I think I would have loved to have been a kid and had this man read me a story.  In fact, he probably didn’t even read his students stories . . . he made them up in real time. 

To be that creative. . .

Christoph von Schmid was a children’s author.  His stories were written for “children, among whom the author daily moved, and were not at first meant for publication.  Usually a story or a chapter was read to the children after school hours as a reward, on condition that they should write it down at home. He thus became familiar with the range of thought and the speech of children, and was careful to speak their language rather than that of books. He was able to observe with his own eyes what it was that impressed the minds and hearts of children both of tender and of riper years.” (From the Lamplighter website)

His writings have been translated into 24 different languages.  How many languages have your words been translated into?  Me?  I’m not sure.  At least one other than English – my blog shows up on my Google Alert in Japanese quite frequently.  Hmmm . . .

The children’s literary champion died of cholera.  He was 87 years old.