Sturdy for Common Things

Wild Things in May

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Images from top to bottom:
1. “Listening for baby animals”
2. Five little, hungry beaks
3. Sea of bees
4. Early morning strawberry picking
5. Prairieland
6. Prairie rose
7. Sketching May’s full moon
8. Spooky beautiful pre-storm sky
9. Fairy umbrellas
10. Turtle watching
11. Fairy soup
12. Wild strawberry foraging

Strawberries came early as expected this year. I took the girls to a local farm to pick a bucket early in the month and we had a feast right on the farm just before 9am. It felt a bit strange eating strawberries so early in the year, but they tasted just as ripe as June strawberries nonetheless.

May brought a few surprises. A couple weeks ago I found wild strawberries for the first time walking through a prairie. I laughed when I first spotted them. Could it be? Little ruby gems of delightfully sweet goodness at my foot? There were patches and patches of them hidden by fast growing tall grass and wildflowers that are already to my knees.

Another surprise came in the form of an army of unexpected guests when, one afternoon, my older and I were visited by a swarm of honey bees. We stared at them, mesmerized by their number as hundreds of them formed a cluster in our backyard tree overhead. I called a beekeeper who promptly arrived and we watched as he hypnotized them into a cardboard box that was then strapped to his truck. Then they were off to the honey farm. I’ll never forget the way they hummed and buzzed wildly, filling up the blue sky overhead. He called later that night to say he weighed the bees and they were just over 5lbs, a good size swarm. He also said that they were an extraordinary bright yellow and asked if he could name them after my daughter.

The last surprise wasn’t really a surprise– I knew it was coming. It was the morning I looked up at the house finch nest and it was quiet, it was empty. The nest had been a home to a pair of adult house finches and their clutch of five for several weeks. They’ve been our beloved house guests and we’ve enjoyed watching the faintest blue eggs hatch into hatchlings and grow into fledglings. A couple days before, I watched one of the fledglings jump from its nest and fly with ease. His father praised him, and encouraged his siblings to do the same in a nearby tree. I read that House finches may use abandoned nests of other birds, so maybe my Lord and Lady Carmine will return for their next clutch as they will parent several this season.

In last month’s Wild Things post, I started listing gratitudes from the past month and I’ve decided to continue this habit into this month and the ones following.

MAY GRATITUDES
The swarm of honey bees that visited us one afternoon
Foraging wild strawberries for the first time
The smell of a prairie rose
Running my fingers along the tips of tall grass in an open field
Spring thunderstorms (and sump pumps)
The ever-evolving Kansas skyscape
The bittersweet feeling of finding a nest once filled with life, empty. Life goes on.

 

Yesterdays as amateur naturalists. For new adventures follow along on Instagram.

Enchanting New Fairy Books + Fairy Booklist

I’m so excited about these books that I may or may not be wearing a pair of my kids’ dress-up fairy wings as I type this. Not only because FAIRIES, but because the enchanting books in this post are very near-and-dear to our hearts. Imelda & the Goblin King by Briony May Smith (public library) and A Fairy Friend by Sue Fliess, illustrated by Claire Keane (public library) are the latest additions that have made their way into the ranks of our favorite fairy books list, which I’ve also included below. Here’s a peek inside these two imaginative, stunning books about wee fairy folk:

 

Imelda & The Goblin King by Briony May Smith

Young Imelda lives behind a fairy forest where she often goes to visit and play with her fairy friends. All was fine and well, until the day the greedy goblin king arrives and kidnaps the fairy queen. Imelda and the fairies have to devise a clever plan to rescue the queen and restore the fairy forest back to it’s former happy state.

Sweet as can be. Imelda and The Goblin King is a tale about good vs. evil, greed, problem solving, and even has a delicious pie in the mix. Briony May Smith’s illustrations are stunning. Each time we read this story I notice a new detail that I hadn’t noticed before. Something else I love about this book is that the fairies and magical creatures are illustrated in a variety of skin shades from pink, to brown, to tan, to even blue. After reading quite a few illustrated books as a kid and now with my own children in which the majority of the fairies are predominately white, it was refreshing to see a broader spectrum of skin colors represented. Imelda is a strong, kind, and courageous heroine that uses her wits to defeat evil. She’s exactly the kind of character I’m glad is a part of our reading world.

 

 

A Fairy Friend by Sue Fliess, illustrated b Claire Keane

Okay… So, this book is darling. Its rhyming text and its almost-like-they’re-glowing illustrations won my kids over after the first page. Even though fairies are all around her, one girl learns no matter how hard she tries they’re quite difficult to spot. To lure them to her, she crafts a fairy house so maybe, just maybe, they’ll come to here. One fairy might even feel friendly enough to land in her hand.

