Stories that Connect

Sara de Waal (’14), a children’s book author and English professor at Dordt, spent a week in May visiting schools and libraries throughout Vancouver, British Columbia, and surrounding areas—one of only 30 authors chosen for a nationwide tour hosted by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

On tour, de Waal visited 9 schools in person and met her readers face-to-face. At the very first school, the students had made a welcome bulletin board filled with art inspired by her first book, 48 Grasshopper Estates.

“It’s my favorite thing seeing student work in conversation with my own,” says de Waal. “I always hope my books inspire out-of-the-box thinking."

De Waal also hopes her books create space for community and connection. “In my classes at Dordt, we talk about how books can be mirrors that reflect your own experiences, and how they can be windows too, a way to see into someone else’s life, maybe even foster empathy.”

De Waal describes one encounter on the book tour that left her encouraged. “A girl stayed back after class and told me, ‘Thanks for making so many different kids in your book.’ I’m happy when kids can see themselves in my stories,” says de Waal. “I’m even happier when they see beyond themselves.”

The book with the “so many different kids” is de Waal’s latest book: The Biggest Smallest Thing tells the story of Muriel and Mo, two children with distinctively different ways of thinking—Muriel is imaginative and whimsical, while Mo is structured and determined. As their paths cross, they discover the value of collaboration, creativity, and seeing the world from different perspectives. With themes of art, science, and problem-solving, the book encourages young readers to embrace curiosity and cooperation.

“In my years teaching K-12, I saw how kids tend to categorize themselves early on—‘I’m the art kid’ or ‘I’m the science kid’—and how limiting that can be,” de Waal says. “This book explores how different ways of thinking are valuable and, when combined, can lead to real creativity and innovation.”

De Waal’s book tour presentations blended read-aloud storytelling with interactive science experiments. She led students through hands-on demonstrations: comparing the sounds of different sized instruments, creating chemical reactions with volcano models, and walking through the science of meringue with molecule illustrations created by Dordt graphic design major Kady Toole.

“I try to start with curiosity,” de Waal says. “Like, why do you think this recorder is smaller than that one? What will happen to the reaction if we change the shape of the volcano bottle?” In one memorable activity, she dropped an imaginary rock into the crowd and had the students simulate ripples by doing the wave. Some presentations concluded with a card-writing activity. “That’s a kind of curiosity too,” says de Waal. “What difference could I make with just a few kind words?”

Each activity gave students a chance to explore the guiding question of de Waal’s book: “What is something big you can make with something small?” But, for de Waal, the best “something small” is the small action of opening a book. “The moment before I open the book, it’s noisy; kids are fidgeting, and teachers are shushing them. But then you open the book, you start turning pages, and a kind of calm togetherness settles over the room.”

Seeing the enthusiasm of educators throughout the tour left a mark. “Some librarians opened their doors before the school day even began,” says de Waal. “Little clusters of kids arrived early, waiting to check out a new book or just needing a safe, quiet place to start the day.”

This summer, de Waal will continue investing in story and community during a month-long writing residency in upstate New York where, learning alongside 39 other writers, she plans to work on a new picture book and adult fiction projects. “It’s intentional time set aside for writing,” she says. “But it’s also about being open to whatever surprises come from the work itself, or from the people I’ll meet.”

De Waal brings that same philosophy into her classroom at Dordt. “I often tell my students, ‘Reading books is actually just practice for loving people.’ If we don’t respond to each other, what’s the point of responding to a book?” She works hard to create community within the classroom, even starting her courses with name games so that her students can get to know one another better. “They think it’s childish at first, but by the end of the semester, they tell me it helped them feel known.”

De Waal’s new book is about small things that can become big, but the tour reminded her how often it’s more about perspective than anything. “Small things don’t have to explode or accumulate or ripple to be a big deal. One student feeling valued because someone knows their name—that is already big. One librarian arriving early to open one door—that’s huge.”