This video won the Storytelling with Children Award for 2009. Show it to the child in your life — be spellbound by this silly, energetic, wonderfully told story that involves the audience.
Storytelling with Children and Chickens
March 17th, 2010The Thrill of Storytelling
March 10th, 2010Have you ever listened to a really good storyteller – someone whose choice of words, twist of thought, lilt of voice and turn of body had you totally captivated? Perhaps the storyteller you remember was a grandparent or parent, or your pastor, or a teacher, or maybe your physician. Few of us realize how critical storytelling is to passing on information in a way that makes the information relevant and ensures that it sticks with us. It also can be just plain entertaining.
For children, storytelling can be critical for development. Think of little girls playing with dolls or boys with cars and trucks, for example. They tell stories to their playmates — or just to themselves — one after the other in endless variety. These stories help figure out how to deal with the world.
Storytelling has been a fascination for me since childhood. My father and uncles (one complete with pipe for the perfect pause effect) could turn an everyday event into a story that was totally enthralling, even to a young child. They delighted in this art and everyone who heard them did, too. The enjoyment of that was one motivation for creating Storybook Quilts.
Our new Storybook Quilts contest, set to begin on March 21st, is all about storytelling. More details appear below in our March 4th blog post and additional information will appear as we near the start date.
We also will be posting a series of blog articles here about storytelling – the renaissance of the art that has taken place, how children can become involved, and the value to us all.
So, come back here to visit us often! And start thinking now about which theme you might pick for your storytelling entry.
We’re getting ready — are you?
March 7th, 2010
We are getting ready for our Tell a Story Contest, which starts in only two weeks! The challenge is to create a new story for one of our Storybook Quilts. We hope you and your child, grandchild or young friend will tell your story in a video.
Today, we just finished the preliminary version of the story page for the frog. The idea is to use at least seven of the fabrics in the quilt to create a new story based on the quilt. See Frog here. And tell us — do you like the page layout? Can you see the fabrics well enough?
Announcing the Tell a Story Contest
March 4th, 2010Remember last year’s contest — to name [Turtle]? The entries were imaginative and exciting. The winners, Kelly and her family, have been loving Luna the Turtle ever since.
Our new contest goes to the heart of what Storybook Quilts is all about — melding two creative American traditions: patchwork quilting and storytelling. Each quilt is made of fabrics printed with objects, animals or people and a large central shape that is the main character; the story that matches the quilt is written around these fabrics and that shape.
DanZy the Rabbit, for example, includes fabrics with magicians’ hats and rabbits; in the story, what DanZy wants most is to become a magician’s rabbit. The other fabrics in the quilt help tell the story of his journey in Hip Hop Ala Kazam! Olivia Meets DanZy the Rabbit.
One of the key goals of Storybook Quilts is to tickle children’s imaginations. Hearing the stories read is important to developing literacy, enhancing family closeness and creating wonderful memories — but each Storybook Quilt offers even more. We hope that children also will make up their own stories based on the fabrics in the quilt, giving their imaginations a chance to shine.
With that in mind, our first major contest of 2010 is based on creating a new story around any of our existing quilts. The story does not have to be polished or perfect, it just needs to be new and draw directly on the imagination of a child in your life. Instead of a written story, we are asking contestants to submit a short video.
Details will be available soon. The contest begins on March 21st.
The Grand Prize and other winners will be announced on April 27th, which is National Tell a Story Day. But it’s not too soon to start thinking!
Again, many thanks to all of you who took the time to vote in our polls about the contest. Your guidance was very helpful and we will be announcing additional opportunities in the near future.
Read Across America Day: March 2nd
March 2nd, 2010Reading. As adults, we take for granted the ability to read and what we learn from reading. Those of us who love books know that nothing is a better escape than a good one — reality flies away and we inhabit an entirely different world.
Reading, and literacy in general, is an essential component of everyday life. Anyone who’s traveled to a country where the language is unfamiliar is suddenly struck by the importance of reading.
Passing this skill and love of reading on to children is not just a good idea, it’s essential to their development. Brain cells are turned on when a toddler is read to; reading aloud to children is essential to the development of literacy; and learning to read English, a recent study showed, requires “a rich home literacy environment” and that reading “lots of books to children. . . is absolutely necessary.”
Reading the Luna the Turtle Storybook Quilt
A Storybook Quilt is a great way to achieve at least half the daily goal! Each story takes about 10-15 minutes to read; each also provides an additional opportunity for building language and visual skills by matching the events in the story to the fabrics in the quilt.
