Jolene's unicorn tales

To remind everyone of why it is important to continue following the rules put in place to limit the spread of covid19, seven-year-old Jolene Bridglal teamed up with her mother to write a short story titled The Alicorn Princess Learns About The Coronavirus.

The standard one student of San Francique Presbyterian School has a special love for unicorns and asked her mom to write the story when she felt bored one day and thought there was nothing interesting to read.

She told Newsday Kids, “I like writing stories because it’s fun and because you get to use your imagination.

“You can make your own adventure books or princess books. And I can put any character I want.”

But this is not the first story Jolene has written.

She previously wrote a story titled The Brave Little Unicorn which was an inspiration for her latest story. In the Brave Little Unicorn, a group of unicorn friends live in an enchanted forest ruled by a king.

With help from her mom, she re-imagined the Brave Little Unicorn to create The Alicorn Princess Learns About the Coronavirus.

On helping Jolene write the story, her mother Vashti Bowlah said, “As a parent and author, I always encourage Jolene to read a lot. I also provide guidance on how she can improve her creative writing.

“I used this opportunity to do something fun with her as a mother-daughter lockdown project.”

Bowlah recalls a story Jolene wrote titled A Unicorn Named Ella. In the story, a unicorn named Ella has her pretty colours taken away by an evil unicorn and Ella goes on an adventure to get it back.

“Believe me when I say she has quite an imagination.

“She’s always writing stories which I believe are inspired by some of the TV shows she watches and her story books,” said Bowlah.

Jolene’s favourite TV shows are Puppy and The Ring, Nella the Princess Knight, Rainbow Rangers, My Little Pony and Paw Patrol.

“She takes paper from my printer, folds them in half and asks me to staple the centre to make a booklet. She then writes her stories and draws her own illustrations,” said Bowlah.

Apart from writing stories with her mom, Jolene is making time for fun in self-quarantine. She is watching TV shows and making Krazy Loom bracelets.

If you are interested in hearing Jolene and her mother read The Alicorn Princess Learns About the Coronavirus, ask your parents to visit Bowlah’s Facebook page, Vashti Bowlah.