Wintry book basket...

Warm, cozy moments curled up with good books seem to be the order of the day around here. Here are some well-loved titles from our kindergarten book basket right now.

Ola, by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'aulaire

This thrift store find is a treasure trove of Norwegian culture. Our copy is from 1934...I beleive the first edition is 1932, so that gives you some idea about the tone of this book; it is not only from another land, but another time. Ola lives on a mountain so far north that "the sun is afraid to show his pale face in the winter". He wakes up to the flair of the Northern Lights and sets out on his skis for an adventure one morning.

The story takes him down the mountain, to a wedding at a farm, to the company of a traveling peddler, to a visit with Lapplanders and their herd of reindeer, to a fishing village where he hears strange tales of the ocean, to an island where eiderducks nest, and on and on! The story ends with Ola heading home laden with riches from his travels. The drawings are amazing.
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Winter Poems , illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

Ok...Does it even matter what the text of a book is if the illustrations are by Trina Schart Hyman? I am a huge fan of A Child's Calendar and was so delighted to see the same family of characters appear in Winter Poems . It is explains in the front pages of the book that the illustrations are based on real people, places & things: the mother, father, and children depicted are Trina Schart's daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons! The poems, selected by Barbara Rogasky, are not the usual juvenile fare...these are wonderful, evocative, valid pieces. Toucie loves "The Germ" by Ogden Nash and the conversation between a mistress and her cat in "Cat on a Night of Snow" by Elizabeth Coatsworth. We have used other poems from this book as our inspiration for our winter watercolor paintings.
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Winter , by Gerda Muller

This is a Waldorf staple...most likely you have seen this before, but I can't help singing its praises again and again. This is a board book that is part of a 4-book series - one for each season. The images within are so charming, wholesome, inspiring, and engaging...these books have fascinated Toucie for all her life so far! (I began sharing them with her when she was 9 months old). I have seen a volume that combines all 4 books, titled Circle of Seasons and I do not recommend it...it re-arranges the illustrations and adds text which completely ruins the special nature of these books, in my opinion. Their wordless full-spread pages are precisely what make them so magical. I think every household with children should have these books.
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Winter Days in the Big Woods , adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder

Sweet, old fashioned, and prettily illustrated in the style of Garth Williams. I enjoy sharing these "My First Little House Books" with Toucie as a way to help me be patient until the time is right to launch into the Little House chapter books...I am chomping at the bit to bring to her some of that experience which was so delightful to me as a child.
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening , Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers

One thing I love about Waldorf education is the presence of recitation in the curriculum. Mado, in 3rd grade, recited the 94 line extract, Hiawatha's Childhood,  from Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha. I suspect that the repeated readings of this winter poem by Frost, with the stunning and supportive illustrations by Jeffers, will soak into Toucie's memory and that one day she will realize she can recite it to herself (that is what happened to me over the course of the years reading it to her!) To have poems that imprint themselves on one's heart is pure joy to me.
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Anna and the Flowers of Winter , by Nettie Lowenstein

A softly illustrated fairy tale...very much along the lines of Mother Holle. A mistreated stepdaughter is sent out in the dead of winter to bring back violets by the order of the haughty stepsister. In despair at the impossibility if the task, she stumbles through the snowy woods and encounters 12 strange figures. These turn out to be the months of the year and they help her with her dilemma. Upon her return home, the stepmother and stepsister become greedy for other things and set out to find the 12 strange figures. Of course they get what is coming to them and the young stepdaughter is rewarded for her goodness.
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Annie and the Wild Animals , by Jan Brett

My copy of this book is autographed by Ms. Brett and was a gift from my mama in 1985 when i was still in high school...its been a long love affair that I've had with this one! I try to reserve it until the very end of winter...it is perfect for Imbolc/Candlemas season as it reflects the thawing of winter and the promise of spring. Annie's cat disappears and, in an effort to attract a new pet, she begins baking corn cakes for the animals in the frozen, snowy forest. She attracts all kinds of hungry creatures, none of which are quite the right fit, and then runs out of corn. Luckily, the seasons begin to turn and nature puts everything right again. Lots and lots to look at in Jan Brett's gorgeous illustrations.

Winter Handwork...working with yarn: dye it, wind it, knit it

Our homeschooling rhythm relaxed over the holiday season...we continued to sing, and craft, and bake, but in a looser fashion than usual. Toucie has been working with some wool in a rather casual, long-term-project sort of way.
It started with a skein of wool that we "ruined" last fall...we tried to dye it in our goldenrod dye bath..after we'd already dyed our shooting stars and our cape of light...there was just enough color left in the dye bath to turn the wool a nasty, dingy color :(   We abandoned the yarn, leaving it hanging outdoors until just recently.

