Bea and Jules, all together:

Bea and Jules have had a busy month! 

Thank you for following their advent journey, and for cheering them (and me!) along the way. 

Long live the dreamers, 

the scissor-wielders, 

the glitter-lovers, 

outdoor gatherers, sweets-bringers, 
light-finders, 

the merry makers! 

Cheers to you all!

Bea and Jules, Day 16:

Arise and shine.

Bea and Jules are treasure hunting again.
Jules says her best ideas come from outside.
Rocks make good presents!
Some people paint or draw on them. That is an easy way to give someone a smile - rock art.

But Bea has a shinier present in mind.
She collects smooth rocks from the beach. Sand or any kind of gravel works fine, too.
Small candles will nest in the rocks.
Grownups can help light the candle.

Shine!

Bea and Jules, Day 15

Wreathy Making

Today, Bea and Jules forage for outside presents.

Charlie helps.

          

             ”Remember, Charlie - don’t eat wild berries!”

Gather, bunch, bend, and tie. 

Wreathy gifts! 

Oops. Charlie's has heaps of branches,  

but they're all sticks! 

Thankfully, Bea always has a plan.

What can she do with a pile of sticks?

Wrap them with yarn and bells.
Or paint them to look like long red elves! 

Now Bea can check “make stick presents” off her list. 

What are your favorite crafty things to make this time of year? 

Poet Tree

Apparently, it's Poetry Month.

Only, I've been a little distracted.
I skipped off to the city
for my local SCBWI meeting -
an art show,
a lecture from book-wise and witty
editors Mary Kate Castellani and Caroline Abbey,
and then a consultation and workshop with
art director, professor, and story genius Joy Chu.

This is the same Joy who guided me over the last two winters
in visual storytelling classes through the UCSD online extension program.

I'm still reeling with inspiration.
I could have listened for days. Months. Years.

Now I'm home, all bright and hopeful,
waiting for my brain to shape so many beautiful tips
and ideas into working order.
Time to let the front thoughts simmer.  
Time to play with poetry.

We started with a poet-tree.

The wildebeests and I cut out branchy trees and labeled each branch with simple word:
sky, go, sea, etc.
 
Next, we cut out dozens of leaves - in all flutters of color,
because it just looks more exciting that way.

Each branch grew rhyming leaf words:
sky = cry, my, pie, etc.


Because we like to make life even more thrilling, and sometimes complicated,
I thought it might be fun for the older wildebeests to thread their leaves on yarn.


Winnie added a button.


Pip used gold pen. She's really into gel pens lately.

And their finished masterpieces.

I'd love to meet a tree like this someday, shimmering with colors, yarns, and words!
I think I'd move in.


I'll share more poetry play next time.

Until then, here are a few favorites:

A Kick in the Head, An Every Day Guide to Poetic Forms - compiled by Paul Janeczko, ill. by Chris Raschka

The Random House Book of Poetry - edited by Jack Prelutsky, ill. by Arnold Lobel

Switching on the Moon - collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Peters, ill. by G. Brian Karas

Chicken Soup With Rice - by Maurice Sendak

When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne, ill. by Ernest Shepard

Now We Are Six By A.A. Milne, ill. by Ernest Shepard

Peace With Wings

We made ornaments this week...for the birds.

Because they ate all our cherries this year?

Because they pecked holes in the eaves

and made attic nests?

Heh.

 
But then we went birding.

A day's adventure into the wet, into the wind, 

unconnected 

from my technical world, 

no busy busy, no run arounds, no errand hopping, 

just listening.

 

Squinting into far off brambles.

Surprisingly, I connected. With the herons in the tree. 

With the brown-headed eagle, the sparrows, the finches.      

 

Like the time we stumbled on a barn owl and we lingered there, watching,

till the sky turned shadowy.

Or the day we pulled over the car to observe scores of starlings bathe in muddy puddles.

Maybe it's just the act of stopping 

in the midst of a life that whirls

-watching birds go about their day,

breathing in a piney forest, 

feeling rain pelt and pummel -

Maybe that's what slows me down. 

wakes me up. 

brings me peace.

And peace is what we all need this time of year.

So we made gifts for the birds.
 
I never thought I'd buy lard.  

 Or thistle seeds, for that matter.
Who needs more thistles? Birds, I guess.
So we squished together birdseed "cookies,"

threaded cheerios onto pipe cleaners  

and bent them into hearts.

Where did Birdy's cheerios go?

The big kids strung popcorn, nuts and apples into garlands.

I cut up felt and old jeans and t-shirts into bird-ish shapes

 for ornaments and pins.

 It was a good project for little sewists.

 

 And then we gathered our bounty
 
and strung it up

in the climbing tree.

 

 

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,

and wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Peace to you, my friends...

peace that lifts, 

peace with wings.

And some beauteous books to warm your winter!

  

 

The Birds of Bethlehem - Tomie dePaola

Night Tree - Eve Bunting, Ted Rand

The Candle in the Forest - compiled by Joe L. Wheeler

Uncle Vova's Tree - Patricia Polacco

The Trees of the Dancing Goats - Patricia Polacco

The Birds' Christmas Carol - Kate Douglas Wiggin

The Mitten - Barbara McClintock

The Mitten - Jan Brett

The Money We'll Save - Brock Cole

Owl Babies - Martin Waddell, Patrick Benson

Owl Moon - Jane Yolen, John Schoenherr

No Two Alike - Keith Baker