Issue #9 • May 2018

Dear Readers,

One thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately is world-building. Mainly, this has been caused by a number of utterly amazing emails and images I've been sent by readers of my books, who have created their very own Heartwood Hotels. Or mini Monas. Here's one example of a fan's crocheted Mona:

And one of a doll house room in a young girl's Heartwood Hotel:

And of course, the Heartwood Hotel dollhouse I created myself:

It was quite painful creating this Heartwood, as it involved a lot of glue-gun burns!

I have always been very immersive in fantasy worlds. When I was a young girl, my favourite thing to do with my friends was play "Little Women" or "Little House on the Prairie". In each game, my friends and I took on the roles of different characters, and made up our own new stories for the books. (For some reason, I always liked to be Beth from Little Women, and dramatically die!)

Now, I feel so lucky to hear about children who are doing the same thing with my stories, play-acting them, creating and building off the worlds I have created. There's nothing more satisfying. More than anything I just want to keep creating new worlds for my mind, and others' minds to explore.

Did you play-act books when you were young? Do you like to world build too?

xo
Kallie

For more fun check out the websites for my two series!

Visit the Heartwood Hotel, where you can book a room in the fancy oak tree, take a quiz to find out which room is perfect for you, and download activities.

At the Magical Animal Adoption Agency find out which magical animal is perfect for you, adopt a magic animal, and learn tips and tricks for taking care of your tricky enchanted beasts.

Extra Fun

Featured Activity - Create a fortune teller!

Alongside making up games based on books, I also made a LOT of fortune tellers when I was a kid.

This is a special fortune teller that's based off the fortunes in the Heartwood Hotel. Every spring, Mr. Heartwood, the hotel owner, hands out seeds to guests and staff alike. When they crack them open, inside they find a fortune for the new season.

Create your own fortune teller! Download the template here!