On April 27, writers and readers around the nation celebrate #NationalTellAStoryDay – appreciating the art and enjoyment of storytelling and its ability to foster imagination. We invite you to celebrate with us by enjoying Jill’s story, featured previously in The Splendid Review.

The Shark Story

Once there was a shark. The shark saw an elephant, and he jumped out of the water and tried to eat it. But the elephant talked to the shark, so the shark got mad and said, “Go away!” Then the shark swallowed the elephant and went back in the ocean.

Then a bigger thing ate the shark. It was an octopus. The elephant was in the shark’s tummy and the shark was in the octopus’s tummy. The shark was stuck in there.

So after that, the octopus saw a weird creature and it was a different shark with sharp teeth like vampire fangs. After that, the shark with the fangs ate the octopus.

Then it was dark and the shark with the fangs was outside and saw a weird scary spider. The scary spider ate the shark with fangs. Then the scary spider went walking, and he walked all the way home. He was so full he went to sleep.

-Jill, Age 5

The Splendid Review is an anthology of poems, short stories and autobiographies written by the talented young writers at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers.  A team of professional writers from Writers in the Schools perform weekly workshops at all three Houston area TXCH campuses (Main, The Woodlands and West) in the outpatient clinic as well as on the inpatient unit and the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to help children and their families create short stories, poetry, autobiographies and illustrations.

These works are published in a quarterly anthology titled The Splendid Review.  In 2018, over 200 patients and siblings participated in this workshop, publishing 250 poems, short stories and autobiographies. Since inception, more than 2,500 pieces have been published in The Splendid Review.

To receive a copy of The Splendid Review, email us or view our online library.