I'm a big fan of themes. Working in a public library taught me that a theme can give just enough boundaries that creativity has a riverbed to flow along. You can believe this has seeped into my parenting. As long as you don't take a theme too far (and are prepared to abandon it if it stops working), you have a great tool.
We decided to stay home and chill out on Labor Day. It was hot. We all wanted some down time. I knew, though, that by mid-day my kiddo would be bored. I presented Eli with the challenge to come up with a theme and suddenly we had Harry Potter Labor Day.
Long ago I picked up a Lego Hogwarts Express at a thrift store, and it was time to put it together.
We watched the first two Harry Potter movies. For a movie-time snack, we made Pumpkin Bread from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.
And the day before (so they would be ready on Labor Day) we made Jello Jiggler Beans in honor of the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from the Harry Potter stories. (Jello put out bean molds around Easter several years ago. You can still find them on eBay. Mine are a little warped, so we used upside down pots to hold them flat.)
Lime, peach, pineapple, and orange beans!
And speaking of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.... If you haven't read Harry Potter, the fictitious candy truly is every flavor and thus there are lovely flavors but also disgusting ones. When Harry Potter became popular, Jelly Belly candy company put out their own version of Bertie Bott's. You may get bubble gum flavor -- or you might get the lookalike vomit flavor! That jelly bean might be marshmallow or it could taste like a baby wipe! I got Eli a box of Bertie Bott's for Labor Day and our family made a game of it around the kitchen table. By turns we each took a bean from the box without looking and then had to put it fully in our mouth and crunch down on it. (After that you could spit it out.) Such a relief when you got a pleasant one! But we all had some disgusting ones -- black pepper, booger, and sausage, to name a few. It took culinary courage to get through your turn.
As the vacation miles rolled by between Georgia and North Carolina, Eli heard Harry Potter for the first time via audiobook. He loved it -- classic good vs. evil with some laughs (and deep friendships) sprinkled in.
As the final chapter came to a close, I reached into my bag and pulled out a surprise. I'd brought along a small box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans inspired by the book series. For those who don't know much about Harry Potter, there are several comical moments about these candies -- little jelly beans that include not only the usual fruit flavors but also awful flavors such as earthworm, grass, dirt, and soap. I challenged Eli to take turns with me eating one jelly bean at a time. There was a "map" of flavors on the back of the box, but many of the pleasant flavors looked identical to the rotten ones. We agreed that when it was our turn, we'd accept whatever bean rolled out next and take a full bite.
Picture a mama and a 6.5 year-old rolling down Interstate 95 at sunset, passing the little rattling box back and forth, each warily inspecting the next bean before taking a hopeful bite -- a very strange (yet kid-friendly) version of Russian roulette. "Lemon!" we'd crow. Or "It's just orange this time!" I'm only sorry that we were separated front seat and back seat so I couldn't get a clear look at Little Guy's face when tasting the bad ones. I'd hear a sputtering cough followed by a huge guffaw as Eli scrambled to roll down the window. In a rush of swirling hot air, yet one more sticky, half-chewed piece of candy was ejected to the asphalt. (With my awful jelly beans -- and, trust me, some were simply disgusting -- I opened my window to spit them like watermelon seeds that vanished behind us instantly at 70 MPH. "Oh, Mama! That's cool!") Finally, the box now empty, we stopped at a rest stop so Eli could brush teeth and put on jammies. When I opened his car door, I found several wads of slimy beans that didn't make it out his window -- which just made us laugh like banshees all over again.
There are so many times as an adult that you have to do the hard thing, be the mature grown-up. I'm so grateful for the times when parenting also means you get to be downright silly.
It has been a while since I posted about our British Reading Adventure, but we've actually been reading great guns around here. (Click HERE to read about this project.)
I was reminded about posting when Eli and I ran into this coin operated car at a mall. We were so surprised and delighted to find it there. I'm guessing that if we'd done a poll, hardly anybody would have been able to name the characters represented -- Noddy driving his anthropomorphic taxi with Tessie Bear catching a ride on the back.
