Cora Zon

Postcards at Lilydale High School

When Cora was asked to undertake a storytelling session with Year Eight girls she fully engaged all the students. In her follow up workshop the students wrote wonderfully because Cora tapped into their imaginations. Her approach was friendly and accepting, and she was able to gain the students’ interest and trust as she led them into a magical world which she created through her beautiful stories and skilled use of accompanying props in her workshops. The students found all of this intriguing and as a result their ideas flowed freely. Cora was a pleasure for both staff and students to work with and we look forward to her returning to Lilydale in the future. I am very happy to recommend Cora to other schools. She is a wonderful storyteller!
Valerie Mayer - Lilydale High School.

Creative Writing Workshop held 18.5.07
Excerpts:

I’m writing to tell you about my trip to the world of my imagination.

Today I went to my magical land. It was amazing.

I pushed open the door and there was a bright light. So I walked through the door and I couldn’t believe it. There was a whole different world.

I saw a family of huge emus, the size of dinosaurs, which were pecking at fairy floss at the highest tree tops.

I can hear the trees whisper. They talk to each other in a language unknown.

First I saw this beautiful creature, its eyes were like crystals and its body so silky you just wanted to touch it.

There was a massive orchard with trees full of tiny Chinese dragons.

I went to a market and bought some angel wings which I used to fly around everywhere.

I walked through a rainbow archway.

I walked through the forest and picked up a dancing flower that smiled at me.

I’m sitting here in the world of my imagination and wishing that you could be here.

I loved it here and never wanted to leave.

Seeing my own world of imagination was the most amazing experience of my life.

Creative Writing Workshop periods 1 & 2

30.5.07

We lifted off the ground and began to fly.

I saw a green chicken. It had a hat.

I entered and saw a path. It was really soft like it was made of marshmallows.

they had a petting zoo but the animals were weird.

I saw a flock of flying elephants.

I picked it up and suddenly I was in the sky. It was a flying daisy.

Then a giant eagle swooped down and plopped me on its back and we flew around the hills.

I saw a market. In one stall they were selling caterpillar snot. There were free taste tests. I didn’t try it.

There were flying giraffes.

I walked through a door into my own world. There were birds everywhere. All types of birds.

I tasted this thing. It tasted like chocolate but it looked like a piece of fruit.

Creative Writing Workshop periods 3 & 4

30.5.07

Hi, how are you? I’m great! You should have come on the trip. It was so fun!

I went to this place. There was EVERYTHING there!

I so wish you could’ve come with me into my imagination. Me and you would’ve had so much fun!

I looked up at the sky and it wasn’t blue. It was all rainbow colours.

First I saw a river of gold. It sparkled in the sunlight.

There was a forest. It looked frightening, but I went in anyway.

Up in the sky I could see the sun with a big smiling face looking at me. I was amazed. You would have loved it too.

I bought a ticket to fly on a magical hat.

I landed in a pool of jelly.

There was this tomatoey looking thing that had grown in the shape of a llama.

We approached a really colourful stall that was owned by an orange pig. She was selling the most extraordinary looking lollies.

I bought a lolly pop the size of my head.

All of a sudden a magic carpet came and started talking to me.

The path was made of singing jelly beans.

He took me on a flying frog. We went soo high.

I saw bright pink talking grass. It was so awesome I should have taken a picture for you.

I also saved a petal from a flower that I found. You should see how it sparkles and sings when you touch it!

Guess what? You won’t believe this, but I actually flew on a giant butterfly!

In this land all the stuff talks.

I made friends with a hippo.

I went in and walked down a floating path. It was really squishy and soft.

Anyway I better be off now to go and do some more magical stuff. Wish you came. Love you and miss you heaps.

I wish you could have seen this beautiful place. Love always your best friend.

I closed the door behind me. The door vanished. It was amazing. I wish you could have come.

I didn’t want to leave. As I was zooming through the air, a soft pretty little fairy landed on my shoulder and she smiled at me, but then she told me it was time to go home. So she told me to close my eyes and I would find myself right back where I started. So I shut my eyes, waited three seconds and when I opened them there were no more dancing pixies, and no dragons or unicorns. I was home, plain old boring home. I hope to go back one day.

After Cora had told the story of The Orange Tree the Year 8 students at Healesville High chose leaves, worked in small groups and considered what magic powers these leaves would have. The inbuilt desire to have a money tree dominated but there were lots of other fascinating suggestions as well.

During the session they created digital images of the tree and wrote short creative writing pieces about the magical powers of their leaves.

They wrote their stories on leaves

and used Microsoft Word. They turned their images into JPG’s and emailed their documents and images ready to be uploaded on to the Healesville Weblog.

In another session they will learn how to publish themselves. During this session it was stimulating to witness problem solving and dogged determination to cross the line and publish.

My Magic Leaf - Y8 Healesville

My leaf does everything.

If you eat my leaf and then imagine something you want or want to do then you will get it in a click of you fingers. These leaves only come from one certain tree and they are very rare. If you happen to find one you have to swear on secrecy or else what you wanted will happen the opposite.

One day I ate one of these leaves and I wished for all the people in the world that were sick to get better again, after I wished this I saw people throwing away crutches and wheel-chairs around. It was funny and everybody had a smile on their face.