Well, no wool deserves such a fate! After the Yule season passed, my attention turned back to that forlorn skein and I decided to have Toucie help me give it a facelift. With Koolaid.

We didn't use any measurements or follow any instructions...we just winged it. I purchased 3 colors of  Koolaid: purple (Grape), red (Tropical Punch), and blue (Berry Blue). On the first afternoon we prepared a saucepan with about 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup white vinegar plus 2 pouches of Grape Koolaid. We prepared a second sauce pan the same way, using Tropical Punch. We set them to simmering on the stovetop and dangled one half of the yarn in the purple dye and the other half in the red dye. We stirred the dye around until the color started to disappear from the water...it is really magical the way the pigment leaves clear water behind as it latches onto the wool! A quick rinse in cold water and we hung the skein up to dry.

The next day we prepared the blue dye and dangled the portions of yarn that were still undyed into the saucepan. That is what you see Toucie doing above. Another rinse and another day to dry.

Here is what we ended up with...I think it turned out quite beautifully. Toucie says it smells "like artificial candy", so perhaps a more thorough rinsing would have been good...oh well.

The next job was winding the wool into a ball. This took several sittings and a bit of discipline. I've heard Handwork teachers say to children that they are "winding for the world" as a way to create a picture for the child about this important task. One winds the wool for all, not just as if one were going to use it one's self...it is important to wrap the yarn carefully and beautifully. (We unwound some of Toucie's work a time or two so that she could try again to make it just right). One always wraps the wool in a motion directed away from one's self...outward towards the world...winding for the world.

I bet the world would love to have that yarn ball, Toucie!

This winter, Toucie received this knitting tower as a gift. This type of knitting device it known by many other names: knitting nancy, knitting noddy, corker, bizzy lizzy, knitting spool, and probably more! The act of using one of these is called by several names, too: French knitting, corking, spool knitting, (and likely some other terms, too). Once a child has achieved some finger dexterity and control (developmentally speaking), this type of knitting is easy to pick up. Toucie took to it after one demonstration. Her endurance only allows for about 2 or 3 inches of knitting at a sitting, but it has been very pleasant to have this kind of project at hand. It sits in its basket waiting for that 20 minutes of attention that Toucie gives it on cozy, dark, winter evenings.

Now the question is...what do you do with several inches, feet, or yards of corking? We made a spiral dollhouse rug with her first effort, and we have plans to make a headband, but after that....?

Any suggestions?

Snowy moments...

Toucie and Daddy take the plunge...

Baking Day with Baba

My father is known to my children as Baba...it means 'Dad' in the arabic dialect of Tunisia. My Tunisian dad and my American mom met in the Peace Corps. Theirs is a very romantic story that involves madcap, cross-country adventures aboard a Vespa scooter.

I spent a chunk of my childhood growing up, going to school, and thriving as part of a big family in Tunisia. My memories of those years are like a picture-book fantasy. Sun at the seashore, French and Arabic all around, playing in the olive orchards, pomegranate and fig trees in the garden, walking to school with comrades, smocks and school satchels and schoolyard games in the dirt, evenings on the rooftop, jasmine and climbing roses, playing in the graveyard next door, prickly pears and camels, open air markets and the souk, all the Roman ruins....I could go on and on and on. It was a heavenly environment in which to grow up. It is a dream of mine to be able to whisk my family of 6 overseas to to experience some of this...my children have never been.
And yet, because they have Baba, there are things about this heritage that they know even better than I.  Like how to bake these awesome cookies.

There is not alot of talking as they all work...maybe some robust Arabic singing from Baba....but not much chatter. After years of making these cookies together they all know what to do. A well-oiled machine. I can only sit and watch, with a full heart, while my father helps my girls build warm and beautiful memories...the same way he helped me build mine.

And of course, enjoy the fruits of their labor  :)

Winter walk...

Our magical Christmas snow is long gone. Our landscape is back to the traditional damp, cold, and wintry gray. When we look out the window or step out the door, we have a choice to make: perceive the qualities of winter as depressing, or push through to the secret beauty of a cold, gray world. Having a rosy-cheeked little person with whom to brave the elements gives one a head start on pushing through to that beauty.

Every day has the potential to be a beautiful day...she helps me remember that.