Weslandia

I have written in previous posts about "imaginary countries" or "geofictional projects" such as Quastolia or Alphistia that started out in our back yards. In Weslandia, a children's picture story book written by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, we are introduced to Wesley, a boy who just doesn't seem to "fit in" with other children his age. So, as a summer project, he plants a garden that eventually blooms into his own little country in the back yard.

For Weslandia, Wesley has created his own language, foods, games, industry and cash crops. Soon he becomes the envy of all the other kids in the neighborhood. In my experience, any time I shared stories with my friends about Quastolia, all I got were queer looks... but good for Wesley!

The only thing lacking in this amusing children's tale is a good map! However, it is a clever story about a boy that creates his own country, and that deserves mention.