The Little Prince Illustration | Diaz Elementary School
On a trip to Diaz Elementary School for a day of arts and crafts with the children, the fire alarm suddenly rings.
It's a drill, and I file along with the kids to the safety exits. Some of the first graders are afraid, the menacing fire escape doors looming over them as they wait to be counted.
A project is born. The objective: familiarizing the kids with the drill procedures, while at the same time easing the tension and maintaining a bunch of overexcited children calm and quiet. During a brainstorm session, the teachers think storytelling might be the solution, and agree that associating a fairy tale to each safety exit route might just do the trick.
The kids list their favorite stories, and team of illustrators is assembled.
Among the finalists I select The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, my own favorite at their age.
Each illustrator is in charge of two doors, mine being numbers 3 and 7.
The kids now file to the emergency exits while the teachers tell the stories, and the younger students, who may have a hard time recognizing their assigned number, head to their fairytale character without hesitation.
The mood is overall lighter, the kids are distracted from the harsh-sounding alarm, and everyone heads to safety having a great time!