Oh — one last thing. Do you know why Read Across American is celebrated in March 2nd? Why, it’s Dr. Seuss’s birthday, of course!
Read, read, read!
Today is Tell a Fairy Tale Day!
February 26th, 2010“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Albert Einstein supposedly said that. He evidently was read a LOT of fairy tales!
Just what is a “fairy tale”?
A fairy tale is a fictional story that usually centers on magical tests or quests and often involves spectacular imaginary beings (not just fairies, but also dragons, trolls, women with very long hair, mice that turn into horses, wolves that can blow down houses, and so on). Originally, fairy tales were passed on orally at a time when only a few people knew how to write. Many of the traditional ones we still tell are literally centuries — perhaps millennia — old.
Are fairy tales just stories or is there something else behind them?
Fairy tales are one way that cultures endure. They teach children about what the culture values and about acceptable behavior. Take Cinderella, for example. From this, children learn that people who are cruel lose in the end and that honest, humble people reap the greatest rewards. In Snow White, the seven dwarves (can you remember their names?!) all worked together cheerfully; each had his own thing to contribute to society. The Three Little Pigs also has a clear message: work hard and build a strong foundation or you will be in danger from evil creatures.
Do cultures share fairy tales?
Interestingly, the same fairy tale may appear in different cultures, but with slightly different twists. “Dr Jamie Tehrani, a cultural anthropologist at Durham University, studied 35 versions of Little Red Riding Hood from around the world. Whilst the European version tells the story of a little girl who is tricked by a wolf masquerading as her grandmother, in the Chinese version a tiger replaces the wolf. In Iran, where it would be considered odd for a young girl to roam alone, the story features a little boy,” according an English newspaper. Amazingly, it appears that the common ancestor of all these fairy tales is 2600 years old!
Are all fairy tales “old”?
No, new fairy tales appear constantly. One great resource I found in writing this post is another blog — “Once Upon a Blog . . . Fairy Tale News.” It’s a fun collection of ideas and information about fairy tales old and new.
Michael with the Winnie the Frog fairy tale Storybook Quilt
Does Storybook Quilts create fairy tales?
Oh, yes! Several of our stories involve quests. A good example is Winnie the Frog, whom Ryan accompanies on his quest to obtain fairy cakes from the fairies — supposedly to cure Winnie’s sick mother. Their adventure is a quest to find what the fairies demand as a price for their cakes and it takes them to magical places. In the end, Winnie disappears and leaves us all wondering whether he really was a frog or a little boy . . .
One wonderful thing about Storybook Quilts is that children make up their own fairy tales based on the fabrics in the quilt — just as I did when I designed them.
Wouldn’t your child or grandchild love a new fairy tale, complete with cozy quilt?
It’s Time – Maple Sugaring Time!
February 23rd, 2010When the days start to warm (groundhog or not!) and the nights stay cold, the sap in the maple tree starts to climb out of its roots up to the branches. On the way, some of it takes a detour – and becomes maple syrup, the most wonderful sweet ever.
How much do you know about sugaring time and maple syrup?
Who discovered maple syrup?
The Native Americans discovered it. Maple syrup was used for barter among the peoples living along the Great Lakes and St Lawrence River.
How is the sap collected?
A probe is inserted into the tree – in the outside layers, about 1½ inches in. The Native Americans (and the rest of us) initially used half-round sticks with a channel and a whittled end. These were replaced later by cast iron and other metals. The sap drips into buckets that are emptied into a large tank. (I remember a big tank on a wooden sledge drawn by horses through the snow in the 1950s.) Larger farms may use plastic tubing hooked into a collection tank.
Do all varieties of maple trees have the right sap?
Although all have sap – every tree does – only the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) has the sweet sap that makes a clear, really yummy maple syrup. That’s the same tree that makes New England so brilliantly gorgeous in the autumn.
How is the syrup made?
The sap is boiled for hours and hours and hours until most of the water evaporates. It can be boiled further to produce maple cream and maple sugar. One winter treat is “sugar on snow,” made by boiling maple syrup to the hard candy stage and then drizzling that over a bowl of fresh (clean!) snow. There’s nothing like it!
Where is maple syrup made?
“Sugar houses” are small buildings set away from other buildings (in case of fire, presumably) where a fire is kept going under a large tank. Often, they are built right in the “sugar bush,” where the maple trees grow. Farmers used to fuel these fires exclusively with wood; now propane often is used.
