Sometimes, we think that children are exposed to so much flashy media stimulus that it is hard to capture their imagination with just books. After a recent preschool visit where I read The Christmas Cats, I passed out bookmarks to the kids that featured one of the kitties from my book. A four year old came back to me and held up his bookmark. “Can I have another bookmark?” he asked unhappily. “My cat is upside down.”

I tried not to laugh at his inability to correct the problem. Then an idea hit me! “It’s a magic bookmark,” I said, taking the bookmark out of his hand and turning it around. “If you turn it the other way, the cat is right side up!”

He stared at it for a moment and then grabbed it. Hugging the bookmark to his chest, he said, “Wow!” and then ran to catch up with his class as they left the room!