England's Enid Blyton penned stories for small children about Toyland and its citizens including a wooden bobble-head-type doll named Noddy. Everybody needs a ride now and then, and Noddy is the one to ask around Toyland. He tootles along through village and forest, his car calling out "Parp! Parp!" (as opposed to "Beep! Beep!). There's Bouncing Ball Village, Teddy Town, Humming Top Village, etc. Noddy gets into various scrapes such as goblin car thieves, run-away hobby horses, dollhouse fires, etc. Noddy always tries to do the right thing even if he suffers a few misunderstandings, and he often saves the day. We got a treasury of Noddy stories when Eli was three and he took to them right away. He's still a fan at five and a half.
Enid Blyton (1897-1968) was a hugely successful children's book writer, creating such series as The Wishing Chair, Famous Five, and The Faraway Tree. Another one of those British authors who hasn't seemed to make much of a splash in the United States, many of her works are still well-known and popular in her native England. If Wikipedia is to be believed, she is the world's fourth most translated author! Wikipedia, like other sites about Blyton, also weaves interesting stories about controversy over her work for elitist themes and "dumbed down" writing as well as a tangled personal life. I didn't find anything inappropriate in our Noddy or Faraway Tree selected compilations. What did strike me was a feeling that Blyton might have written quickly, netting ideas from a very creative brain and then simply moving on to the next story. She isn't big on explanations or character development and there are times that her worlds require an Alice in Wonderland-like mental flexibility to enjoy the tale. I can see, though, that a child's heart might embrace these dreamlike characters and settings much more quickly. And Blyton was so prolific that she grants a kid-in-a-candy-store joy for any child wanting to read story after story for pure fantasy and adventure.
The blog is on a Lego theme this week, if you hadn't noticed. Three more spiffy things to share...
1. Lego Artist Sean Kenney This Christmas we got Eli a book called Cool Creations in 35 Pieces by Sean Kenney. The author is an artist who works in Lego bricks and his book is a how-to guide for building all sorts of things with the same 35 Lego pieces -- robots, buildings, vehicles, etc. Not only is it wonderfully creative and inspiring, but it is also a fun book for travels because Eli can make various small Lego creations while riding in the back seat or in a hotel room.
2. BrickLink is a great source for Lego pieces. I used this unofficial online market at Christmas to buy Eli's 35 pieces but also to find some interesting minifigures and pieces for stocking stuffers. Click HERE to visit BrickLink.
Below: We got a Spongebob Lego set at a consignment sale for $2. Once we laid it out and figured out which instructions to look at on Lego's website, we were only missing one piece (which we easily replaced). Now the Krusty Krab restaurant is part of Eli's Lego Town.
3. Pleygo Lego Rentals Got a kiddo who loves to put together kits and then forgets about them? For our family, we found used Lego from garage sales helped us break free from the put-the-kit-together-and-leave-it syndrome that sometimes happens with Legos. Lots of random pieces makes for more creative play. But there is also a "Netflix" for Lego called Pleygo. Basically, you can subscribe and rent sets for your child to put together. All the pieces are sanitized and shipping is free plus they forgive if you lose pieces. Subscriptions start at $15 a month, which is less than many sets. We haven't tried Pleygo, but we're considering a subscription as a gift. If anybody has experience with it, please share!
A rich, bitter smell hangs through the house. To my senses, it is distinctively old fashioned, which pleases me very much.
We woke up this morning to a still, chilly world (21 degrees) dusted with snow. The gray clouds overhead are already starting to thin.
If the fluff on our porch railing is to be trusted, we got just over an inch.
This morning Eli and I read Sugar Snow, a picture book from the "My First Little House Books" series. This one is based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods. We then picked up Barbara M. Walker's The Little House Cookbook. On page 192 there is a recipe for Molasses-On-Snow Candy -- our morning's culinary adventure.
"One morning [Ma] boiled molasses and sugar together until they made a thick syrup, and Pa brought in two pans of clean, white snow from outdoors. Laura and Mary each had a pan, and Pa and Ma showed them how to pour the dark syrup in little streams on to the snow. They made circles, and curlicues, and squiggledy things, and these hardened at once and were candy." --Little House in the Big Woods
Walker's recipe calls for 1 cup of dark molasses and 1/2 cup brown sugar boiled in a two-quart saucepan until it reaches 245 degrees. You then pour this syrup over clean snow.
