I was speaking with a friend of mine the other day about our kids and the things they have ruined in our houses. My 7 year old daughter got hot pink marker on the brand new carpet in her room when she was 5. There are still pink spots as a reminder of her artistic risk. My youngest got blue and yellow crayon on the vinyl tile in the kitchen when she was making her art. Both girls have written their names on the basement walls as well. In retrospect, they are small…. um…. mistakes.

My friend on the other hand, had some pretty major redecorating happen in her home. Her 3 year old found a blue sharpie…. PERMANENT MARKER… and had a few unsupervised minutes. In the time it took my friend to take a quick shower, her lovely son escaped her bedroom, found the sharpie and redesigned the upholstery and walls in her family room.

Nothing removed the blue permanent marker completely. Now, there are obvious blue rub marks. ( ^ not my friend’s kid)

These things were no accident. The kids are young, yes, but can we honestly say they didn’t know any better? We might not have taught them NOT to do those things specifically, but I’m pretty sure we’ve mentioned only on drawing paper in a designated area. Were they accidents? Yeah, most were probably just overzealous coloring that went awry.

This all leads me to the book Never Let A Unicorn Scribble by Diane Alber. It’s about a messy, artistic unicorn and a sweet little girl with A HUGE imagination.

The story starts out with a little girl and her pet unicorn. She was told to NEVER let a unicorn scribble. Like most young children, she didn’t understand why… so of course she gave the unicorn a crayon. Her pet acted like a regular horse with a carrot and ATE THE CRAYON! Eventually, the little girl figured out how to get the unicorn to scribble… not with ONE, but with multiple crayons. The room they are in fills up with imaginary rainbow scribbles.

The two friends are amazed at the colorful explosion. However, the little girl immediately felt a sense of overwhelming anxiety. What was mom going to say???

Well, she would say, “DON’T SPOIL THE ENDING!!”

This book is wonderfully written and lets the reader enter or re- enter the world of imagination! It is a must read for the kids with imaginary friends and for the adults who have lost the ability to use their imagination. Young artists will get the feeling that their works of art are just that…. ART! And that no matter what they create, within reason, their moms will LOVE it!!!

LC