The Dot-Creatrilogy by Peter H. Reynolds includes three books sharing the story of Vashti, a young girl who discovers her true creative power. Through her journey, Vashti is able to build self-confidence and helps spread the message of the power of creativity.
The Dot: This first book of the series tells the story of Vashti, who is frustrated by her teacher’s expectations to draw in a certain way. Upon being challenged by her teacher, Vashti creates a simple dot on a paper. With this small action, Vashti begins to explore her artistic talent and she makes her dot bigger and bigger until it fills an entire page. Through this simple action, Vashti is able to see that her creativity can stretch far beyond the classroom. This book helps remind readers that creative ideas don’t always follow the same path and they can come in any form.
Island of the Blue Dolphins: This book continues Vashi’s journey as she takes a sailing trip to an island off the coast of California. Here, she discovers a colony of entitled and power-hungry bullfrogs who use intimidation to control the other inhabitants of the island. Through creative problem-solving, Vashti is able to help her new friends break free of the bullfrogs’ control and create a safe haven for all creatures on the island. This book helps to show that even small actions have the potential to make a big impact and that working together can be powerful in fighting injustice.
The Bigwallow: The third and final book in the series finds Vashti traveling to a river in the Amazon rainforest to study the local wildlife. Here, she discovers a colony of capybara that are being threatened by the destructive activity of a nearby logging company. Vashti uses her knowledge and creativity to devise a plan to save the capybaras. Her plan is creative and successful and helps to show that Nature is powerful and that our only job is to protect and preserve it. This story helps to remind readers that there are always solutions to problems that have been created by humans, and to motivate them to find those solutions.
Overall, The Dot-Creatrilogy is an inspiring series that helps to build confidence and to spread the message of using creativity to solve problems. The stories, characters, and themes throughout the three books are powerful reminders that creativity is a power anyone can possess and use to make the world a better place.
