A week ago, I shared some pages from one of my recent finds. It's called "My Very Own Drawing & Story Book 1," in which a boy of indeterminate age has written and drawn about his life. The boy, whom I'll refer to as K., is just beginning to read and write, often sounding out things phonetically.

On page six, K. has apparently been practicing numbers and letters. At the top is a series of 10 numbers which might be a phone number, so I've blurred it out. Underneath that, he's written his name and the number 5 (his age?), along with "boy." The rest of the page reads, "My sir P. is hmc Poiy to Day in I hape y." I've been assuming that "sir" is his way of writing "sister." This might mean, "My sister P. is home (UNKNOWN) today and I happy." He's also written a string of random seeming numbers, which might have come from a soda cap or something similar.

On the next page, dated 5/16/08, K. has drawn a happy boy next to a house, with the sun bright in the sky. Wiggly lines below the house might indicate grass, or maybe water. It says, "I got the sagol hoz in I im hapey in I Play with my cat." Below that, he's erased "in my sir hir Pray." Reading it aloud, I'm pretty sure that it means "I got the (UNKNOWN) house and I am happy and I play with my cat" and then "and my sister, her pray." It doesn't seem like it takes much to make K. happy: just some time with his sister and his cat. It's interesting, though, that he hasn't chosen to draw the cat.

The next page seems to talk about an outing to a park. Detailed drawings might show a grill (on the left), K. playing basketball (middle), and a swimming area (right). It reads "in Pok I im gowin on The figip Ghip in My Mom is com to ni my sirth is com to." I interpret this to mean: "In park I am going on the (UNKNOWN) and my Mom is coming, too, and my sister is coming, too." Clearly, he's looking forward to the family outing.

The next page shows an adult and a child playing basketball, it seems, in what appears to be an indoor court (because it has a door). It says, "I im goe to Ghaz Giz." I could be wrong, but I think it means "I am going to Gold's Gym." Like I said, K. seems to be sounding out words the ways he hears them, and he often seems to miss internal consonants, perhaps because the adults around him don't pronounce them distinctly.

Using color, K. drew a picture of himself with an older person, next to a little house and what is probably a car. The bigger person seems to have a pig nose, but that might be accidental. It says, "My sir Brtay is com omi to Day in Im hapey." My translation is "My sister Britney is coming (home) today and I'm happy." This sister is quite a bit bigger and has apparently arrived by car. Perhaps she's a young adult living elsewhere or a college student, home for a visit.

The last page I'll share today is just a bunch of squiggles and doodles, unremarkable except for the fact that a couple of them have happy faces. Yes, even his doodles are "hapey." He's also written a series of letters, although they're light and hard to read. I believe it says "PunuyaurbbaDiv." He's either just practicing letters or trying to sound out a complicated word phonetically.

There are plenty more pages to share at a later time. Have a great Fourth of July holiday!

Moral:
It doesn't take much to make a 5-year-old happy.