Seesaw
Written by Florence Forrest-Jarman & Kim Maslin Illustrated by Phoebe Zeng
First published in 2024
Stories by Digital Children: A storytelling competition for 5-12 year olds is a Digital Child competition. Children aged 5-12 across Australia were asked to submit story ideas for the 2023 theme ‘Fun with digital media: Getting the balance right.’
This book was co-authored by a winner of the 7-8 age group category, Florence Forrest-Jarman and Kim Maslin.
The book was illustrated by Phoebe Zeng.
The project team consisted of Dr Amanda Levido, Prof Annette Woods and Prof Michael Dezuanni of QUT.
© 2024, Copyright resides with the authors and illustrator/s of this book.
This project was supported by the Australian Research Council through their Centre of Excellence scheme. The Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child (CE200100022) brings together national and international experts and partners to investigate children’s digital experiences across birth to eight years old.
Seesaw
Written by Florence Forrest-Jarman & Kim Maslin
Illustrated by Phoebe Zeng
A few moons ago, in a home laboratory in the heart of Hobart, lived two professors. Their names were Hugo and Lorraine von Humperdinck.
The professors had no children of their own. So, one day they decided to build two robots with love and care, using gadgets for their toes, noses, and hair.
(her orange colour reminded the professor of a mandarin.
Which is how she got her name Mandy - short for mandarin!)
old toaster
buttons from old TV vacuum hose old orange TV little wheels
(this is also how she got the name ‘RB1’!) (this was also why her favourite thing to do was watch TV!)
Every afternoon, RB1 and Mandy sat in the living room on their red couch and watched TV (yes, the TV that was on Mandy’s tummy).
On Tuesdays, they watched Livingit upinLaunceston .
On Mondays, they watched Hiking throughHobart .
On Thursdays, they watched Dinghiesonthe Derwent.
On Wednesdays, they watched Campingat CradleMountain .
And on Fridays, they watched SurfingatSouth CapeBay.
Oh, what fun RB1 and Mandy had together!
But...
One day, Mandy looked wistfully out of the window and sighed, “RB1, wouldn’t it be great to actually give some of these things we watch on TV a try?”
“We don’t need to try any of these things, Mandy,” RB1 said. “We know all there is to know just by watching them here,” and she pointed to Mandy’s tummy with her pink fingers.
Mandy didn’t say anything but continued to look wistfully out of the window.
The next day, RB1 walked into the living room, only to find no Mandy!
And no Mandy meant no TV!
RB1 searched high and she searched low, above the shelf and the floor below,
behind the curtains and under the chair.
But everywhere she looked, Mandy was not there.
RB1 was feeling forlorn. Where could her best friend be?
She looked wistfully out the window, longing for Mandy. Then, she saw something in the distance. Something orange with colourful pigtails, sparkling in the sun.
RB1 left the house and ran down the street until she reached her friend. She was sitting on an old tyre, slowly swinging back and forth.
“Mandy, what are you doing out here?” she asked, looking around.
“I needed to get out of the house, my eyes were going square watching all that TV.”
(This made no sense to RB1, as Mandy’s eyes had always been square. Professors Hugo and Lorraine von Humperdinck had made them that way.)
“It’s a metaphor,” Mandy added, noticing RB1’s confusion.
Mandy went on, “I thought we could have some fun at the playground instead.”
“Oh,” said RB1, looking around.
“Well, if it means that much to you, I guess we could try...”
So, they swung on the swings,
Thenontheflyingfox theywentforalong,fastglide. and slid down the slide.
and scaled the rockclimbing wall.
They went ‘round the roundabout
beingTheyswungonthemonkeybars carefulnottofall!
“This is so fun!” RB1 sang out gleefully. “Even more fun than seeing it on TV.”
“I like TV as well,” Mandy said, as they bounced up and down on the seesaw. “It’s all about balance, I guess.”
RB1 looked around and spotted the mountains off in the distance. They looked just like the mountains they saw on TV.
“Should we do some more exploring?” RB1 asked.
“Yes!” replied Mandy.
So, they ran home to Professors Hugo and Lorraine von Humperdinck and told them their plan.
From then on, each week, the family tried to get out of the house and do new things.
There was the Monday they hiked through Hobart.
There was the Tuesday they got lost in Launceston.
There was the Wednesday they camped at Cradle Mountain.
There was the Thursday they went on dinghies on the Derwent.
And there was the Friday they surfed at South Cape Bay.
But they didn’t go outside every day.
Sometimes it rained, and sometimes they were tired. And when they felt a need to unwind (or ‘unwire’), they chose to stay home on their couch that was red,
Watching shows on Mandy’s tummy instead.
Fun with digital media: Getting the balance right
For children
We hope you liked this story about RB1 and Mandy. It was fun to learn more about how these robots like to spend their time. It looks like they enjoyed watching Mandy’s tummy TV and visiting the beautiful Tasmanian locations together. You can learn about and appreciate the location and environment both ways! What things can you learn by watching and by trying yourself? Maybe you like to watch cooking shows and then try to make the recipe, or maybe you like to get tips on how to play video games online before you play?
For educators and families
We often hear that families and educators are concerned about the amount of time children spend using digital media technologies. We think it is great that families and educators are talking about this issue and are searching for resources.
Also, it is important to recognise that what might be appropriate will be different for different children and families. There may not be any one ‘right’ answer to the question of how to have media balance, but we can have conversations with children about this issue.
We hope you find the Stories by Digital Children series of children’s picture books, including this one, Seesaw, useful in starting or continuing these conversations.
You might ask children:
• What does a fun day look like to you? What kinds of activities do we do?
• What are our favourite things to do with technology?
• How do you know when it’s time to put technology away?
• How do you feel when a grown up asks you to put technology away?
Further information about children and the digital world is available at the eSafety Commissioner website. The eSafety Commissioner is a partner in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.
Children:https://www.esafety.gov.au/kids
Parents:https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents
Educators:https://www.esafety.gov.au/educators
Learn more
The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child provides evidence-based transdisciplinary research related to children and digital technologies with a focus on positive outcomes for all children. We aim to enhance public understanding, inform policymakers and provide guidance for families, educators and technology creators to support children to be confident growing up in a rapidly changing digital world.
The last thing RB1 the robot expected when she walked into the living room was for her robot-sister Mandy to be missing! After all, they spent every afternoon together enjoying the thrilling adventures of Tasmania on the TV. Now, RB1 must not only embark on an adventure of her own to find Mandy, but she must also learn to branch out and try new things.
