Aided by a team of professionals, 14 students took inspiration from paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts to produce a book of short stories.

Children are capable of accomplishing anything creatively-speaking, thanks to their rich imagination.

This is a lesson that the people behind the ‘Every painting has a story – written by kids for kids’ book know all too well.

The project saw 14 sixth grade students attending San Anton School take inspiration from paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts to write a collection of short stories and publish them into a book.

The coordinators behind this project included art teacher and head of the art department at San Anton School Alison Zammit Endrich, San Anton School librarian Noel Tanti and director at Merlin Publishers Chris Gruppetta.

The project was funded by the Kreattiv programme, a government initiative that engages educators and creative practitioners with the purpose of encouraging students and educators to participate within the creative sector.

‘Every painting has a story’ saw students writing and animating their own children’s book with the help of various workshops, while also getting to know the ins and outs of the publishing industry.

The initiative was the brainchild of Zammit Endrich, who got the idea from a writing and illustration project that used fine art as inspiration, after she completed an education course organised by the Museum of Modern Art.

Following this, she pitched her idea to the National Museum of Fine Arts, where it was received with enthusiasm from head curator Sandro Debono. She then approached Tanti, who suggested working together with Gruppetta, and thus things were put in motion.

“The idea was that I would organise a morning at the museum, for all the grade six students, focusing on 10 paintings that featured animals. The group was divided into small discussion groups. They sat around each painting for five to 10 minutes, looking, exploring and discussing,” says Zammit Endrich.

She then went back to school to explain how the project would work – that students would write and animate their own book, which would be published and distributed in various schools around Malta and Gozo.

“14 very enthusiastic children signed up for this project, notwithstanding the fact that it was to take place after school hours. They wanted to be famous authors at all costs,” Zammit Endrich says.

“They even dreamed of a book launch and a book- signing session.”

Projects such as these will inspire other children to take part in such projects

Prior to starting work on the book, the students attended a series of after-school workshops that provided them with the guidance needed to pull off the complex project.

Workshops were conducted by a number of specialists in the industry such as author Leanne Ellul, illustrator Marisa Attard and graphic designer Pierre Portelli. The students also visited Progress Press to learn about the printing process of the book.

They were taught editing techniques for them to edit their own work, quite a feat considering that even adult authors encounter problems at the editing stage. The children in fact did everything from writing to illustrating, editing and designing the cover, with the adults simply guiding them in the right direction.

“This was a huge commitment which these students chose to embark on. They worked hard and diligently and had fun too. Every session was a treat and they bonded immediately with all the creative practitioners involved,” Tanti says.

But what exactly did the children get out of this experience?

“Where do I start? The con-fidence it inspired in them, for starters. I could see the pride of ownership in them during the sessions and, even when I met any of them outside the sessions they always expressed huge interest,” says Gruppetta.

“It also gave the children a very clear understanding of the realities of publishing and all the work involved behind books. Hopefully, when they come across a book in the future they’ll be far more aware of what went on to make it happen.

“In terms of their creative input, the project focused the children on the importance of editing, fine-tuning their work and being aware of the sometimes conflicting re-quirements of the various members of a creative team,” he continues.

The highlight of the project for most students was undoubtedly the book launch which was held at the starting point of the project at the National Museum of Fine Arts.

This event gave the students the time to share all their hard work and effort with the public, a moment which is groundbreaking for an adult, let alone a child.

“From the very beginning, Alison, Chris and I wanted the children to have a full experience and this included the book launch. They were over the moon and the book-signing was the cherry on the cake. They spent days rehearsing their signature,” says Tanti.

It was quite touching for the coordinators to oversee such a project.

“Every single day that I bumped into the students in the corridors, I would be greeted with: ‘When is our next Kreattiv meeting Ms Alison?’ I feel a bond was formed between the kids and the team that is difficult to describe in words,” says Zammit Endrich.

“It was a long, hard, sometimes tiresome journey, however the children’s energy is contagious and you put aside the hardship once you see them coming in for their next session,” says Tanti.

Projects such as these will definitely inspire other children to take part in such projects, especially when they see someone their age, or someone slightly older than them, succeed the way these students have.

According to Zammit Endrich, these projects are a way to get children interested in culture and the arts. “It is through such Kreattiv projects that students can share the love of art and creativity and interact with and learn from professionals in order to have a true experience of the art world,” says Zammit Endrich.

Those who would like to know more about the project can read the step-by-step development of the project online.