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Showing posts from 2014

Welcome!

How do you feel when you meet someone new? You may feel very excited about meeting this new person, or you may feel a little shy. It’s ok. The new person may feel a little shy too. We’d like you to meet Charlie. We welcomed him to our home recently. He is one year old. He looks a little shy in this picture but once you get to know him he is full of fun! When you meet someone new you can say, “Welcome to my house. Would you like to play a game?”  They will probably be very happy you asked. They might even say, "Thank you."  And then you can say, "You're very welcome."

Look What I Found!

We like collecting things that are interesting to us, like old bottles or pictures of birds, seashells, sticks. We say, look what I found, isn’t it interesting? The world is an amazing place and if you find something you like such as a piece of colorful string or a beautiful rock you must investigate. You must ask where did this come from, how did it get here, and what is it for? The answers will only make you more interested in what you’ve found. You will be able to tell stories and make drawings of the things that you collect. For example you might learn that the beautiful rock is very, very old. Or that the colorful string was made in a different country far, far away. Once you know the answers you can share with someone else what you have learned. They will probably tell you something they know and you will have a wonderful conversation about your collection of wonderful things.

What to Read in the Middle of Summer?

 A Book about Snow of course! After reading an interesting, grown-up piece of writing by the writer Aimee Bender about her favorite children’s book, I was thinking about my own very favorite children’s book which is called,  The Snowy Day . The man who wrote the book also made the pictures that go along with the story. His name is Ezra Jack Keats.                   The Snowy Day   is about a boy who has an exciting adventure in the snow. It might seem funny to talk about a snowy day in the middle of summer, but any time of year is a perfect time for a quiet, beautiful book about thinking and playing which is what   The Snowy Day   is all about. My favorite moment is when the boy is in the bathtub at the end of his busy day. Would you like to hear and see the book? You can visit the website about the writer and artist Ezra Jack Keats to hear his wonderful book   The Snowy Day , read aloud. Here's the address:  http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/fun-games/the-snowy-day-read-a

Mary of Exeter & Sargent Stubby

Did you know that both birds and dogs have served in the military? These animals have helped countries and their soldiers perform their jobs, kept us safe and provided valuable information. This is a photo of a Carrier Pigeon named Mary of Exeter who carried important documents and secret messages during World War ll. She traveled many times between England and France wearing a small packing tube on her back with the important information inside. Mary of Exeter was awarded a medal for special service.   Dogs have worked in the military too. Here’s Sargent Stubby who served for five years during the first World War. He was most excellent at finding wounded soldiers by listening for their American voices. He received many honors and was a brave and loyal dog. Today dogs continue to play a valuable role in the military. We are grateful for their service and hope everyone comes home soon.  
The world is an exciting place and every day our experiences cause us to have many different feelings. When we tell a story or make a picture it is a way of saying what is important to us, what is beautiful to us and what is true for us. We might make a drawing of our cat asleep because we want to understand how to be still. We paint a picture of a very tall tree because we want to understand how to be strong, or we write a story about a girl on an adventure because we feel restless . Sometimes a person or a thing or an idea causes us to want make a picture or write. We look at a vase of flowers or we see something in a window or we watch our dog and we are filled with excitement and curiousity. This is called inspiration and it means that we want to celebrate something we love. Here is a last picture of Bessie who is no longer with us. She was beautiful and true which is why we put her in our book where now, even though she is gone, we can always find her.

Friends!

We wanted to acknowledge some people who have been helping us . Our friends at ODA Creative Partners in Chicago helped us to make both our books look so much better. They work to build businesses through strategic design and we appreciate them lending us their time and talent. Find them at info@odacreativedesign . Mr. Paul Gehl at the Newberry Library has graciously accepted both books for the library’s permanent collection. We’re in their bookstore too! Our friend Myra Zeyzus took time away from her work and graduate studies to help with some blog/format issues. She’s a web and graphic designer. You can find her really wonderful work at www.behance.net/myrazeyzus It’s so nice to have friends to help, encourage and maybe smell your ear sometimes. We hope you have good friends too. Thanks to everyone for being so friendly!

So What is a Glass Owl?

When we started working on our new book we had to ask what a glass owl might look like. We had to use our imaginations to create something we'd never seen. It was very fun! Try this sometime; put two words together like Noodle and Mouse or Fork and Fish. Then draw what you think a Noodlemouse or a Forkfish might look like. We'd love to see your pictures! Speaking of owls, there are many, many interesting species. Want to learn more about owls? Visit the National Geographic site for kids. There are videos and lots of information. Here is a picture of the beautiful Snowy Owl.  And, here is a picture of the beautiful Snowy Bess.

Guess What Flew In?

The Glass Owl, our new book is here! Have you ever looked OUT a window to see who was OUTside? Have you ever looked IN a window to see who was INside? That's the story of

STUCK!

Ah, the world has its challenges. We've found ourselves a bit stuck of late. Not sure what to do and a bit tangled up. As if we'd gotten ourselves under a chair and couldn't get out. And then there were computer issues.  Have you ever felt this way? Our advice is to take a breath and ask for help, please. Fortunately everything is fixed. And we have exciting news to share about our new book! Check back soon, please.