once upon a time when Leonard was still in school, back in the eighties [as opposed to Nov. 91], one of his English assignments was to write a book for C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N, not kids. He knew how to think and read and write down words and how to put papers together and staple them, or put them in a plastic binder, so he asked the teacher if that would be enough to make it as a B-O-O-K. After Leonard explained the definition of "make it" to the teacher's satisfaction, the teacher consented that, indeed, that would "make it" as a book - B-U-T, not necessarily a G-O-O-D book. Leonard protested that the assignment was only to write a book, not a good book. The teacher admitted that Leonard was quite right about that, but (circle on of the following verbs:) snorted, retorted, contorted, extorted (the answer is: all four) that the teacher always has the option to make additional assignments. The hint was that if he did not write a good book the first time, he would be assigned to do so afterward. Leonard had had his heart set on writing a bad book, but he didn't want to have to write two books, so he reluctantly decided to write a good book the first time.
Well, to make a long story less lengthy (that means "short"), here is the good children's book that Leonard wrote. See if you agree that it's good. If you don't think it's good, who cares? What do you know anyway? [Please pardon Leonard's immature attitude]
Title: SOME PEOPLE STARTED A NEW TOWN
Copyright 1984 by: Leonard Guntherhoffentlichheit
(All rights reserved FOREVER! Nobody may copy any part of this book at all, for any reason, no matter what, not even with express permission of the author or the publisher or anybody, because the author will never give permission ever, because it's his book and nobody else can have it. Violators will be prosecuted, tried and
executed immediately without a fair trial.) [Actually, Leonard didn't write all of that stuff; I just made it up to make him look bad; that's actually an example of a bad book, instead of his "good" book, but I didn't want the reader to get too bored before you get a chance to read his "good" book; ain't I nice?]
Our old home town was having problems.
It had too much outdoor pollution
from cars, factories, gas stations, trash etc.
It had too much indoor pollution
from smokers, perfumes, chemicals etc.
There were too many strangers and dangerous people.
There were reckless drivers.
There were drug addicts and pushers.
There were other kinds of addicts and smut dealers.
There were thieves and murderers.
There were corrupt people in government and business.
Many people were unfriendly and spiritually sick.
Some of the people in the old town had a meeting.
They wanted to solve the town's problems
and make it a good place to live again.
But most of the people in the old town
didn't want to change things much.
They didn't want to give up their bad habits.
So some of the people at the meeting said:
Hey, let's just start a new town somewhere!
Then we can make our own town rules
and we can keep dangerous people out.
Then our families can be safe
and we can all have fun together.
They wanted the new town to be a showcase,
so other people could use it as an example
for starting other new towns.
They wanted to learn how all people could get along
and not have to have any more fights, killings, or wars.
So they got people from all cultures to join the new town.
They were: Amer-Indian, Oriental, Hindu, Moslem, Black,
Jewish, Slavic, Hispanic and Germanic people.
The first rule they made was to have unanimous rule.
That means no rule can be made
until everyone agrees with it.
That way, no one or group can be mistreated
by other minorities or by majorities.
The second rule was that
everyone should learn the 12 Steps
to recover from all bad habits.
That way, they learned to be less selfish
and not to get too unfriendly or violent.
The third rule was that everyone should
have maximum fun, but not selfish fun.
Selfish fun is fun that makes others feel bad.
If the new town weren't fun, the people knew
that no one would want to live there.
Our new town is lots better than our old town.
The people don't pollute much, or waste much.
They carpool, or ride bicycles, and they recycle.
They protect wildlife. They don't have so many pets
and they don't let pets chase wildlife.
The people are much friendlier
and they work on changing their bad habits.
They have fun school, fun jobs and fun activities.
Some of the people want to start other new towns.
Would you like to help start a new town?
What name would you like for a new town?
Our new town is called Gnu-Town
and it has a Gnu's-paper! THE END!
