Stephen the Statute : Children's short story by Andrew Segal

Description

Stephen the Statue : Written and narrated by Andrew Segal

Children's short story; suitable for 3- 6yr old

It’s not always that easy to say where the inspiration for a story comes

from. In the children’s story, Roberto the Robot, I looked at the

fantasy of a machine with a mind and with feelings. The robot

connects with a little girl, and she with him. An innocent friendship

where the frail one is mentally the stronger. But where the physically

stronger, is also too gentle to hit back when he’s attacked by ‘bully

boys.’

I developed the idea further with Stephen the Statue, this time the

inanimate object, the statue, being the principal character. Here the

threat to be faced by Stephen, a hero from the past, is of oblivion,

something I’ve suggested the statue is aware of. In facing the

problem, where the statue can of course do nothing, he is rescued by a

wheelchair bound child who reminds the village of the heroism of

Stephen, insisting it mustn’t be forgotten.

A child who is facing a disability has something in common with the

statue, although the child, whilst seeing itself in the same situation as

the statue, is able to do something about it.