I was a little nervous about this project. Molten sugar plus a young child is a dangerous combination. But Eli and I discussed the dangers and I figured out a safe work flow before we got started. I found a small but thick pitcher that I could put some syrup in for Eli and placed it in the sink where I could safely fill it. I had him put on some gloves so that it wouldn't get too hot but the gloves were thin enough not to be fumbly.
We gathered clean snow from our deck into my grandpa's old dishpan. (I think he would have been pleased to be part of the morning's fun.) We made a separate pan of snow for Eli; it seemed safer not to be trying to work right next to each other.
Then we got our mixture ready.
I poured my candy first and found it difficult to make a thin stream out of the pot. The hot syrup was fairly thick and still bubbly, so I should have held it higher over the snow pan to get a thin stream. (Over a foot would have been good.) I was worried our snow would melt away almost instantly, but in reality the snow in the pan sank down only a half inch or so. That was enough to instantly cool the syrup.
The result? If you like molasses, horehound candy, or dark licorice, this stuff has the flavor for you. The first taste was like Cracker Jacks only a lot deeper and darker.
And chewy? Yeah. This stuff sticks to the teeth. "It's kinda yucky," Eli confessed. He was a much bigger fan of yesterday's Snow Cream. (Click HERE for that recipe.)
I'm so glad we made this old fashioned treat and making candy with snow is awesome, but I think we'll modify next time. Molasses is a bitter flavor that our modern palates just don't fully embrace anymore. Next time we will try using maple syrup or make regular hard candy. Both would work well poured into snow yet have a lighter flavor.
Below: Trumpet flower-like icicles hanging under a rock mid-stream in Smoky Mountain National Park (Alum Cave Trail)
It has been a very cold January in parts of the United States. Around this house we've been trying to embrace it and savor the good parts of it, hopefully wooing it to stay around long enough that it will give in and grant us a snow day. Here's what we've been up to lately...
But sometimes the best way to appreciate a cold winter's night is to curl up on a warm sofa (preferably near a fire) and read about somebody else's winter adventures. Here are five chapter book favorites (which are still perfect for adults)...
1. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobeby C.S. Lewis (1950) This book (and its accompanying series) has been popular so long that it is hard to imagine anybody who loves children's literature (or fantasy novels) who hasn't read it already. But it is such a magical adventure in a wintry world that I can't resist adding it to this list if only just to remind myself that it is well worth a re-read. Staying in a huge old country house during World War II, Lucy ducks into a wardrobe during a game of hide-and-seek with her siblings only to discover a doorway to another realm. High adventures and battles for Good over Evil soon follow.
2. The Long Winterby Laura Ingalls Wilder (1940) Blizzards, white-outs, and daring rescues! But also sledding parties and family gathered around the fire on long, dark evenings. This is one of those books that makes you appreciate the bravery and tenacity of the American pioneers. I didn't discover Laura Ingalls Wilder until late in life. Because the television series during my childhood, I think I thought I knew the stories and characters well enough. In reality, the books are oh-so-much better. The Long Winter is a fictionalized account of the 1880-1881 winter that thirteen year-old Laura and her family spent in DeSmet, South Dakota. Another great winter one by Laura is Little House in the Big Woods. (Click HERE for links to blog entries about our visit to DeSmet and other Laura Ingalls Wilder locations. There are many photos including an image of the type of prairie grass "log" that Laura twisted all winter long as fireplace fuel to keep her family from freezing.)
3. Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson (1957) I recently wrote about this charming book on the blog, but I'm happy to do so again. I often reach for this little volume when winter comes, enjoying it anew each time. Finland's Tove Jansson was a painter and writer who found there were things she could only properly say through children's literature and imaginary creatures with very human souls. I deeply love the Moomin series with its funny, warm characters and wry truths about life. When I first discovered these books as a child, I was astounded to find characters that thought about the same things I did. Moominland Midwinter is an adept exploration of the bleakest season, finding bravery and warmth in the process. Suddenly awake when the rest of his family is hibernating as usual, Moomintroll sets out to discover snow, ice, and all the creatures that hide away during warmer months. (Click HERE for the previous post about this book.)
4. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan (1942) During World War II, the Nazis invaded Norway and soon took over its resources. Supposedly based on a true story, this is the tale of how schoolchildren helped their elders smuggle gold out of the country, gliding past the invading soldiers with ingots hidden on their sleds. My mom had this book as a child and later read it to my brother and me. We both found the story memorable and inspiring. I look forward to reading it to Eli someday.
5. Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome (1933) A group of children from three families enjoy the Christmas break from school, trying to make the most of snowy days and the winter landscape while they have their freedom. Just when boarding school is looming, the nearby lake begins to miraculously freeze over and they agonize that they are going to miss all the fun it will bring -- until one member gets sick and the rest are quarantined from school. The joy of stolen days! From wind-powered ice sleds to nighttime ice skating parties to make believe polar expeditions, the book opens a world full of old-fashioned North England winter fun. (Click HERE for a previous post about Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series.)
Anybody have favorites they'd like to share? I got a cup of tea and a fire at the ready...
"I just wanted to tell you that the Great Cold's on her way," Too-Ticky said.
"A still greater one?" asked Moomintroll. "How big do they grow?"
"This is the most dangerous of them all," said Too-Ticky. "And she'll come in the afternoon, when the sky changes to green, straight in from the sea."
"It's a she then?" asked Moomintroll.
"Yes, and very beautiful," said Too-Ticky. "But if you look her in the face you'll be frozen to ice. You'll be hard like a biscuit and not even crumble. That's why you'd better keep at home tonight."
--Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson (Finland, 1958)*
Yes, even here in the American South, the Great Cold is coming. The meteorologists have spoken and Facebook is all abuzz. The next few days are to bring at least twenty-year lows but possibly broken weather records as well.
On my walk this morning, I found the ground saturated and the puddles already lacy with ice.
The world is gray and misty.
On days this dark, any bits of color in the fields and woods stand out.
The woods are quiet except for animals rustling through the leaves getting ready. Birds tug at berries still left on the bushes.
The squirrels are busy carrying acorns. And the hawks are busy watching the squirrels.
A damp hush.
Sometimes the drizzle collects long enough on a leaf to drop down into a puddle. Odd how loud one drop can sound on a chilly and still morning.
The world is holding its breath. The Great Cold's on her way.
*Pssst! If you've never read Moominland Midwinter (or any other Tove Jansson book), please give yourself this treat -- even if you're a grown-up with no kiddo nearby. In this particular story, young Moomintroll is hibernating as usual when he suddenly finds himself wide awake. When sleepiness just won't return, he goes out to explore this thing called 'winter.' Somehow Jansson manages to catch it all -- the thrilling discomfort of finding the familiar world altered by the season, the exciting beauty of snow and ice, the wearisome cling of the cold, the longing for sunny warmth, the edge of mystery that comes with the long nights, and the slow-motion magic of the solstice.
I know! I know! It has been a while since I've written a post in the British Reading Adventure series. Thankfully, it was a break in blogging rather than a lack of reading. The big move this summer and settling in thereafter soaked up much of my writing time, but during that period I still usually ended the day by drifting away onto heather-covered moors or the long-ago streets of London.
In case anyone is new to the series, the idea is to read through many of the wonderful book offerings for children that have come out of Great Britain in the last 150 years or so. Some are famous like the Narnia stories and Tolkien, but there are many great books that are largely forgotten. (Click here for a rationale and a list of the books I've highlighted so far.) I want to be able to share these books with Eli during his childhood, but our family also hopes to take Eli to see the locations of the various stories when he's older.
Although the project began in earnest last year, it was travel reading during our 2007 honeymoon to London that provided the first spark. I enjoyed Melanie Wentz's Once Upon a Time in Great Britain, a guide to the sites linked to children's literature. She touched on one author I wasn't familiar with -- Arthur Ransome -- so I picked up the first book of his children's series and read it on jet-lagged nights once we got home.