Adorable, right? Sue Fliess’ text rolls of the tongue like an evening lullaby and the frolicking, sometimes mischievous, fae illustrations light up each page making A Fairy Friend a magical read. No doubt it will inspire the construction of many fairy houses like these from it’s readers. The illustration style seemed familiar the first time I set eyes on this book and sure enough, Claire Keane is an illustrator who contributed to popular Walt Disney films’ Tangled and Frozen. Now that Sue Fliess and Claire Keane on my reading radar, I’m looking forward to reading whatever future books they may have up their sleeves.

 

 

After reading these two fabulous new fairyland books full of shimmer, whimsey, charm, and wonder,  I thought I’d pull together a list of our favorite fairy picture books (and one early chapter book!) for even more fairy folk fun:

FAVORITE FAIRY PICTURE BOOKS
Imelda & The Goblin King by Briony May Smith (public library)
A Fairy Friend by Sue Fliess, illustrated by Claire Keane (public library)
Piper Green and the Fairy Tree by Ellen Potter, illustrated by Quin Leng (public library)
Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane (public library)
Come To The Fairies’ Ball by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Gary Lippincott (public library)
A Fairy Went a-Marketing by Rose Fyleman, illustrated by Jamichael Henterly (public library)
Good Night, Fairies by Kathleen Hague (public library)
The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies by Ammi-Joan Paquette (public library)
How to Find Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker (public library)
The Complete Book of Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker (public library)

If you’re heading to the library and are interested in checking out these books, I’ve assembled this catalog list for easy browsing! If you’re library suscribes to bibliocommons, then this list can be accessed through your library catalog.

And if you know a fairy-loving kid (or grown-up) be sure to hop over to this Building Natural Fairy Houses post for more moon magic and star dust fairy fun!

 

**Sources of books reviewed: Imelda & The Goblin King provided by Flying Eye Books, A Fairy Friend and Piper Green and the Fairy Tree were checked out at our local library, and all other books were purchased at our local bookstores, The Raven and Dusty Bookshelf.

Building Natural Fairy Houses

Building fairy houses using natural materials found outside is an imaginative way for children to engage in the world outside their doorstep. You don’t have to go to the store or spend a penny for this ephemeral nature project– Fairy houses can be made in your yard, local park, on a beach, or in the snow using whatever natural items are available during the present season. My 5-year-old has been making her own fairy houses for a couple of years now and it has been fun watching her construction skills and creativity develop with each house she makes, not to mention the stories told about the fairies who live there. Here’s a short rundown of this one part art, one part nature activity for kids with an element of magical pretend play.

Materials to build a fairy house can be anything you find outside such as sticks, leaves, seashells, driftwood, grass, stones, seeds, feathers, bark, snake skin, pinecones, etc. Try your best not to disturb anything that is living.

Oftentimes a fairy house evolves. It rains and part of the structure falls over and has to be repaired or reimagined. A toad decides to use it as a home. Branches and stones and leaves can be added to expand and modify the home. Ephemeral means “transitory” or “short-lived” and like most things in nature,  it’s an organic process that’s always changing. If not maintained, the fairy house will deteriorate back to the earth from which they came.

When fairy houses are constructed close to our yard, they’re often embellished with sidewalk chalk, glass floral stones, or odds and ends we find in the dirt. We try to keep it as natural as possible. We don’t leave anything outside that animals could harm themselves with or choke on. We’re also sure to pick up any pieces that were not found outside and remove them from the site after a fairy house deteriorates.

The fun part is imagining the fairy or fairies who take up residence in the home. What is his/her name? What magic powers do they have? Can they talk to animals? Are they the reason the roses bloomed early? We pretend to spot them around their new residence, make them fairy soup (water, flower petals, grass, seeds), or leave gifts of little berries or pebbles at their doorstep.

The picture book Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane (public library) is a terrific prompt for this magical, nature-based activity. The back of the book provides the reader with ideas for ways to incorporate materials from each season into your construction. Invite friends to build a fairy village together or build a house during a walk outside. This is an activity my oldest often likes to do alone when she is in need of quiet time absent of activity.

Building fairy houses provides children with a hands-on sensory experience with flora and fauna.  It encourages awareness of the seasons through foraged loose parts and adds an aspect of wonder to their outdoor play.

 

Storytime Anytime: Weather

Storytime Anytime is a simple storytime experience that parents and caregivers can recreate at home. Each storytime focuses on a book about a specific interest, a song, rhyme, or fingerplay that complements the story, and then a few, simple extension activities. Storytime doesn’t just happen in the library, storytime can be anytime! 

READ: We’ve been reading a lot of books about weather lately, and the vintage gem Bear Gets Dressed: A Guessing-Game Story by Harriet Ziefert, illustrations by Arnold Lobel (public library) is the story most often picked by my 2-year old. The story starts with bear waking up in the morning and looking outside his window. Each page after depicts a variety of garments and asks the reader what would bear wear depending on the weather he sees outside– Open the flap and the answer is revealed. It’s a straightforward, sweet book for toddlers and preschools by two highly regarded kid lit authors.

