My eleven year old burst into tears while sitting on the couch. As I rushed over to investigate, I noticed a worn copy of Howard Pyle’s The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood in her hand. “What’s the matter?” I asked. “All the adventures happen in books and never to meeeeee…” she cried. Her tears and distress were…
In Beatrix Potter’s imagination, Josephine Bunny was the hard-working single mother of Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-Tail, and Peter and was licensed to sell tea and tobacco. With a business to run and four little ones to raise, Josephine had her hands full. She was exasperated when little Peter did not go obediently down the lane, like…
Keepers of their Imaginations Whether we’re at the pool or the trampoline park, my children always ask me to hold their stuff. For the older ones, I hold watches, hats, and jewelry. For the younger ones, it’s dolls, matchbox cars, or lollipops. No matter the circumstance, scenario, or treasure, mom is the trusty keeper of all…
While a friend and I watched our children playing on the playground, she confided to me, “The only thing I buy for myself is picture frames these days.” We had a comfortable chuckle, and I thought about all the frames hugging the photos in my house: big and small; decorative silver swirls and plain wood;…
My oldest daughter hated writing until she was nine years old. She picked up Deborah Hopkinson’s picture book A Boy Called Dickens because she recognized the imaginative illustrations of John Hendrix. As she admired the pictures, she read some of the words. She learned that Dickens simply wrote down the stories that he had in…
