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Jump to navigationJump to searchGuess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson (view source)
Revision as of 14:18, 19 February 2020
, 14:18, 19 February 2020no edit summary
Tilly is excited. She's just come dashing out of the classroom, pigtails flapping behind her and a big grin on her face. Dad's come to collect her and her brother and he ''has'' to try to guess what she found in the playground today, although she concedes that he will never guess. Dad wants to know how school was, but ''obviously'' that's not important. Could Tilly have found more collectable things for her scrap box? (Isn't that so much more sensible than a scrap ''book''?) Well, actually, Tilly did find exciting stuff. There are sequins, glittered paper and all sorts of other things in her pocket, but that's not what she wants Dad to guess.
Imagination is a wonderful thing to give a child. If you have a vivid imagination, boundaries will fall away and possibilities become endless. I was brought up not to have imagination. ''Lies'' were what my fanciful tales were called and I've never been able to imagine anything with any degree of success. I could not make up a story to save my life - and reading ''Guess What I Found in the Playground'' I did so envy Tilly. She's being encouraged to explore, to see possibilities and she's playing a game with Dad. There's a bit of verbal jousting and it's between equals. Dad takes what Tilly has to say seriously and doesn't patronise her at all. Brilliant!
And what did Tilly find? Well, I'm not going to tell you: you'll have to read the book to find out. Tilly was right: Dad didn't guess and probably wouldn't have done if they'd stood in the playground all day! But that wouldn't have mattered to either of them. What was important was the communication between father and daughter and the pleasure which they so obviously took in each other's company.