How much sap does it take to make a gallon of syrup?
That depends on the sugar content of the sap. In general, the ratio is 43 to 1, so it would take 43 gallon milk jugs full of sap to make one gallon of syrup!
What are the grades of syrup?
Maple syrup grades are by color, which relates to taste. The very best grade, light amber, is from the first tappings, when the tree is only beginning to think about spring. It has the lightest and most delicate flavor. Next in line is medium amber, followed by dark amber and “Grade B.” Most supermarkets carry medium or dark amber; light amber is available primarily from gourmet food shops or maple farmers. As with many foods, there’s nothing better than syrup made by a local farmer and bought on site.
Does maple syrup have any nutritional value?
Yes! Maple sugar (and syrup) is less refined than sweetening products from other sources. (Remember, bees process the honey.) So, maple products contain minerals, antioxidants, and other compounds that have been shown to have health benefits.
Which state produces the best maple syrup?
Now, that’s a heated issue! I think New York State makes the best syrup, but that’s where I was raised so I would say that, wouldn’t I?
Where can you go to see maple syrup being made?
Many states and localities offer tours. Search for “maple sugar tours” in any search engine. Tours are available and several localities have maple syrup festivals this time of year. The American Maple Museum is in west Croghan, NY, not far from Lake Ontario and the Canadian border.
For more details on the process and syrup, see Cornell University’s FAQ.
For information on how you can make maple syrup at home (outdoors!), see the University of Maine’s instructions.
For a great series of photos on the process, visit the Wright Farms website.
We’re thinking of a Storybook Quilt with a maple tree theme? What do you think? Could you make up a good story about that?
A Snip of Quilting History
February 18th, 2010February is National Quilting Month. This year, the celebration really fits the weather, at least where we are. Snow has kept many of us close to home and the chill winds often bring to mind the warmth and love of quilts.
Quilting is an ancient practice. Almost every “civilized” northern culture has developed some form of quilting. I remember being struck, long ago now, not only by the quilting but by the geometric piecing in ancient Chinese and Japanese ceremonial robes. One child’s robe was done entirely in, believe it or not, “baby block” (tumbling block) pattern. Like many Americans, I had rather assumed that geometric, pieced quilting of clothing or bed coverings originated during our trek across the vast plains to the west.
Stitching through padding between two layers of cloth – pieced or not – probably was known to the ancient Egyptians. This early carving (c 3400 BC) in the British museum is thought to show a quilted robe worn by a pharaoh. Silk ornamental quilts have been excavated from Chinese tombs dating from 770-221 BC. Quilted garments, some with metal slid into the channels, have even been used as a form of armor (or for comfort under armor), for example, by the ancient Japanese and in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Although the geometric patterns we associate with quilts have been added to by quilters over the years, the mathematics and the patterns themselves are ancient. Probably not coincidentally, for example, the Chinese were developing mathematical theories of geometry at about the same time as geometric pieced, quilted ceremonial robes appeared. Perhaps the rulers used these garments as a way of publicizing the greatness of the mathematicians they were supporting.
Happy Quilt Loving!
What next?
February 13th, 2010It’s time. Time to plan this year’s new themes. What would YOU like to see? Vote in our poll (see right column). And, if you have another idea, let us know!
Valentine’s Day, Gumdrop Day and Amos the Bear
February 8th, 2010Did you know that Valentine’s Day is just one day before National Gumdrop Day? Valentine Amos, a very lovable teddy, is a special edition of our Amos the Bear Storybook Quilt – which always features gumdrops.
Amos the Bear is all heart. In fact, his heart is soooo big that it shows on the outside. He’s the best friend of a little boy named Josh, who’s the best buddy of his Grandpop. They both love gumdrops and Grandpop always carries a bag – hidden away somewhere.
Love and gumdrops feature prominently in the story that accompanies our Amos the Bear quilt. Josh goes to the zoo with his Grandpop and Amos, where Amos mysteriously disappears! The search takes forever. Impatient Josh goes off on his own to find Amos, asking the animals for help. A slightly scary leopard sends Josh rushing back to Grandpop for safety. The two of them then find Amos in a most surprising place! Reunited with Amos, Josh is now ready to share Grandpop’s gumdrops – he finally can enjoy them.
Valentine’s Day 2010 can last a lifetime for your child or grandchild with this one-time edition of Amos. He’s available, at a special price, through Tuesday, February 9th. Our usual Amos always is available!
