Children’s texts inspired by the book A Heart’s Little Refugee
The readers’ texts constitute a creative imitation
or modification or reversal of the literary model
1. The little garden girl goes to school. When she returns to her garden, spring has
suddenly come and flowers have sprouted. In the garden, when she plays her
favorite game with the sweet peas, the rainbow appears. She wishes the sky
would be full of color every day. She sits on the swing and picks the flowers with
her feet. She makes rain of flowers. A flower falls on her and she is scared. (“The
Garden of Memories”)
2. A girl and her parents pass by the little garden girl. They stop in front of the shop
windows and look at things. They talk about the Christmas holidays. The little
garden girl dreams that she is playing with the other girl with water guns in an
indoor hotel pool. Because it had snowed a lot, they decide they do not need any
more toys. They make snowballs and throw them at each other. They also make
snowmen instead of dolls. (“The Shopaholics”)
3. The little garden girl asked another girl to go out and play with her. But the other
girl wouldn’t go because she preferred to watch commercials. This girl had asked
her parents to buy her windmills and dolls. She left them outside because the
house was full of toys. Next day, as soon as she started playing, she went back
in to watch the commercials in order to choose new toys. Every day, she ignored
the new toys in order to watch the commercials. So the little garden girl was
alone in the garden. One time, the garden girl fell off the swing. The other girl
went to help her. Then, both of them saw a pink flower. The girls loved this color
very much. So they took care of the flower to help it grow and fill with pink
blossoms. The two girls started playing together in the garden to be near the
flower. But whenever the weather was rainy and dark, they would watch
commercials together inside the house. (“The Shopaholics”)
4. In the mornings, the famous man took his dog for a walk. Whenever he passed
by the garden, he would take the little girl by the hand and they would go buy
milk. He was a singer and earned a lot of money. He told the little garden girl that
he liked to fly kites and swim. But he couldn’t go to the beach because people
would ask for autographs and bother him. So, he had built a swimming pool in his
house. (“The Fame Addict”)
5. A singer destroyed his garden to build a swimming pool. So, he lived in the gray.
There was no more sun and it was never spring, only autumn and winter. At
Christmas, Santa Claus didn’t come, nor did children sing carols. At pet shops,
they wouldn’t let him get a dog or a cat, because there was no sun or space for
the animals to play. He had no fans anymore. So, people didn’t invite him to give
concerts. He grew a beard and got fat. He became an unemployed bachelor,
playing video games and watching TV, eating chips and ordering pizza with all
the lights off and the curtains closed. (“The Fame Addict”)
6. In the illuminated shopping street, there is a shop with computers, tablets and
mobile phones. Two twin boys enter. They pass by the little girl without noticing
her because they are both looking at their screens. The little girl says, “Hello,” but
they do not hear it. They are absorbed in the video games they are playing.
When the two boys pass, the little girl dreams that she is playing with them. She
holds a brand-new tablet in her hands. She is excited. When night falls, they plug
in their tablets to charge and look at the sky together. They talk about the moon
and the stars. Their parents are currently working in their restaurant. During the
day, they search for new recipes on their own tablets. (“The Screenaholics”)
7. When the twin brothers moved to the new neighborhood, they played games on
their mobile phones all the time. During a trip, they were constantly playing
games on their tablet. After they returned home, they played video games on the
computer. Then they turned on the TV but fell asleep in front of the screen.
That’s what they were called, “The Screen Brothers.” (“The Screenaholics”)
8. One day the two brothers took their video games and went into the garden.
Because they were looking at the screens and not paying attention to where they
were stepping, one of the boys slipped and fell. The tape came out and the
screen went dark. As the boy was looking for the tape, his mother, who was on
her way to work, passed by. She was also looking at her screen, so she didn’t
see him as he was bent over and she tripped over him. When she realized it, she
wrote “Sorry” on the screen. While the boy was looking for the tape, the little
garden girl helped him. So the boy fell in love with her. He stopped playing
games on the screen and picked flowers for the little girl. The two children play
together or go to the theater. (“The Screenaholics”)
9. When the phobics left the garden, they went to live in a city without gardens. But
their neighbor had many plants and even trees on the roof of their building. When
the elderly couple went to talk to him about it, the neighbor explained to them that
he just had to take care of his plants. Immediately an idea crossed the old man’s
mind: to cut down all the plants. Then a butterfly landed on his hand. The old
man started screaming but soon he realized that the butterfly had not harmed
him. So, he and his wife returned to the countryside, where they lived without
fear anymore. (“The Phobics”)
10. A beautiful, busy lady comes out of the flower shop, loaded with an armful of
flowers and enters the crystal shop next door, which is hers. As she passes by
the little girl, she smiles at her. How sweet her smile is! The little girl dreams that
she lives near her. They have a huge garden, with many different flowers and
they take care of them every afternoon, when the little girl returns from school
and the woman returns from her shop. The lady promises the little girl that she will throw her a birthday party, where she will invite all her friends from school
and serve food and a huge cake. But even this beautiful dream ends for the little
girl. (“The Workaholic”)
11. One day, the busy lady cooked chicken and potatoes for the little garden girl.
That day, when she arrived at work, she took out her keys and started trying
them out. But she had too many keys and couldn’t find the right one. Time
passed and she got tired of continuing. So, she returned home. She watered the
flowers, took care of the frog and did many other chores, such as feeding the
little girl. (“The Workaholic”)
12. The know-it-alls pruned the garden and threw the branches into their fireplace.
Then the man left the garden. In the garden there was an apple tree. The woman
asked the little garden girl to help her pick the apples. When the man returned,
he found his wife giving the girl an injection because she had fallen ill when they
were picking the apples. (“The Know-it-alls”)
13. Three little sisters pass by on the street. They are going to their dad’s shop,
which sells sportswear and shoes. The little girl dreams that these girls are also
her little sisters. They all live together in the same room. They have their
breakfast and plan the games of the day. Because the weather is very cold, they
decide not to go out to play. They remember that the last time they played in the
cold, they got sick. So, they suggested playing with their playdough. They will
make ice cream, pizza and cookies from playdough. In the afternoon, they will
drive to dad’s shop to help. They will take him whatever they make to treat the
children of the customers. (“The Tormentor”)
14. The Tormentor had a bull. Whenever he had time, he would take the bull into the
forest to find other animals and fight them. When this man met the little garden
girl, instead of greeting her, he scared her. One day, his bull entered the garden
and hit the little garden girl. (“The Tormentor”)
E. I.
