My friend Jan constantly inspires me with the creative ideas she comes up with for her grandchildren. Her latest project reminded me of the story of Rumpelstiltskin, who spun straw into gold.

Jan fashioned a bridal gown for her almost eight-year old granddaughter from a roll of white tablecloth paper left over from a backyard party.

Jan and Kyah were putting away the art supplies after a session on the dining room table. As she put the box on the garage shelf, Kyah wrapped the red plastic table cloth, used to cover the dining room table, around her body and asked: “Grandma can we make a dress out of this for me?”

Jan said “no” because the kids were going to be with them overnight and she knew from experience the art box would be out at least one more time before they went home and she would need the plastic cover to protect the table. It was obvious Kyah was disappointed. Then Jan spotted the roll of white tablecloth paper and the idea for the dress was born.

“She wasn’t sold on the white paper until I started gathering the paper for the skirt,” Jan told me. “She thought the gathers looked like roses and was quite impressed with my skills!”

“Grandma how do you know how to do this?” Kyah asked her. (Ah, the magic of grandma creativity!) Jan wrapped her torso in paper, fashioned straps, and then connected it all with clear packing tape. She wrapped the gathered skirt around Kyah’s waist and taped her up.

“The paper was stiff and had a pattern embossed on the edges so it puffed out perfectly and rustled and swished just right when she walked. She barely fit through the door into the house from the garage to show Grandpa! While she was gone, I used some scrap paper left from the bodice of the dress to make a veil. We grabbed some flowers from a vase on the counter and we had our “bride!”

“It was the best 15 minutes I’ve spent with a roll of paper and packing tape in a long time—and a great memory for Kyah and me to share!”

Author Ric Dilz knows what appeals to today’s hip grandmas…or at least to this one! He’s created a children’s book series titled My Grandma Could Do Anything that shows a smiling grandma engaged in fun, challenging adventures that she doesn’t actually do, but she could.

I brought these compact little books (6″x6″) with me on a recent road trip and both my granddaughters, ages 7 and 3, had fun repeating the refrain on each page: But she could! Dilz has a wonderful sense of humor and imagination that comes through in his whimsical drawings and little inside jokes. Some may go over the children’s heads but are not lost on the adults who read them aloud. For example, grandma’s on a plane and says: My grandchild keeps my smile in its upright and locked position or the grandma ballerina who says: My grandchild is tutu cute!

Dilz wants his readers to have fun with his books, especially grandmas. Being a baby boomer, he saw that attitudes were changing about grandmas and wanted to show them in a new perspective. “Today’s grandmas have a new take on their role—they’re young and hip and enjoy more challenging adventures.”

He started doing t-shirts for babies 20 years ago to have fun with word play. The onesies have edgy one-liners on them like Party! My crib. 3:00 am. Then in 2004, he wanted to do something new with his humor and put it in book form by playing up the youthfulness of grandmas.

The My Grandma Could Do Anything series includes grandma at the zoo, in the Rocky Mountains, and his most popular, in Hawaii with grandma surfing, snorkeling and doing the hula. They all end with the “one thing grandma does best—loves me!”

On the back cover Dilz adds one final bit of humor with his disclaimer: No grandmas were harmed in the making of this book!

Reading Helps Cultivate Empathy

Reading a book is a unique opportunity to see the world from another person or thing’s perspective. When a child reads a book, whether it is a fantastical story about an object come to life or a very real article about a neighboring country, he or she becomes a part of that world and sees life, however briefly, through the eyes of another. Children are uniquely able to accept and invest in the reality created in what they are reading. Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco is one book that can help cultivate empathy. In this book, Polacco shows how friendship can cross racial and generational lines, as she reminds us to always strive for truth and justice for ourselves and others.

By reading varied stories and texts from diverse authors, our children are exposed to the unique points of view of many different people and learn to empathize with people in situations contrasting greatly from their own. Another wonderful book for thinking about empathy is Roni Schotter’s Mama, I’ll Give You the World. In this lovely story a girl wants to give her mother a very special gift. As stories like this one demonstrate, empathetic people are kinder to others and listen more carefully to those around them. It is a wonderful gift books can give.

Reading Gives Children a Sense of Community

Great children’s book authors recognize that children have extraordinary power to shape their own worlds. Through reading, you can give your child a sense of his or her own power in shaping and creating a powerfully loving community. A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams can help children to think about how important kindness and generosity are in a community.

Whether it is in the family, at school, in the larger communities of sports or friendship, stories show your child that he or she does not have to wait to become a grown-up to impact the world. Amber on the Mountain by Tony Johnston shares the story of two little girls who become friends and how one teaches the other to read. This small gift makes a big difference in both their worlds. There are so many wonderful stories that help our children understand their own capabilities and also appreciate the communities of which they are a part.

Books Indulge Children’s Imaginations

Imagination is a powerful force. It can give our children the power to transcend their environments, invent new ideas, develop breakthroughs, and believe in miracles. Books invite us to indulge our imaginations. They help us to cultivate them and they allow imagination to take a place of esteem and respect. Dream Carver by Diana Cohn, a story of a little boy who is inspired to create new toys based on what he imagines, will encourage children to be inspired by their imaginations and not let others discourage them.

As a child reads a truly remarkable story, they are picturing that world in their mind’s eye and flexing their imaginative muscles to create a world of their own. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson allows children to enter another child’s imaginative world, while reinforcing the value of their own creativity. Imaginative books nurture our children to grow into people who invent and innovate, who conceive and create.