The Dot

Written by Peter H Reynolds (Candlewick)

Age 5-9  / Grades 1-4

With a simple, witty story and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds entices even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark – and follow where it takes us.

Her teacher smiled. “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.”

Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can’t draw – she’s no artist. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. “There ” she says.

That one little dot marks the beginning of Vashti’s journey of surprise and self-discovery. That special moment is the core of Peter H. Reynolds’s delicate fable about the creative spirit in every child.

For teachers and parents

The story is a wonderful tool to use to help children understand that it is not how well they can do something; it is the effort that they put into it that counts.

It also reminds us that we can boost a child’s confidence and self-esteem with simple lessons. 

As children learn to do things on their own, they can feel anger, frustration and fear.  Instead of getting cross with Vashti, her teacher encourages her to make any mark on the piece of blank paper and then celebrates it by asking her to sign it, and framing it. She uses positive guidance and humor to make Vashti see her abilty in a different way. This makes Vashi stop and think, ‘wait I can do better than a dot’, and she proceeds to totally own the dot art, making more and more pictures and paintings with dots. The best part is when another young child sees Vashti’s dot art and says I wish I could do that! Vashti then shares the lesson by encouraging him to start with just drawing a line… The lesson is brilliantly shared in a pay it forward fashion. 

Peter Reynolds has shown us how experiences such as the one Vashti had, help to set the foundation for self-identity in the future. A book that pairs well with this is What Do You Do With An Idea?, by Kobi Yamada, which inspires children to take an idea or a ‘dot on a page’ to the next level and make something of it. 

About the author

Peter H. Reynolds is the New York Times best-selling illustrator of the Judy Moody and Stink series written by Megan McDonald. He is also the creator of several picture books for children, including The North Star and So Few of Me.  He is president and creative director of FableVision, and was born in Canada and now lives in Massachusetts, USA.

I love this trilogy of his books called Creatrilogy which offers three books that deal with creativity. 

Ish: Who needs perfection when you can think “ishly”? This book is for anyone who’s ever felt the crushing weight of trying to ‘get it right.’ The lesson is simple – it’s more fun to let your creative spirit be free.  It reminds us to embrace our unique selves. 

Sky Color: What do you see when I say blue? This book is a lesson in how we all see things differently and how  inspiration can come from anywhere. Sometimes the sky can be green, purple, or polka-dotted! It really encourages children to create beyond the limits of what they know.