Stories, The Baboon Congress, Travel

Grimm Business

139 Comments

Today’s post comes from Renee in North Dakota

The brothers Grimm wrote many fairy tales set in Niedersachsen, the northern part of Germany where my mother’s family came from. There is a complete travel itinerary from Hannover up to the coast where you can see the settings for many of the stories. It is called The Fairy Tale Road. The stories are not, by and large, comforting, but are, I think, important pieces of literature. I suppose that because my family is so closely associated with Bremen I always was drawn to the story of the Bremen Town Musicians. I remember reading the story in the set of Child Craft books my mother got for me in the mid-1960’s, complete with the picture of the statue in Bremen’s main square. I was really excited to see  that statue  on our May trip. Both my son and daughter in law were familiar with the story, and they were excited to see the statue, too.

20160512_120200Imagine my dismay when I printed out some travel photos and showed my coworkers the photo of the donkey, dog, cat, and rooster, all making a clamor to scare the thieves away from the farm house, and very few people had ever heard of the story! I could understand why many of our American Indian friends didn’t know the story. They felt so sorry for the animals being neglected and discarded by their owners. Perhaps I am naive, but I thought most Americans  my age with any sort of education would know of the Bremen Town Musicians. After all, 46% of  North Dakotans claim German heritage. Well, I was wrong.

I rubbed the donkey’s nose after I took the photo in the square, grateful for my parents’ enriching my life with literature.  After the dismal recognition rate from my coworkers, I vowed that any grandchildren I may have will know this story.

What stories do you think are essential for children to hear and read?

 

 

 

139 thoughts on “Grimm Business”

  1. Fascinating topic, Renee. Let me be the first Baboon to confess to not having heard of this fairy tale before this morning. My family culture was not very literary, although my mother did read Mother Goose stories to us as children. In doing so, she drew upon an English literary heritage, not a continental European one.

    Even if my mother had come from Germany, I doubt she would have read Grimm Brothers stories to her son and daughter. She would have found those stories too dark and violent for children. The spooky places in her own mind made her cling to reassuring stories with happy endings. There is some violence in Mother Goose (Humpty Dumpty has an accident not covered by Obamacare) but no children are eaten by cackling witches.

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      1. No. Or at least you are not more inclined to do that than all of us. A tricky part of growing up is coming to realize just which thoughts and experiences we’ve had are unique and which are widely shared.

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        1. I think you’ll agree though, Steve, how shocking it is to discover sometimes how widespread are the deficits.

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        1. Simply that it’s frequently surprising to discover that individuals have gotten that far in life with no awareness of something you consider fundamental.

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      3. Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel are but a few fairy tales with violent or unsavory themes not suitable for young children.

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  2. “The Bremen Town Musicians” was the first thing that came to mind when you originally mentioned Bremen as part of your itinerary and it’s the only association I have with Bremen. I can’t remember exactly how I was first introduced to the story; likely it was included in a two-volume set of stories and poetry from Better Homes and Gardens that was read to me and that I read to myself.
    My granddaughters (ages 5 and 7) have been introduced to quite a lot of material, the older one with a predilection for animal stories and the younger one for princesses, but they both are highly sensitive to conflict and what they call “danger”, so we have to choose carefully.
    I have been working through the series of OZ books with them and those have been well received. They were some of my favorites when I was a pup, especially the ones written by John R. Neill and by L. Frank Baum himself but not so much Ruth Plumly Thompson.

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  4. I agree with Wessew and would add Aesop’s Fables and any other so-called classic children’s books that have stood the test of time like Curious George, Good Night Moon, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc.

    Fairy tales are trickier since some are downright gory in the mind of a young child, but individuality is the key. Find stories the kids can handle.

    I’ll also suggest a non-traditional “story” series for kids: Calvin and Hobbes comics by the great Bill Watterson. I can’t think of a more powerful example to children of a free-spirited, inquisitive kid whose mind knows no boundaries and is guided by his oh-so-wise imaginary friend in the guise of a stuffed cat.

    I’ll also go off on another tangent and suggest that hearing and learning classic American folk songs and children’s songs should get almost equal billing with written stories. Singing is a great way to remember the story within a song. Admittedly, some songs from the 19th and early 20th centuries were racist or sexist or contained other flaws, but the melodies at least are part of our shared heritage and history. Plus, the world is a better place when people are singing, even singing out of tune.

    Chris in Owatonna

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    1. My granddaughters love Calvin and Hobbes. The trouble is, they are inspired by the stories to try and emulate Calvin, not appreciating that they are not as indestructible as he.

