When it comes to maximizing the potential of the creative process for adults or children, there is one adage by French philosopher and poet Voltaire that poses fair warning:
“The perfect is the enemy of the good.”
That is the central theme of award-winning Canadian author and illustrator Ashley Spires's children’s book The Most Magnificent Thing. Designed for readers aged 3-7, the book follows a “regular girl” in her quest to take a magnificent idea from concept to completion. She and her canine assistant design sketches and gather supplies. They measure and hammer, tinker and fiddle, and assess. When it is not going according to plan, they start again with a twist and a fasten. But the idea is not coming out just right. When a third attempt ends in failure and strained emotion, the pair give up. With a “brain too full” of what didn’t go just right, the two take a time out. A calming walk creates a distraction and brings clarity to look at the idea and its manifestation again. And with another push and pull, tug and touch of paint, the thing is transformed … into the most magnificent thing!
The 32-page book is a nice selection for early readers and a wonderful opportunity to discuss and reinforce elements of the creative process with your little ones. The main character shows a sense of ingenuity, attention to detail, and perseverance that can spark conversation about what it takes to hang in there with any project – big or small – that may not get started on the right foot. While the reader doesn’t get an early hint about the nature of the thing itself, the simple illustrations spark curiosity as the story builds and can make for an interesting sidebar.
Focusing on the process rather than the finished product is one of the most important ways to nurture creativity in young children. Parents are cautioned to help children remain flexible, to expand rather than constrain ideas, and to assess and reassess without judgment. And about how things don’t have to be perfect to be quite magnificent.
The Most Magnificent Thing can be purchased from major bookstores and online. Here is a nice read-along version The Most Magnificent Thing (Read Aloud books for children) | STEM Science Education.
Zahirah Lynn Eppard is the managing editor of the Muslim Home parenting newsletter project. As Sound Vision’s Director of Education, she has also spearheaded the production of more than 500 online classes serving children ages 3-12 in the Adam’s World and Colors of Islam Clubs. Eppard has also worked in the field of education as a teacher, homeschooler, and Islamic school principal, as a marriage and crisis intervention counselor, and as a lobbyist and social justice activist. She lives with her husband, children, and grandchildren in Maryland.
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