Exploring Literature

Pretending and Imagining

The imagination is a passport to the possible. When I pretend, I imagine the world from the inside. Little me can be big and powerful, fast or beautiful. When I pretend, I can take my purple crayon and put myself in outer space or behind the wheel of a car. I can close my eyes and sail away or go off to work, marry the hero or score the goal. Pretending also introduces me to reality. I can learn new ideas and how to solve problems.

If I am very small and new to the world, imitation is a forerunner to the world outside of me. Before I can imagine and pretend, I can play and imitate the sounds and expressions and actions of the world around me. I can smile and blink, wiggle and clap, burble and squeak, and begin the journey to imagination and empathy. Books fuel our imagination and transport us to new worlds. I can be a bird or an airplane, the biggest billy goat or the fiercest troll. Mud is cake if you pretend and don't really take a bite, and juice is tea with a fairy queen if you act it out just right. This is my world, and I can make my way in it.

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