P.S., If you would like to write to us
with comments or questions, here is how {by snail mail}.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
Lloyd Kinder - English 135
[Children's Literature, Nov. 91, Lewis & Clark Community College,
Godfrey, IL]
THE WHY AND WHEREFORE OF MY PROJECT AND WHAT PROFITED I
[My Project Being THE FIVE LEONARDS BOOK]
[This note was part of the assignment by the teacher, Edna Hollis, to go with the Project after its completion]
In a paper I did for Psychology 231 last year, I explained part of my interest in kids thusly:
"I suggest that the entrenchment of all ... inhumane treatment and control procedures in American society [in psychiatry and medicine in general, as explained in a book that was required reading for the class [the book being Peter Breggin's ELECTRO-CONVULSIVE THERAPY] may be symptomatic of ... [an] addictive process [that our institutions unwittingly support by repressing, instead of dealing with, negative emotions]. ... Unlike most of our institutions, support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous are places where emotions can be safely expressed and dealt with in healthy ways. It is my hope to start an organization to help children and adolescents learn to ask for and accept real help [for their negative emotions] by using methods of such support groups. I think focusing on youths would have the best results on society as a whole. Polly Joan's 'Living Alternative' program for teen suicide prevention in the schools seems to be a promising model, which does emphasize the need for emotional awareness." - I decided later that intentional (i.e. purposeful) communities that incorporate recovery programs seem to offer the best hope for society's recovery from the addictive process.
My original idea for this book project was to write a persuasive and entertaining story that would show kids that other and better types of communities, or towns, can exist and that it is within everyone's power to help create their own ideal communities. In developing the story I did not attempt to explain the addictive process; I merely listed some of the kinds of people that I think result from that process and I labeled them "dangerous," even though that term may not be wholly adequate. Initially, I intended to make the book a picture book and I began to cut out pictures to help tell the story. But it was hard to find many of the pictures I thought I needed, and the ones I already had did not seem to be of much help anyway in telling the story, so I ended up leaving them out. Although the story about the new town ... came to me quickly, I was stumped as to how to make it complete. I started thinking about various ideas that I enjoy, such as playing with words, which led to rethinking about improving the English language (something I've played with now and then over the years). I decided that these [other] subjects might be easier for me to write about, than the more serious topic of new towns. So I considered abandoning the "new town" idea and had fun exploring each of these [other] subjects for a few weeks each....
Eventually it occurred to me that improved English as a global language is well suited to multi-culturalism, i.e. for improved communication between cultures, and multi-culturalism was a subtopic under my original new [towns] story. That's when I got the idea to write a book of books, so that I could connect these very loosely related ideas of new towns and spelling games etc in the same book. So my "We Started a Town" story was able to be used after all as the "boock" that Leonard wrote in my last section.
I know that my final product is probably a bit too advanced for most kids. I made copies for two of my sisters' kids, but I haven't heard their reactions yet. I'm sure the book could have used many more improvements, too, but I have at least finally written a book, yes, no? I hoped to convey to kids that it's easy and fun to write books, since even "Leonard" could do it and since words can be safely misspelled (which is why I spelled "book" as "boot" and "boock") and since it's okay to be funny or serious or both. What I've gained from this effort, besides all of the above, is creative writing experience and the realization that it can be a lot of fun and it can be shuffled around and edited to make an organized, sensible product from a "chaotic" process. And I've found that it probably helps to write from experience. What I don't know that I've learned from the effort is if I can make a grade A book, but I'm not concerned, I think.
PROJECT - CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
[Edna's Evaluation of my Project, THE FIVE LEONARDS BOOK]
Appropriateness (20 points): [Her comments:] What a lot of time and invention you've spent on The Five Leonards Books! I think you may be right in your assessment that the stories are rather advanced for most eight-year-olds. +20
Thoroughness and Neatness (25 points): I'm overwhelmed (oevrrwemd?) by the attention to detail. I didn't see a single misspelled word (though how would I know, in the book about L's New English Language?) save the deliberate ones. Although I wasn't too successful with the perpetual calendar, I suspect the fault lies not in your numbers but in my ineptness. +25 Originality (20 points): You really should get a hundred points for originality - but you don't need them. I do wonder if new towns
are your idea or if, perhaps, the Federation for Intentional Community really exists. +20 Punctuality (10 points): On time 10 [Total 75] - A fascinating work, Lloyd. I had no idea that such revolutionary zeal was alive in our part of the universe [I think she meant in Godfrey]. I've enjoyed your contributions to this class - and your good humor - throughout the semester.
MY UPDATED COMMENTS ON THIS PROJECT - to be continued {That's not a promise.}