Where Do You Live, Exactly?

An interactive, educational project and personalized keepsake rolled into one, “Where Do You Live, Exactly?” uses the principle of Russian nesting dolls to reduce the size of the universe one page at a time. At the beginning of the story, when Tommy Turtle asks the child where he lives, the child responds, “I live in the Universe”. Tommy Turtle replies, “But the universe is very big! Where do you live, exactly?” Each additional response becomes more precise until the book ends in the child’s own bedroom. Through the use of repetition and personalization, the child has fun ‘filling in the blanks’ and gluing-in or coloring pictures to put themselves at ‘the center of the story’, while at the same time, learning the basic design of the universe and personal address information. Depending upon the child’s age and literacy level, the personalized portions of the story can be completed entirely by an adult; by an adult and child working together; or by the child working independently. When the child outgrows the book, tuck it away with childhood memorabilia to preserve a precious sample of their handwriting and drawings.