Although Ransome first published Swallows and Amazons in 1930, the adventures of his young heroes still captivate. The kids are turned loose during summer vacation to set up an island camp and explore a lake in their own small sailboats. The mixture of the kids' make-believe with their real scrapes and hardships keeps the reader page after page. I liked the book and was glad I bought it as a hardback "keeper" edition. That might have been all, but thankfully this reading project coaxed me into moving deeper into the twelve-book series. Swallows is good, but there are some in the series that I put on my all time favorite books list.
After doing some reading online, I get the impression that the Swallows and Amazons series is still fairly popular in England and many other countries. This reading project has taught me that there are actually quite a few British authors that made a big splash both at home and abroad but made barely a ripple in the United States. I'm not sure why that is. (For Ransome's books perhaps publishers here were put off by the name of one of his main characters. No American author would have chosen 'Titty'!) Regardless of why some authors aren't as well known here, it means that there are some great books for Americans to discover.
So why is Ransome still popular in Britain eight decades after his first children's book came out? Hmmm. My immediate answer is the characters. These kids have a strong moral compass and don't waste much time fussing at each other, yet they are likable and real. Each one has a clearly defined personality and something special to offer the series. When I hit the last few pages of book twelve, I felt a sharp sense of loss that there would be no new adventures with these young people who had become my friends.
Beloved characters aside, I also think Ransome had a strong feel for what makes for a good adventure. I know nothing about sailing, but easily gave myself over to the challenges of riding the winds. In addition, across the series I foiled robbers, found my way out of deep fogs, discovered a valuable mine, met interesting local characters, battled a forest fire, survived a shipwreck, and got attacked by pirates more than once. The stories are good in themselves but also as a sort of time machine so that you can experience life in the 1930s. I'm only sorry that there aren't twice as many books. Eli isn't quite old enough for them yet, but I can't wait to read them aloud on vacations!
The Books:
Swallows and Amazons -- The Walker family (siblings John, Susan, Titty, and Roger) go to the Lake District for the holidays. They can't believe their luck that their parents let them camp out on Wildcat Island -- even when they begin to see signs that they aren't the only ones frequenting their camp.
Swallowdale -- When John accidentally wrecks their sailboat, the Walker kids and the Blackett sisters (Nancy and Peggy) take to the forests and high hills above the lake.
Peter Duck -- Although the author never lets on if this is a "real story" or one of Titty's tales, the reader ventures with the Walkers and Blacketts from England to the Caribbean while being chased by greedy pirates eager to race them to hidden treasure.
Winter Holiday -- Happy sigh. I love this one. The Walkers and Blacketts befriend visitors Dick and Dorothea Callum over the winter holiday, finding a whole new set of adventures when the temperatures plunge and the lake freezes over. (This would be a great read over the Christmas holidays.)
Coot Club -- The Callums get a chance to vacation in the Norfolk Broads river region and learn how to sail. They soon befriend a group of kids who know the area intimately and defend it from heartless tourists who care nothing for the wildlife.
Pigeon Post -- The Walkers, Blacketts, and Callums search for gold in the hills above the lake despite the fact that a summer drought makes camping rougher, there is a strong threat of forest fires, and a mysterious stranger is trying to muscle in on their discoveries.
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea -- While vacationing on a river northeast of London, the Walker kids were only visiting a new friend's sailboat when they accidentally get swept into the North Sea.
Secret Water -- When the Walkers' vacation was ruined by their Navy father being called back to duty, it is decided that the children will be purposefully stranded on a river island to explore and map it. When local kids jump in to defend their island from these new strangers, the story heats up.
The Big Six -- The Callums return to the river area called The Broads, teaming up with local friends to foil thieves.
Missee Lee -- The Walkers and Blacketts sail to Asia with "Captain Flint," the Blacketts' uncle. When the ship breaks apart in a storm, they accidentally fall in with warlords.
The Picts and the Martyrs -- Another huge favorite. Back at their home lake, the Blacketts gear up for an exciting holiday with the Callums. When it looks like all their plans will be foiled by their stodgy and controlling great aunt, the kids decide to create a secret camp. Will Great Aunt find out and ruin everything?
Great Northern? -- While sailing around the wild and mysterious Hebrides islands off of Scotland, the kids accidentally tip off a fanatic egg collector that there is a pair of rare birds in the area. Now they have to save the birds -- no easy feat when the rich egg-collector has henchmen and the local shepherding community misunderstands their intentions.
