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Encouraging Imagination & Empathy in Children
 
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Category: LitraQuest

Another February Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest February 9, 2017 - 21:44 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

            Hillside Narcissus by Nora McFarlane “There’s a grassy slope not far away Where thousands of Narcissus bloom, And I catch my breath, as I… Continue reading

Good books can be dangerous & good ideas contagious !

  By Litrasaurus Quest February 5, 2017 - 20:08 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
The Dangerous Book for Boys & The Daring Book for Girls

In a world fixated by online and screen based activities it is refreshing to remember just how revolutionary and dangerous the good old fashioned book was … and still can… Continue reading

Arbus Magicus Selects Stories

  By Litrasaurus Quest January 29, 2017 - 12:58 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Arbus Magicus selects stories

Litrasaurus is a privately funded charitable endeavour whose aim is to encourage and develop imagination and creativity in the young, and young at heart, by the reading, writing, and sharing… Continue reading

Boredom is essential for developing children’s imaginations

  By Litrasaurus Quest January 22, 2017 - 11:30 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Boredom is essential to develop children's imagination

This year marked the 135th anniversary of the birth of A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh. This enigmatic, and slightly dishevelled, bear still holds a treasured place at the heart… Continue reading

Beanstalk – lighting the fire of literacy in children

  By Litrasaurus Quest January 15, 2017 - 12:39 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

The ability to read well is so fundamental to success of any kind, yet too many children in this country, through no fault of their own, are held back by… Continue reading

January Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest January 1, 2017 - 17:33 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Europees Roodborstje, Monique Bogaerts

Winter by Walter de la Mare Clouded with snow The cold winds blow, And shrill on leafless bough The robin with its burning breast Alone sings now. The rayless sun,… Continue reading

Stories in Song

  By Litrasaurus Quest December 10, 2016 - 18:32 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Stories in Song

At a ceremony tonight in Stockholm Bob Dylan will formally be presented as this year’s laureate for the Nobel Prize for Literature – being famously shy he will not be… Continue reading

Children are the same … it’s parents that are different

  By Litrasaurus Quest December 8, 2016 - 21:27 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Children are the same .... it's the parents that are different

According to the National Literacy Trust the number of children reading for pleasure every day in the UK fell by 25% between 2005 and 2012 to less than one in… Continue reading

Christmas Stories

  By Litrasaurus Quest December 4, 2016 - 11:20 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Christmas Stories - Litrasaurus

Stories are as old as humankind itself and they are integral to every part of our lives, so much so that they resonate with our very being. They draw us… Continue reading

Reading Is Powerful

  By Litrasaurus Quest November 29, 2016 - 17:35 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Reading Is Powerful

Human beings nowadays really do not appreciate just how integral stories and reading are to their very being. Reading has developed from myths and legends being told around the fireside… Continue reading

Stories don’t just surround us they are inside us

  By Litrasaurus Quest November 27, 2016 - 13:36 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Albert_Anker_(1831-1910)_Schreibunterricht,_1865.

“Whenever I’m asked what advice I have for young writers, I always say that the first thing is to read, and to read a lot. The second thing is to… Continue reading

Put Yourself In Their Shoes

  By Litrasaurus Quest November 24, 2016 - 17:23 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Stories have been an essential part of human life longer than recorded time. In the days before books stories were told around the fire and were not just entertainment but… Continue reading

“The defect of our modern institutions is that they do not speak to the imagination”

  By Litrasaurus Quest November 20, 2016 - 19:08 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Napoleon once said “Imagination rules the world”. Many people only know this part of the quote, but he actually went on to say “The defect of our modern institutions is… Continue reading

November Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest November 3, 2016 - 08:29 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

“Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day, “Come over the meadows with me, and play; Put on your dresses of red and gold; Summer is gone, and the days… Continue reading

Developing Empathy

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 30, 2016 - 11:28 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

The great US President Theodore Roosevelt once said: “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care”. More recently Barack Obama said in 2006: “There’s… Continue reading

The Empathy Deficit

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 23, 2016 - 10:37 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Empathy is a relatively modern concept, indeed it had not even been ‘invented’ as a concept when Shelley wrote this great statement effectively defining it: “A man, to be greatly… Continue reading

Libraries are essential for our children and our future

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 16, 2016 - 10:56 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

The great philanthropists of the early 20th Century invested heavily in libraries (Carnegie alone built a total of 2,509 libraries around the world between1883 and 1929). This was not an… Continue reading

Tagged   Books, Children, libraries, Reading

Writing Stories is just like Daydreaming … and it’s good for you !

