Illustrated by Me! Story by McCollonough Ceili

Do you have kids who like to draw?  Here's a set of unique books where something is missing-- it is the illustrations!  These books are called "Illustrated by Me."  They have words to stories typed along at the tops of the pages, and large blank areas where children can draw in their own illustrations.

I think this would be a great way to investigate illustrating, drawing, and artwork while not requiring the child to compose a story him or herself.

The author of these stories is a homeschool graduate-- she was home educated from kindergarten through college!  She has Irish ancestry, and grew up on an island off the coast of Ireland, though now she lives in America; her name is McCollonough Ceili (pronounced Ma Call In Ah KayLee).  She has written various other books -- an autobiography, some poetry and literary fiction works, and some other children's books.

There are two books in this series.  Book One has three stories; Book Two has two.  Book One's stories are:

1- A Friend for Dinner (about a fire-breathing dragon who helps some hunters solve their problem of needing fire to cook with, and they help him, too)

2- Mama Has the Sleepies (about what happens when "the sleepies"-- with accompanying yawns-- spread through a busy family's day)

3- A Kitten for O'Malley (about a dog taken regularly to visit patients at a veteran's hospital who becomes friends with a new kitten his owner brings home)

Book Two's stories are:

1- The Remote is Missing (about a girl who understands that there is more to life than TV)

2 - Mama went to War (about a military family in which the mom is called to active duty, and she and her young daughter agree to both keep a LED candle nearby at night, as a remembrance)

My very favorite story is in Book One-- it's the one about "the sleepies"-- I think we can all relate to having sleepies sometimes, and this is one of those stories where the wording and actions just keep passing from one character to the next.  There would be lots of different drawings of people (family members, one at a time) in this book, as well as some of animals (family pets).

The concept of these "Illustrated by Me" books is similar to the writing and art work pages in Gentle Shepherd's printable ebooks -- My Alphabet and Number Pictures, Copy and Draw, and Picture and Writing.  I love to see activities that encourage creativity and making original artwork, and I think this storybook format is a great idea!

The drawings could be done gradually, as school assignments, and would eventually make a fun-to-read completed book.

Here is a link to McCollonough's Amazon writer page (all her books are listed there):

http://www.amazon.com/McCollonough-Ceili/e/B004V4RN0Q/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1/190-8856589-9860528