I dedicate this book to my family and friends.

Deep below the crystal blue sea, Mother Dolphin glides through the clear water. A little spotted fish that could feed two, catches Mother’s eye. A treasure from an old abandoned ship from 1942 lies right below the green curly seaweed. An orange sea star glimmers on the sand. Bubbles wander above the old treasure chest.

Mother Dolphin skims through the seaweed trying to catch the spotted fish that is squirming away. Suddenly, a beast hovers above Mother Dolphin, but she doesn’t notice until the fish scurries away. As Mother Dolphin leaps above the water, a terrible storm is coming. The turtle sees the danger.

Boom, bang, whoosh, splash! All of a sudden, a great white shark tries to chomp Mother Dolphin’s fin with his sharp white teeth. As she bounds into the stormy sky, heavy hail rain drops pound on her silky skin. Waves crash into the rocks.

Just then, Mother Dolphin quickly flips back into the stormy water. She jerks her strong snout into the shark’s stomach. Finally, the shark is killed. Mother Dolphin is safe.

Finally Mother Dolphin catches the eager spotted fish. As she follows the little bubbles, she finds her babies playing happily on the silky sand deep below the crystal blue sea.

About the Author

Hi, my name is Macayla. I love to bake, sing, and dance. My favorite sports are ice hockey, skating, and gymnastics. I loved making this book with my teachers, Mrs. Mattson and Mrs. P. The pictures were really fun to make. My mom says I’m a good drawer. She says I’m an artist, which I think is true. This experience was really fun.

This is one of the many books that came to life while students in Mrs.

Mattson’s 3rd grade class explored the rich relationship between visual imagery

and the written word. This book was created as a part of Image-Making Within

the Writing Process, a dynamic art-and-literature-based approach to writing

developed by Beth Olshansky at the University of New Hampshire. Image-

Making uses hand-painted textured papers as the raw materials for creating

collage stories and poetry. Unlike a more traditional writing process, within

Image-Making the pictures always come first. This offers students with diverse

learning styles essential visual and kinesthetic tools for rehearsing, drafting,

and revising their ideas long before setting pencil to paper. Image-Making was

validated by the US Department of Education as an “innovative and effective

literacy program” in 1993. Today children around the world use this process to

create books in many languages.

Spring, 2010