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 13, 2016 - 11:47 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
"Moça com Livro" Jose Ferraz de Almeida Júnior

The recent anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe’s death brings to mind this great quote of his: “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who… Continue reading

Tagged   daydreaming, dreaming, Imagination, Stories

Children are our future – we must inspire them

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 9, 2016 - 09:21 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Adults Inspire Children's Imagination By Reading

“Children are our future” the song goes. Indeed they are and nothing is more important than developing their imagination and creativity.  “Individuals make the future, and they do it by… Continue reading

Tagged   Children, Future, Imagination, Inspire, Neil Gaiman, Reading

Imagination is just the start

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 6, 2016 - 15:06 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Ben Okri - imagination is just the start

Poet and novelist Ben Okri was born in 1959 in Minna, northern Nigeria, to an Igbo mother and Urhobo father. He started by writing poetry but moved on to write… Continue reading

Tagged   Ben Okri, Change, Creativity, Imagination

Imagination Makes a World of Difference

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 5, 2016 - 12:39 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Imagination Makes a World of Difference

Creativity is developed when you are young. As David Walliams recently said: “I had a very happy childhood, but I wasn’t that happy a child. I liked being alone and… Continue reading

Tagged   Childrens Trust, Creativity, David Walliams, Difference, Imagination, Imagine, Stories, World

Imagination Gives You Wings

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 4, 2016 - 13:59 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Muhammad Ali once said “A man who has no imagination has no wings”. There is a great truth in that quote because, as is often said, imagination can take you… Continue reading

Tagged   Imagination, MuhammadAli, Parkinson

Featured Story – “The Underwater City” by Mariana Gordan

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 1, 2016 - 11:29 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
"Underwater Tower" by Viktor Vasnetsov

This month’s featured story on Litrasaurus, as picked by Arbus Magicus, is “The Underwater City” by Mariana Gordan. CLICK HERE TO READ IT Mariana Gordan is a visual artist, writer… Continue reading

October Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest October 1, 2016 - 09:59 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Still Life With Grapes by Willem Verbeet

October by Robert Frost O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all. The crows above the… Continue reading

September’s Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest September 22, 2016 - 14:01 February 18, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest
Leslie, George Dunlop, 1835-1921; September Sunshine

The golden-rod is yellow; The corn is turning brown; The trees in apple orchards With fruit are bending down. The gentian’s bluest fringes Are curling in the sun; In dusty… Continue reading

August’s Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest August 11, 2016 - 13:12 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

‘Tis moonlight, summer moonlight, All soft and still and fair; The solemn hour of midnight Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere, But most where trees are sending Their breezy boughs on high,… Continue reading

July’s Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest July 1, 2016 - 16:54 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

This month’s poem is by Walter De La Mare and is called, appropriately, “Summer Evening”   The sandy cat by the Farmer’s chair Mews at his knee for dainty fare;… Continue reading

June’s Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest June 3, 2016 - 17:34 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

This month’s poem is “Bed in Summer” by Robert Louis Stephenson   In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer quite the other way,… Continue reading

May’s Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest May 19, 2016 - 11:22 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Song On A May Morning “Now the bright morning star, day’s harbinger, Comes dancing from the east, and leads with her The flowery May, who from her green lap throws… Continue reading

April’s Poem

  By Litrasaurus Quest April 20, 2016 - 15:51 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

“And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry… Continue reading

World Poetry Day

  By Litrasaurus Quest March 21, 2016 - 18:13 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

“A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds” This wonderful quote is by the great poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. … Continue reading

Do schools kill creativity?

  By Litrasaurus Quest March 14, 2016 - 08:45 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

This is an amazing TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson, in which he makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines)… Continue reading

Golden Thread

  By Litrasaurus Quest March 8, 2016 - 13:13 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Litrasaurus is proud to be part of ArtsRichmond who are this year celebrating their 50th anniversary.  There is an exhibition taking place (running from  Thursday 10th March to Sunday 24… Continue reading

A Thought For Valentine’s Day

  By Litrasaurus Quest February 14, 2016 - 13:49 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

“A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.”     This is a quote from the Wizard of Oz… Continue reading

Poetry Too !

  By Litrasaurus Quest November 30, 2015 - 16:36 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Litrasaurus encourages all forms of creative and imaginative writing so we are also delighted to help people share poems as well as stories. Indeed, we already have a number of… Continue reading

Everything Changes When We Read – Gaiman

  By Litrasaurus Quest November 2, 2015 - 16:00 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Neil Gaiman has a way with words … not just when he writes books but also when he speaks passionately about subjects close to his heart, and, I would suggest,… Continue reading

More Guest Authors

  By Litrasaurus Quest September 21, 2015 - 14:41 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Litrasaurus is delighted to have Guest Authors submitting stories to us.  We were blown away by Frank Cottrell Boyce sharing a story with us, but in every way as special… Continue reading

“Children need books, not screens”

  By Litrasaurus Quest July 11, 2015 - 14:06 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Many congratulations to Shirley Hughes who has become the first recipient of the Book Trust Lifetime Achievement Award. Interviewed today in the Daily Telegraph (Click here for the full article) … Continue reading

HRH The Duchess of Cornwall “stories help us to understand our world and the people in it”

  By Litrasaurus Quest May 31, 2015 - 16:20 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall gave a speech at the final of the BBC 500 Words Competition this last week in which she shared a wonderful insight into… Continue reading

Congratulations BBC 500 Words Story Writers

  By Litrasaurus Quest May 31, 2015 - 15:33 December 23, 2018 Blog, LitraQuest

Many congratulations to absolutely everyone who submitted a story to the BBC 500 Words competition this year. A record 120,421 entries were received,which means, all together, over 60 million words!… Continue reading

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