Click on the book cover below to learn about Christina Hardyment's recent image-rich book combining a biography of Ransome with in-depth peeks at the places he wrote about.
Arthur Ransome's Children's Books and Related Reading:
P.S. I didn't have a decent camera while I was on my honeymoon and thus only have a few dozen snapshots of my trip to England. I'll be throwing in spare photos from everyday life just to give the British Reading Adventure posts a little more visual appeal.
When Eli's Uncle Dominic and Aunt Elizabeth visited in early July, they told us about a local game based on Martin Handford's classic picture book series Where's Waldo? All through July, twenty-five area businesses welcomed Waldo-seekers with a sticker on their front door. Somewhere inside they placed a small cutout of Waldo in his familiar red and white striped shirt. Participants who found the Waldo cutout got a stamp or signature in their "Waldo Passport." Then, on the last day of the month, a local independent bookstore held a Waldo party with prizes. It sounded like fun, yet our big move made participating seem impossible.
On Monday morning, however, we turned in the keys to the rental house and suddenly life felt lighter. Why not get a little done on the house each day but get out of the house for some Waldo searching too?
Eli and I soon fell in love with the game. The businesses were sprinkled all over town and thus I found myself going places I hadn't been in years but also discovering new spots. The Waldo stops were all small "mom and pop" businesses too, so I learned about new restaurants (including a BBQ place where diners can watch trains roll by) and creative shops that aren't run-of-the-mill. Eli's favorite? A gourmet popsicle shop tucked away in an industrial complex. He chose strawberry cream and it was definitely good, but I thought the blackberry lemonade mint was really something special.
We only had three days left of July, but somehow we managed to get all twenty-five stamps in Eli's passport before the wrapup party. Woo hoo!
The party was fun, yet it had its challenges. Eli was one of the smallest kids participating and that put him at a disadvantage. Eli was quite eager for the Pin-the-Glasses-On-Waldo game, but it was clear that the older, bigger kids had a better grasp of the strategy. Blindfolded Eli put Waldo's glasses across his neck like a bow tie.
The biggest kid there won the game and Eli's mood started to crumble. I felt bad for him, yet we had talked about the fact that you can't win every game and that not everybody attending the party would get a prize. It made my heart hurt to see Eli disappointed, but I steeled myself because kids need to learn that winning and losing are both part of life.
And then the tide turned.
Eli's name was pulled out of the hat for a door prize -- the gift certificate for the popsicles he loves so much!
A few minutes later, Waldo himself arrived. As one of the first kids to spot Waldo coming in the door, Eli got a gift certificate to the BBQ place near the railroad tracks! (Papa was quite happy about that one.)
As the party drew to a close, they announced the grand prize would be courtesy of the book store and would go to whoever won another round of Pin-the-Glasses-On-Waldo. "Mama, I'm going to win!" Eli said with great conviction. Uh oh. He was keyed up and it was getting close to his bedtime. This may end badly. Brian and I whispered plans to leave if Eli got too upset. But then the book store staff decided the second round of the game would be one-handed and that made the results more a matter of sheer luck. Eli was the last kid to go and...
At the Waldo party Eli swept up over $100 worth of loot including the grand prize!
We had a great time with the Waldo game and are already hoping they do it again next year. Prizes or no, it was a lot of fun.
"That was SUPPOSED to be a vase of flowers," Ramon said. "But it doesn't look like one."
"Well, it looks vase-ISH!" she exclaimed.
Ramon loved to draw -- until his big brother made fun of his work. Once Ramon saw his art through critical eyes, he decided to give up drawing. Thank goodness for little sister Marisol who convinced Ramon to take another look.
My first master's degree is in Art Education and my thesis was on the creativity slump that happens to most kids during elementary school. Researchers such as Viktor Lowenfeld, E. Paul Torrance, and Albert Bandura examined the problem and searched for solutions. I think children's book author Peter H. Reynolds is on to something! And I think I'm about to order not only a copy for Eli, but also a stack of Ish to give away at every birthday party Eli attends.
(Pssst! Even if you're a grown-up, this book is fantastic. Next time you're in the library, do yourself a favor and go take a peek!)
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