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How True Tales Teach Children

Guest post by Rochelle Melander, 2025 Author Sponsor

When I do author visits or artist residencies, children’s eyes light up when they hear stories of kids who have made a difference. It gives them hope that when they see injustice or experience discrimination, they can make a difference, too.

Sophie Cruz was just five years old when she wrote a letter asking the pope to help her fight for her parents’ right to stay in this country.

Anne Frank was eleven when she went into hiding, chronicling her family’s experience. Her diary has been translated into more than fifty languages and has sold more than 25 million copies. In it, Anne shared her observations about life and her experiences living as a teenager in the cramped attic space with 7 other people. The Diary of Anne Frank has transformed many young people from silent observers to speakers of their own truth.

Malala Yousafzai was a 12-year-old student in Pakistan when she began blogging anonymously for the Urdu bureau of the BBC. In her blog, she defied the Taliban by advocating for the education of girls. In 2012, she was shot by a Taliban gunman. After recovering from the gunshot, Yousafzai became an outspoken activist for education, founding the Malala Fund, a nonprofit organization, and writing a book about her experience. In 2014, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian child’s rights activist who has helped free many Indian children from child labor.

Throughout history, people have kept diaries to record observations about their surroundings, express their feelings, and share their stories. Others, like Malala Yousafzai have taken their private feelings and broadcast them as blog posts, podcast episodes or as social media memes. Some children write letters to help make a difference.

Ask the young people you work with to choose one way to use writing to change their world:

• write a letter
• keep a diary
• write a blog post
• create a meme
• write a song

The words children write will change them and just may change the world.

Write Now! Coach Rochelle Melander is a teaching artist and ADHD-trained professional certified coach. She is the author of twelve books, including the award-winning children’s book Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World through Writing. Find her online at writenowcoach.com and rochellemelander.com