Lavelle Carlson
Writer | Publisher | Speech-Language Pathologist
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Best Legacy for Grandchildren – Storybooks

Best Legacy for Grandchildren – Storybooks

How will your grandchildren remember you? Will there be some wisdom you have instilled in them that will be beneficial for living a good life? Will there be some wisdom you have instilled in them that will create a better world?

Throughout history, lore has been handed down orally. As time goes on the oral stories change as language changes. The first picture stories were paintings on cave walls. Then, in 1765 John Locke wrote The History of Little Goody Two Shoes. Children’s Picture storybooks just kept getting better. How can we not forget the delightful picture book by Beatrice Potter Peter Rabbit? Now, with present-day technology and self-publishing, grandparents do not have why to rely only on oral stories. There are so many possibilities in writing your stories in book format to give your future generations your life story that will impart wisdom for greater civilization. That can be your legacy to your children, your grandchildren, and children of future generations.

There are many ways for grandparents to leave their stories for grandchildren depending on one’s level of computer knowledge. Let’s start with the method that requires very little knowledge of the computer and knowledge of publishing. There is a company, StoryWorth, that takes the conversations between you and your children and grandchildren and publishes them in a book. The way it works is that each week the grandchildren and/or children send a question to the grandparents via email. The question is then answered by the grandparents and submitted to StoryWorth (can be edited at any point). At the end of the year, StoryWorth publishes the book of conversations.

Another simple method of book publishing is one my daughter has used each year to give that special gift to my husband and me. Either take photos or collect some of your old photos. Submit them to Shutterfly. Shutterfly will then have the book printed. This is relatively inexpensive for preserving the treasured memories for your grandchildren. Our photos with the grandchildren are included on several pages in memories of trips or activities with the grandchildren.

A much higher level of publishing for your grandchildren is to take advantage of some of the self-publishing services that are available today. It can be BookBaby or Amazon’s self-publishing, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). In the case of KDP, computer and internet knowledge are necessary. Are you going to write a factual book, or will you write a fun children’s storybook that combines some of your childhood or some of your children’s childhood within a fictionalized version? If so, then the process becomes more complicated. However, it can be done. Can you do the art, or will you need to hire someone? If you can hire someone who can illustrate the book and design and format, then that is the best. My background was in speech/language pathology where we were trained in using storybooks for children. Therefore, the writing was somewhat easier for me to do. Photo Shop came in handy for me. However, there is other software available, possibly less expensive.

With my knowledge of storybooks and somewhat limited knowledge of technology, I jumped into self-publishing with gusto. My first books were rhyming books and stories that I could use for my speech students’ goals of specific sounds or language goals and at the same time would help parents while reading to their young children. They were intended to be fun stories so children could benefit from the parents reading to them.

The most fun I had when I retired was writing children’s books that were either inspired by my grandchildren or gave a taste of their parents’ childhoods or my travels over the years to my grandchildren. By writing books for my grands I felt like I accomplished two things. First of all, they appear to think I am special. Second, and most important, is that I gave them a picture of different cultures and also the importance of the environment in various books. My favorite storybooks dedicated to my grandchildren are those that include animals on travels we have made over the years. I like to write about the unusual animals like the great potoo, the cockatoo, and all the monkeys of Central America and Costa Rica. The children seem to love these the most, particularly if it is silly rhyming stories. So, there is much you can share with your grandchildren in the form of storybooks. Do you want to give them the inspiration to do things no matter how difficult, perhaps as you may have had to do? Do you want to give them a lesson on loving others as you have seen first-hand the difference it makes in a person’s life? Do you want to show them a life they may never experience – the life you lived?

If you go the last route in writing book(s) for your grandchildren, be prepared for a learning curve (I am still learning). There are many persons and organizations out there willing to help – some for a lot of money and some for less. I try to learn the least expensive way. There is a company that was formerly Lynda.com, now called LinkedIn. They have thousands of free courses available by using your local library card. Another way to learn is to read the “how-to” on Amazon’s KDP (self-publishing website). BookBaby is another to follow for information. If you feel like you will be pursuing children’s storybook writing for more than one book, you may want to check out the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and pay a yearly fee.

Good luck with your choice of handing down your knowledge and wisdom to your grands no matter which venue you choose.

About Lavelle Carlson

Lavelle Carlson was born in Texas. She attended the University of Houston, then was married and moved many times. She spent ten years in London and Stavanger, Norway. After returning to the States she went back to school and received her Masters in Speech/Language Pathology at the U. of Tulsa. She worked with both adults and children. The children were always her favorite. Her therapy sessions often used storybooks, those of others as well as stories she created for her students. She began publishing some of these stories to help other speech/language pathologists. Then, after retiring she began writing stories that were relevant to her daughters and grandchildren as the one memory that she felt would be the most significant. She continues writing and self-publishing. She also loves to volunteer in ways that will help others and give back some of the benefits she has had bestowed upon her in her life. If you would like to see more from Lavelle, you can visit her website.

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