Travel Writing For Kids (How Sweet It Is!)
Written by Mariam Davis Pineno
for the Summer 1999 Issue of Once Upon A Time
Travel writing for kids may be as simple as choosing a class of readers, then writing for them, personally.
You don’t travel, you say? Ah, but you must get from here to there and back sometimes. So you are a traveler. And more likely than not—at home or abroad—a kid-friendly topic lurks in your itinerary. Look for it, grab it, get a good grip, and think like an editor.
“Good photographs help to sell good writing,” says he. I say that with planning and a measure of ingenuity, who knows? Your travel writing for a captive classroom might take wings—might morph into a delectable read—so go for it!
Illustration: I was in Italy (Spring 1998) and thinking photos—plus show-and-tell. As always I’ve packed my BIG bargain-priced film stash and lead-lined bag designed for conveying irreplaceable film safely past X-rays. And suitable photo subjects find my lens everywhere. (Now when I go on trips, I take my trusty digital camera and eliminate the film entirely!)
But what to show-and-tell? Previous shopping flurries in Firenze have taught me this: 19 Karat gold jewelry and fine leather goods can be showily excessive. Translation: gaudy and tough on a tight travel budget. I pass.
So I seek alternatives—meaning: cheap stuff! I pick up, literally, chunks of dirty black Mt. Etna volcanic rock. I mount them, for a few cents each, on wooden blocks—assorted sizes and shapes—to hand-finish and felt-back. Prime specimen is designated “Teacher’s Keepsake Paperweight.”
Good Tip…My one-million-lira show-and-tell item stays under wraps until sweet finale time. No Peeking!
Now what about writing that eventually rates a backpack ride to school? Certainly no “encyclopedic” tome (nonfiction editors applaud) in this neatly-typed, kid-friendly piece entitled Mt. Etna: Good, Growing, and Green. What??
Those readers who routinely regard volcanoes as BAD, UGLY, AND DOWNRIGHT DESTRUCTIVE—raise your hands. My title carefully crafted to reflect article content, grabs attention. Isn’t that the point? And mercifully—for the brave fourth-grader reading aloud to her peers—class intrest is sustained. Good photos reinforce the narrative.
“The small island of Sicily is the world’s #1 lemon grower,” reads the young girl—finish line in sight. “Good, Growing, and Green,” she concludes. “And this: Mt. Etna, to be sure has a yummy, sweet side!”
Whereupon 23 happy kids smack their lips over the sticky proof.
M-m-m-m-m-miele di limoni—lemon honey (at $3.50) fresh from the fruits of Mt. Etna.
How sweet it is—this travel writing for kids!
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