William Boswell is the story teller of the recently published The Wild and Crazy Adventures of a Boy Named Will . He, like most children, enjoys stories told by his aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents. When he was very little, he always listened intently as stories were told to him, but early on, while listening to a story being told by an adult, he would stop the story, and say: “I think this happened next…” and the stories began to take on twists and turns that could only arise from the imagination of a child. .
Now six, young Mr. Boswell is known to his family as Will. Will, intially began adding content to stories told to him, but soon began telling his own from beginning to end. His grandmother, Mimi, began to record the stories as Will told them, (Will describes her as the fastest speller). The result of Will's story telling and Mimi's fast spelling is his first children's book.
Will’s book is a collection of children’s stories, not coming from the mind of an adult, trying to attract a child’s attention, but rather stories from the mind of a child. The stories in the book are perfect for bedtime. They come with messages in a way that only a child could tell, and are accompanied by the illustrations of artist, Michelle Matson.
Here are some highlights:
The Pig That Did Not Go To Market
Will finds a piglet in a forest near his home. He asks his mom to bring the orphaned pig home. His mom okays a short stay, which gets extended. Soon it's not a piglet, and used to living at home.
Daddy The Snake Fighter
This story is influenced by Will’s real life experiences with snakes in his backyard. The adventure involves a garter snake, a frog, a little brother, and a neighbor. The hero of the story is a hero that every boy should have, his dad.
Blue Gill Fishing: Not Your Ordinary Day
Will’s day starts off at school, and then a trip to the lake with his dad and brother. He had to free a tadpole he had brought to school for show and tell. Will relates lessons learned from his dad about fishing, and hooks a big one. The rest is an adventure.
Little Bear Breaks His Leg
Will has a gift for communicating with animals. He understands the snorts of pigs and can read meaning in the face of a fish. Sometimes though, he can just talk with an animal, and in this last story, he and Mimi can talk with bears. They meet a sad bear in the forest and between them they provide aid and comfort to a Papa Bear distraught over an injured little bear cub.
The stories are those of a child, and that is the beauty of the book. What better way to entertain children than to read to them stories that came from a child’s mind? What better way to set off the imagination of another child than to show them a book written by a peer? The Wild and Crazy Adventures of a Boy Named Will is intended to be the first of a series.
The Wild and Crazy Adventures of a Boy Named Will, by William Boswell CreateSpace (2010)
David J. Shestokas - Mr. Shestokas is a former prosecutor & writes on the Constitution & legal issues for the Save America Foundation & Suite 101.
Join the Conversation