Trick-Or-Treat

Trick-Or-Treat

When the best children
come by to trick-or treat
it makes my day!
We’re always first on their list.
I told Mom to close her eyes
as I dumped candy into their bags.
Our secret.

Jennie

E.B. White’s New Book

Yes, E.B. White has a new book out.  Really.  It’s a delightful picture book, based on a poem he wrote in 1928 while working at The New Yorker magazine.

The Duck Can’t Sleep, by E.B. White

The best part is the book is illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  She wrote and illustrated Some Writer, the Story of E.B. White.  It’s a fabulous book, and where I learned most everything about White.


Of course White was always called Andy.  His grandniece who lives nearby always called him Uncle Andy.  He married Katherine who was older than he.  She worked at The New Yorker, too.  When he wrote Charlotte’s Web, his wife, Katherine, was Charlotte and Andy was Wilbur.

I’ll never forget that.

The book’s poem is
NATURA IN URBE

While midnight clung to every shore
I walked me round the reservoir,
With little cause and little sense
I ambled round and round the fence,
And once, while standing quietly,
I saw a little duck swim by.

I plainly saw his head a-wobble,
I plainly saw his tail a-bobble,
As all across the captive lake
He spread his negligible wake.
And I can scarce begin to tell
How mystical this caravel,
Or how surprised I was to see
A duck as wide awake as me.

Afloat at night upon the deep
You’d think a duck would go to sleep,
You’d think a normal duck would hanker
To close his eyes and ride at at anchor;
You’d think a duck would set his breast
Against the wave, and come to rest;
You’d think that twelve o’clock were late
For any duck to navigate
All round and round the reservoir.
I wondered what he did it for.

I wondered if he’d left his kind
Because of something on his mind,
A midnight sail to clear his vision
And help him reach some duck decision.
Surely he would not swim and swim
Were something hard not troubling him.
It was preposterous to think
A duck would rouse to get a drink;
Nor was it anything but silly
To think he paddled willy nilly;
And though ’twas funny to suppose
A little duck had secret woes,
And though it put me on my mettle
To guess what problems ducks must settle,
I liked to think he swam the deep
Because he simply could not sleep.

The illustrations are delightful.

Martha White, E.B. White’s granddaughter, has a lengthy and lovely forward to the book.  I highly recommend reading this; your public library will have a copy.

Poetry is important, and something children need to hear.  White’s poem in a picture book is just perfect.

Jennie

Magic!

Is there magic?
You bet there is.
It happened at school,
on the playground.

First, the sky changed.

Everyone noticed.
The clouds were announcing something.

We had a pizza party!

After eating pizza, we got our pumpkins ready to
carve into jack-o-lanterns,

And we carved and carved.
We made beautiful jack-o-lanterns.




The sky changed yet again.


Does the sky know magic is happening?
Of course it does.
Nature knows far more than we do.

After looking at our jack-o-lanterns
over and over again
with wide eyes and full hearts,
the best was yet to come.

I called the children to join me.
I had the autoharp.
They knew we were going to sing
The Jack-O-Lantern song.

But now we sang the song in the dark,
with glow sticks, and
holding our jack-o-lanterns.

Magic, indeed!

Jennie

Gloria’s Debut

A picture is worth a thousand words,
and these pictures say it all!

Gloria’a debut was just wonderful.  It always is.  Somehow she has a way with children.  She really opens their eyes and hearts, and children respond in kind.

Here is a letter I sent to families:

Introducing Gloria, our Aqua Room Friend

Gloria was introduced to your children this week.  She came to Morning Meeting, reluctantly, because she is very shy.  After all, some people have called her a witch, so it is no wonder she needed coaxing to meet the Aqua Roomers.  Gloria is old, has wrinkly skin and gray hair, and is very fond of black.  Actually, black is her favorite color, along with a pointy hat and pointy shoes.  Gloria is our classroom puppet, yet she is very real to all the children.  She represents all the things that children feel.  Because she is different, she helps children develop an understanding of others.

When she arrived, your children didn’t know what to think.  No one said a word, and there were many wide eyes.  When we talked about Gloria, children wondered if she was a witch.  That was the perfect door to open!  Gloria herself jumped in to talk (finally), and she told them how people had called her a witch.  “Well, I’m not a witch.  I just like black.  It’s my favorite color.  My skin is wrinkly, and my hair is gray and sticky-uppy-outy.”  Then children started to look to Gloria directly, eye to eye, and Gloria responded in kind.  No child looked at a teacher; each one looked directly at Gloria.  One child waved and said, “Hi Gloria.”  Then she introduced herself.  Gloria wanted to learn the names of your children, and asked each child if she could shake their hand.  Well, children stayed by her side after the handshake.  Everyone surrounded the teacher chair, and the conversations kept going.  There were spontaneous hugs and fist bumps.  Gloria has photos in her journal over many years.  She has been everywhere!  We will look at her journals this coming week.

This was powerful.  What transpired in our classroom in less than thirty minutes is what can sometimes take years for people to learn; caring and acceptance.  Gloria is different, yet she has the same feelings that we all do.  She is a good friend.  Your children were able to look beyond her appearance and see her for what she truly is.

Two children rushed over to hold her.  A group gathered to play with her.  They were careful and gentle; it made teachers smile to stand back and watch.  Children were helping Gloria.  She is being looked after.  She is a new friend.

Gloria will quickly become a close member of the Aqua Room.  She will be the one who understands, or perhaps the one who has problems.  She will be fun, sometimes silly, and may look to your children for a hug.  If you want to know more about Gloria, she has a journal of her weekends with Aqua Roomers.  Please tell her hello when you’re in the classroom.

Jennie