My leaf can make anything you want happen. If you want to be prettier, then you turn prettier overnight. If you want to be richer then you can. All you have to do is chop off a tiny bit off the leaf, put it in hot water then drink the liquid and chew up the leaf. If you run out of pieces, you have to go back to the tree and pick off another leaf. The leafs only come out once a year, so you have to go on that day and pick another. You can only pick one at a time.

By Tori

My leaf is magic because when you eat a little bit of the leaf you can fly. You think about where you want to go and then you will go there. You don’t have to do anything you are just quickly transported there. The leaf can run out but if you plant half of one leaf it will grow into a tree full of leaves that can make you fly. The leaves only grow in the summer and winter so you will have to stock up when they come on the tree.

By Sarah

My magic leaf brings dead people back to life. If someone dies you have to poke it down their throat with a stick. Then you must tie them to a rock and chuck them in a river. When they come back to life they will be immortal. The tree that the leaf comes off is dead so you must dig under to the roots and the leaf will be growing off the roots. Be careful not to overdose or you will die too.

By Mikhaela

My Magic Tree - Y8 Healesville

My tree is very colourful. Lots of colourful birds inhabit my tree. Lots of other animals use my tree for shade and a place to rest. When the sun goes down my tree glows in the dark and the leaves shimmer in the moonlight. The birds are colourful and very friendly. The birds also sleep in my tree. All different coloured fruits hand from my tree’s lovely branches
by Sophie

My tree is a very colourful blossom tree.
The trunk is gold because it is the tree of life.
When you drink the trees sap it keeps you alive forever and keeps you healthy for eternity>
My tree has no leaves just blossom flowers which are always open and they never die because it has tree powers.
The branches sway with the wind.
By Tess.

The Magic Tree and Tree house.

The tree is twenty five metres tall and the house is  twenty metres above the ground and you can jump off on to the tranmpoline and you bounce back up and grab the laddeer and climb back up. It is fun but when you fall off it hurts and you die like Casper the friendly ghost. Yeah I mad him jump and died naughty naughty.

It has really spiky green leaves and it smells funny but I have got used to it.

It is kind of fat at the bottom but it gets skinnier.

I love my tree.

My tree has many different coloured leaves
It is very big and tall and colourful
It has so many branches
My tree is the brightest in the summer
Although it stays that way all year round
There are no other trees like my tree.

by Emma

When you sit und the tree if you think of something you get it. The tree has quite a bit number of knots which it has got over time. It has pale green leaves with spots of oak green.

When you sit underneath my tree it gives you anything you want. It is big witha  purple leaves and a  yellow trunk. It is in the middle of the green meadow with a shadow and blue sky.

 When you eat the apple sticks of the liquid tree your dreams come true.

My tree has a long and thin trunk, as brown as chocolate. Its branches are thin like whips and glimmer in the daylight. They sway from side to side with blue blossoms as blue as the deep sea.

Once you get close to the blossoms you feel happy regardless of your feelings beforehand. The blossoms always bring out the very best in you and people go there for this reason.

Animals live around the tree, playing freely together.

The leaves sway gently in the sky, sounding like birds whistling in the wind.

by Elleisha

This is my magic tree and if you go to sleep under it you will get whatever you want.

My tree is a tall tree with a thick stump and a thin body. Its branches are strong but don’t look it. They finish at the tips with a curl. The colour is very unique with a greyish bluish body and a silver lining around the side. It looks like it is glowing. The roots go deep into the ground. The leaves are an unusual colour green and its body has a silver lining as well. If you climb this tree to the very top and look at the view for more than one minute the tree will turn gold and will take all your worries with it.

My tree is around sixteen metres tall and about three metres in diametre. It has been growing for thirty two years. It has lots of branches which are light brown with beautiful green leaves. It is located on the banks of the Yarra river. It provides a nice cool place on the hot summer days because of the shade underneath it.

My tree is a very colourful tree. It has an ocean coloured blue trunk with bright coloured leaves. When you sit on the right branch and ask the tree for something you want you will get it but if you sit on the wrong branch you die.

Down at the bottom of the river if you are quiet enough you can make your way through the wooden logs past the mountain with a face shaped into it. Follow the big wooden fire to the largest oak tree in the woods.

This tree is known to be magical. If you look all the way towards the centre top of the tree there is a tree house up there and people say there is a small family of four who live in this tree house. Thre is a tree branch which covers the entrance but if you arrive at the right time the little girl will greet you with a chocolate cup cake and a freshly made glass of fluffed up milk. To get to the top of the tree you have to climb the ladder and then swing from the rope till you get high enough to reach the platform awaiting you at the door.

In the autumn this tree is known to turn to a light blue to a lime green. This tree is a familiar one to the tree off the cover of the Farawy Tree. The tree has magical powers and can change shape and size in just a blink of an eye. It can also disappear when loggers are around.
by Shannen.

My tree has a rainbow leaf at the very top that shimmers in the sunlight. It is very tall and skinny with no branches and lots of leaves in lots of colours. I love climbing it.
Jessica

Well my tree is big. It is around about 10 metres tall. It has a lot of large green fronds. They are nice and lush because it is spring. The tree has been living twenty six years. It is located on the beach in Fiji. The tree has a hammock on the side of it so that you can enjoy the view of the sea. Shaun.

by Mitchell