Amelia’s Map of the Neighbourhood

A story about noticing, community and drawing what you see.

For homework, Amelia had to draw a map of her neighbourhood. At first, she thought it would be boring. She drew a straight line for her street, and a few squares for the houses. It looked plain and flat.

“It is missing something,” she told her father. “What is it?” he asked. She did not know. “Why not take a walk and look?” he said. So, with her pencil and a clipboard, Amelia walked slowly up the street.

At number twelve, a cat sat on the fence. Amelia drew it, with a curly tail. At number fourteen, a man waved from his garden. She asked his name. “Mr Pereira,” he said. “I grow the best tomatoes in the street.” She drew a tomato plant.

On the corner, there was a little shop. A woman named Ruth ran it. She gave Amelia a free sticker and said, “Put the shop on your map, and a smiley face.” Amelia did. She also drew the letterbox, the bus stop, and the big gum tree.

She walked down the other side of the street. A girl her age was skipping rope outside number twenty. Her name was Lola. They chatted for a while. Amelia drew a skipping rope on the map. A new friend had joined her neighbourhood.

Back at home, Amelia coloured in her map with pencils. She added a key at the bottom, showing what each symbol meant. “Cat. Tomatoes. Shop. Skipping rope.” It looked bright and busy and alive.

When she handed it in, her teacher smiled. “This is more than a map,” she said. “This is a picture of a community.” Amelia glowed. She had looked closely, and she had found something wonderful.

That weekend, she waved at everyone she passed. She knew their names now. The map hung on her wall for the whole year, and sometimes she added new things when she noticed them.

Print graph paper for drawing and maps →