Lessons Learned from a Pre-Schooler

I was in the unique position of spending two uninterrupted weeks with a four year old. My camera roll reminded me of ten very important lessons we can all learn from spending time with our little ones.

 

#1 One piece of candy is worth three baby carrots.

 

#2 A box is never just a box.

 

#3 Sing, dance, and do the hokey-dokey. (pronounced as spelled)

[Musical accompaniment from storyteller and bookseller at our local bookstore, Joseph-Beth.]

 

#4 Cows do not have upper teeth.

 

#5 Fairies like mushrooms, acorns, and painted rocks.

 

#6 Even a field of dying sunflowers is magical.

 

#7 Blanket Forts are great places to eat cookies and play games on rainy days.

 

#8 Speaking of cookies, if you take only a nibble maybe no one will notice.

 

#9 You only need a cape to have superpowers.

 

#10 Make friends everywhere!

 

 

 

Celebrating the First Moon Walk

*Note: No, you are not seeing double! This post was intended to be a page under my newest heading, 5 Star Picture Books. Because I had trouble converting it to a page, I have rewritten it. It is now entitled 50 Years Later. you can find it under 5 Star Picture Books. And now there are two! (And, PS thanks for reading my posts!)

July 20, 2019 is the 50th Anniversary of the First Moon Walk. Learn more and see actual footage of the first steps and raising of the flag on the NASA site. Let’s celebrate this historic event with a pair of picture books published this year.

The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon
written by Dean Robbins
illustrated by Sean Rubin
Orchard Books, May 2019

First let’s look at a traditional non-fiction book. This is the story of a NASA astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the moon. Alan was so inspired by this event that he wanted to paint his impressions of the moon so that others could feel the magnitude of his feelings rather than the just the gray rock and dust associated with the moon. His paintings are bright, bold, and breathtaking. He experimented with them, creating even more authenticity. He sprinkled them with moon dust, scratched them with tools he’d used on the moon, and stamped them with astronaut boots. Below is a copy of his painting The Spirit of Apollo.

“It is my dream that on the wings of my paintbrush many people will see what I say and feel what I felt, walking on another world some 240,000 miles from my studio here on planet Earth.” -Alan Bean

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Moon’s First Friends
written by Susanna Leonard Hill
illustrated by Elisa Paganelli
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, May 2019

Our second book is a non-traditional non-fiction. This is the story of an anthropomorphic moon who talks to the reader about being lonely and wishing for a friend to visit her. Although she is the queen of the night sky, no one came to see her. She first asks the dinosaurs to visit but they stayed on earth. Then she asks other animals and then humans. Finally, she sees people making attempts to visit her. She is excited at the prospect but still has to wait for many years until man is able to send a rocket ship into space and land on her surface. She shares in the men’s wonder giving them rocks and dust to take home and they leave her a plaque, a flag, and many many footprints to remember them by.

Although this story is told by the moon it includes historic and scientific information. There is also back matter giving factual details about the first moon landing, the phases of the moon, facts about the moon, photos of the first astronauts, and a timeline beginning 4.6 billion years ago with the Hadean Era to the present Cenozoic Era, and detailed information about each stage of rocket ship which took the first men to the moon. And, if that wasn’t enough… you can download a scanner reader to your phone and listen to the Apollo 11 liftoff and the first words spoken on the moon!

Apollo 11 Plaque Left on the Moon

Closeup view of the plaque which the Apollo 11 astronauts left behind on the moon. The plaque is made of stainless steel measuring nine by seven and five-eighths inches, and one-sixteenth inch thick. The plaque was attached to the ladder on the landing gear strut on the descent stage of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module. During flight , the plaque was covered with a thin sheet of stainless steel that was removed on the lunar surface. -NASA

“HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON

JULY 1969, A. D.

WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND”

Water Can Be

Water Can Be… written by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Violeta Dabija (2014)

Today is a rainy, stormy, Monday. It is in fact, a day to enjoy Laura Purdie Salas’ Water Can Be… This lovely book is a perfectly written poem extolling the virtues of water. When we are sometimes drawn into complaining about the rain or grumbling about the ice or snow or fog, it’s good to remember the rich gifts of water. Laura Purdie Salas reminds us of these with her words. She captures the essence of water through spring into summer and fall into winter. Savor the phrases ‘tadpole hatcher’ ‘otter feeder’ ‘rainbow jeweler’ ‘fire snuffer’ and ‘salmon highway’.

The cover art by Violeta Dabija draws you into a world of water with its playful frogs and lilypads. It would be impossible to choose a favorite, but I must say I do love the winter spread for ‘Storm creator, Decorator’ where we see the effects of frozen water blowing in the air and clinging to the bare tree branches on the city streets and from inside a warm and cozy home through the frosted windowpane. Beautiful! Then again, if I could purchase just one page to decorate my wall it might be the whimsical otter clutching a fish.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy as soon as you can!

I just learned of this today, Laura Purdie Salas is sharing a percentage of her royalties from the sales of Water Can Be… with Water Aid, a non-profit organization dedicated to making sure children everywhere have access to clean safe water. You can learn more about this at her website. 

http://www.laurasalas.com/blog/books/hallie-tamez/#comment-16898

On Creativity and Art

My critique group met this morning. I shared something brand new and totally different from what I normally write. It kinda went over like a baloney sandwich at a banquet. It started out okay. It had a funny ending. But the middle was missing something. It just didn’t work. That’s not to say that the whole thing needed to be pitched, there were just some problems to address. So we focused on what worked. We talked about how to move from the initial concept to a desirable product.

So I went home with some sound advice and a plan. I knew where the strengths were and I knew what I wanted. The first thing I did was reread the original story with new eyes and the words of my critique partners ringing in my ears. Then I put it down, did some laundry, fed the dogs, read a new picture book, and worked on my blog. All the while, this was stewing in my head. I hadn’t planned on working on it today, I was going to let it simmer for a few days. That was the plan until … wham! It rushed at me full force.  I opened my computer and started revising. I finished it in less than an hour. And now I want to gather my group back together and scream, “Look at this! I’ve got it!” but I have to wait two more weeks to see them.  Oh well, maybe in that time, I’ll find something else to change.  If not I’ll start on my next project.