Norma Charles on Teaching and Writing

From Teaching to Writing

Stories from Life

by Norma Charles

The most-often-asked question every writer hears is probably, where do you get the ideas for your stories?

My answer is the same as most writers. The ideas for my stories usually come from my own life. By my own life, I mean what’s happened to me and the people in my family, my children and grandchildren, and also my students and friends. And that’s where I tell my young audience they’ll find wonderful stories as well. I tell them that their own stories matter, and they should feel free and excited to tell those stories. What’s happening to them and the people in their world is important, and sharing those stories can make a difference.

One of my main goals during my time as a teacher and teacher/librarian, besides helping students understand how valuable their own stories were, was to try to include stories and books in our library collection that reflected every student’s experience. I believe profoundly that all children need to see themselves in the stories and books they encounter so they know that they’re important too.

One such story happened in my own family. A few weeks before my nine-year-old grandson, Kai, was to start attending a new school, I noticed he was growing more and more preoccupied and anxious.

Then one day, he blurted out: “What do you do when they start calling you the N-word?”

Ah. That was the problem. At his old school, Kai had been the victim of vicious bullying just because he’s Black. And that’s what he feared would happen at his new school.

His mom, Andrea, tried to reassure him this new school would be different, and any time he didn’t feel safe he should tell the teacher. Or tell her. But he still expected his first day at the new school was going to be the worst day ever.

I thought this was a story that needed to be shared with other students who were dreading some new situation or new environment, so with my daughter’s help, I wrote The One and Only Question (Groundwood, 2025), and we named the main character, Zeke.

Our story starts out with Zeke feeling his first day at a new school is going to be “the worst day ever”. His favourite shirt has mustard stains on it so he has to wear another one. He can’t find his hair-pick so his hair’s sticking out all over. The bus driver is grouchy, and the new teacher doesn’t smile at him. The whole time, Zeke braces himself for the moment that someone will start teasing him. And he thinks that moment has arrived after he loses a race around the track and a boy approaches him. But instead of teasing Zeke, the boy smiles at him and compliments him on how fast he’s just run.

That small act of kindness totally changes Zeke’s expectations and his view of his life at the new school. By the end of the day, he realizes no one has teased him or called him the N-word. Not once. It’s been a pretty good day. And maybe tomorrow will be even better.

After finishing the manuscript, Andrea and I shared it with Kai. I asked him what he thought about it. He said it was okay, but he’d like us to change one thing.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“You should change the main guy’s name from Zeke to Kai.”

I laughed. That’s when I knew Andrea and I had gotten the story right. Kai saw himself in our story. He “owned” that story. Now that the book is out there in the world, he’s very proud of it and loves sharing it with everyone (including his dentist last week)!

As a teacher/librarian for many years, I would find our book The One and Only Question useful for starting and encouraging conversations about bullying, racism, and everyone’s right to a safe environment, whether at home or at school. Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what to do in the case of bullying and racism. Here are some tips you may want to share with your students and fellow teachers:

To share with your students:

• Ignore the bullies and walk away. Sometimes that’s enough to show them that you don’t care. But always remember that everyone, including you and your friends, deserves to be treated with respect.
• Tell an adult, your teacher or your parent, about the bullying incident. Telling them isn’t tattling. It’s telling the truth.
• If you notice someone else being bullied, go and stand with them so the bully will see their victim is not alone. Then encourage your fellow students to tell their teacher or parent. If they’re too scared, you should go with them to support them. Or even tell your teacher or parent yourself about what has happened.

Tips to share with your fellow teachers and caregivers:

• Don’t allow students to mistreat each other.
• Always intervene when you witness bullying and racism.
• Immediately call out people who use racial slurs.
• Have zero tolerance for racism and bullying in your classroom or on the playground.

It’s vital to remember that in order for children to be successful at school and in their lives, they must feel safe. All children should be respected and proud of themselves for who they are. It’s our job as educators to teach children to celebrate and honour differences. We want to help children grow up understanding these values so one day we’ll save generations of children like Kai (and Zeke) from having to endure harmful and demeaning taunts and agonizing about how to deal with them alone.