ABSTRACT
In most classrooms the author visit, there is at least one child who demonstrates such great aptitude for playing with words that it captivates the author's heart. These are the Word Magpies, the children who insert into their stories odd phrases or expressions that they have heard before, savouring each sentence as if they can taste the goodness inside. Language is poetry to these children. They dictate their stories with calm precision, searching for the correct phrase in that catalogue of words that exist in their brain. There is an excitement for young children in revisiting moments that are memorable. Some children do this by using almost exactly the same words week after week. Storytelling allows children to face monsters, to be eaten up “by one gulp,” to “die” briefly. Children know this is only pretend.