If you’re a librarian or teacher, it would make a wonderful flannel board. I didn’t check to see if someone has already thought of that idea or not. So if someone in internet land has – Kudos! Bear Gets Dressed is a new-to-us classic that encourages kids to think about weather, seasons, and how the clothing we wear reflects both.

SING: There’s a fantastic selection of weather songs over on Jbrary’s YouTube channel, but their rendition of “What’s the Weather?” seems to be the weather-themed song we enjoy singing the most of the bunch. That one, and “Come Under My Umbrella” are big hits in my house. Try not to hum “Oh my darling, Clementine” anytime someone asks “Whats the weather?” after singing this song a few times…

What’s the Weather (sung to Clementine) via Perpetual Preschool
What’s the weather? What’s the weather? What’s the weather like today? 
Is it foggy, partly cloudy, is it raining or is there snow? 
Is it windy, is it cloudy or is there sunshine today? 
What’s the weather? What’s the weather? What’s the weather like today?

PLAY: These are a few no-stress weather activities to play after reading Bear Gets Dressed:

• Play a weather dress-up game! Gather an assortment of clothing for all types of weather and lay them out in a room. Pretend to look out the window and say, “What will the weather be like today? It’s ___________ !” and ask the child to find and put on clothing that best fits the weather you describe.
• When you go outdoors, talk about the weather you see and feel. Is it cold or warm? Is it cloudy or sunny? Rainy? Foggy? Is it dark or light? What time of day is it? Will the weather change during the day? What is the season? Do you have a favorite type of weather? Taking time to notice weather is just one way to connect children to the cycles of the natural world.
• Dress up a doll or stuffed animal over the course of the week according to the weather forecasted each day. Does the doll or stuffy have to change outfits a few times to accommodate the weather? Or are they able to wear the same outfit for a majority of the week?

BOOK SUGGESTIONS: For more weather book suggestions for younger children, scroll down to the end of this weather booklist!

Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color + Face Painting Fun

“In a place where colors ran wild, there lived a girl who was wilder still. Her name was Swatch, and she was a color tamer. She was small, but she was not afraid.”

Open Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color by Julia Denos (public library) and experience a stampede of color.  Young Swatch is a collector. Like most kids who are passionate about collecting, they try the best they can to accumulate as much of their desired object as possible. But unlike most kids, Swatch collects color. She enthusiastically plucks, nets, tames, and traps an array of every color she comes across. When she calls out their name “Bravest Green”, “Just Laid Blue”, and “Rumble-Tumble Pink” the colors come to her and she bottles them up to be added to the rainbow of colors already captured. But one day, instead of calling out the name of “Yellowest Yellow”, a coveted shade, she asks the color instead of calling it to her. “Yellowest yellow.. would you like to climb into this jar?” The shade politely declines and instead of plucking it up nonetheless, she leaves it be and something spectacular happens.

Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color is not only visually stunning, but the story stars a strong, courageous female character- We can never ever have enough strong female characters in books for young children- and demonstrates what happens when we let go and allow creativity to flourish. A big thank you to my buddy Erinn Batykefer from Library as Incubator Project, for putting this book on my radar this past winter. It has not only become a favorite story in our home, but an inspiration for many color adventures since reading it.

 

FACE PAINTING FUN

Throughout the story, Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color, Swatch seems to always have paint on her face. I thought expanding on this detail through face painting would be fun platform to talk about color mixing and also provide the opportunity for the kids to paint a canvas they are very familiar with, their own faces!

MATERIALS

• Face lotion or lotion without fragrance or dyes
• Food coloring or liquid watercolors
• Watercolor tray or whatever you have on hand for paint mixing
• Paintbrushes

I used this DIY face paint tutorial for making the paints. You can swap liquid washable watercolors for the food coloring if you prefer. The food coloring might take a day or two to wash off. Using a water color tray, the kids mixed up some colors with food coloring and face lotion. Then I set up a mirror and let them have at it. Here’s our set up:

I have never seen these two smile and laugh during an art project like when they were face painting. It was a playful, color-filled sensory experience!

After face painting, my oldest decided she wanted to LOOK JUST LIKE SWATCH and quickly changed into clothing similar to Swatch’s outfit in the book. Then, she asked for a jar to catch colors in and ran around the yard for a good part of the evening role playing the character of Swatch. She continues to this day to talk about color names and fantasize about colors.

Swatch encouraged us to see colors in a new way and allow them, and our imaginations, run wild. Now more than ever, Lorelei makes up names for colors she sees. I’ve been hesitant to return a book that has sparked so much wonder in my girls, but tomorrow it’s going back to the library. It’s time to let Swatch be free and work her magic in our community.

For more color mixing magic that would also pair well with Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color, check out this Mix it Up! project.

 

 

Source of book reviewed: Borrowed from my local public library!