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      1. I have determined that one of the twins (my grandsons) is Calvin incarnate. There is something about the things he does – and the wicked gleam in his eyes – that is totally Calvin. And they turn 3 tomorrow, so who knows what he will be like in the next few years…

        I must say that I empathize with Calvin’s mother a lot more now than I did before these guys came along. If you remember any of the pictures of Calvin’s mom when she has totally lost it, that’s my daughter. Or sometimes me, when I’m babysitting.

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      1. We used to have a copy. I haven’t seen it recently, but it might still be around here somewhere. Individual books don’t necessarily stand out in our house.

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  5. The whole issue of how children should be exposed to the darker side of life is difficult for me. I often see parents sharing really spooky stuff with little kids without anticipating the consequences. But I often see parents sanitizing reality for their kids. When raising my own daughter, I was jumpy about these things and quick to second-guess my common sense about what she was ready to hear. I hope most parents handle such dilemmas with less agonizing than I did.

    At some point as she aged I began to complicate her picture of life by introducing her to the darker side of life. And at the same time I began showing her she needed to be careful because she was growing up in a world where almost everyone is trying to sell her something (ideas, toys, values, etc). To me it seemed just as important to make her skeptical of ad pitches as to protect her from stranger danger.

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    1. I remember in 4th or 5th grade, the reading text (not Dick and Jane, but a “cousin” thereof) contained for the first time, apparently, a story that didn’t have a happy ending – someone died, or lost the race, or something. I remember the teacher “warning” us about it before we read.

      I’d like for parents would “test the waters”, and see how much grim stuff the child is ready for. I don’t know a foolproof way to do this without simply starting to read, and really paying attention to reactions.

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  6. I was always fond of the Andrew Lang fairy tale books. I don’t think I ever owned any, but checked them out from the library. The Bremen Town Musicians may have been in one of those anthologies. When I hear the name Bremen, my mind goes to an image of a donkey automatically, so I know I must have read the story, but don’t remember details. I should re-read it.

    I’d like children to read the Beatrix Potter books and Dr. Doolittle and Mary Poppins. I’m not sure today’s children are reading such musty old-fashioned books anymore.

    Calvin and Hobbes – wonderful stuff.

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    1. Joel loved several the Beatrix Potter stories (and I loved reading them), esp. the Tale of Tom Kitten, where he is rolled up in a piecrust and almost becomes a kitten pudding.

      I spoke to someone recently who thought they were too violent.

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    2. I loved the Mary Poppins books…I loved that she was a skinny, rather crabby spinster-type…was greatly disappointed with the Disney version.

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  7. I am an enthusiastic and firm believer in telling children fairy aka folk tales. When I was teaching daycare, I told one a day to all the age groups…toddler to pre-school & kindergarten. My experience is that children don’t take the tales literally like adults do and most tales end with the youngest outwitting and/or vanquishing the giant/troll/bad guy…that gives them great confidence that they will be able to do the same. I definitely think that all children should hear Grimm tales and I would add my favorite Norwegian tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff where the goats trick the troll and the largest brother “spears it with his horns and stamps on him with his hooves.” Gory, but it is a troll after all. Ash lad and lasses always prevail over evil.
    Another requirement, I believe, in addition to ones mentioned by others, is Maurice Sendak’s monster books.

    Having spent many hours and times with Ruth and Robert Bly, I re-discovered fairy tales in my adult life and found them even richer and deeper than as a child. Was just thinking it would be fun to tell them again…especially to children.

    One of the favorites of the day care and primary school children I told was about the coyote who tricked a cowboy out of all his clothes and his horse…such giggles when the coyote left the cowboy in just his underwear.

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      2. “Coyote and Wasichu” (Brule Sioux) from the collection of
        “American Indian Myths and Legends” selected and edited by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz. Just now re-reading it, I realize I embellished and elaborated and added the part about the underwear…(instead of “bare-assed”). Lots of wonderful tales.

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    2. In some early grade, I suppose grade 2, the teacher read the Gruff Goats. As she read it we were told to imagine what she was reading. She would stop and tell us what to see in our heads at each point. I suppose it was part of some instructional plan. I was struck by the idea that anyone read and DID NOT picture what he/she was reading, that people had to be taught to do it. Can it be taught?
      I remember when my kids had the book from their mother’s library that I was sorrowed by the presence of all the illustrations for the story. In my childhood kid lit books had few illustrations. Was that better?

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      1. I recall reading an illustrated version…but, I agree, do children really need to be taught what to picture in their heads? Unless they have never seen a goat…or a troll?

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      2. I’d say it depends on the story and on the illustrations. I’m thinking, for example, about the McCloskey books, like Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine. Who can argue they would be better without the illustrations?

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      3. I recently read (not told) Tre Bukkene Bruse (Three Billy Goats Gruff) in Norwegian to my Sons of Norway group…I didn’t tell them what the story was, assuming (perhaps unwisely) that they would be able to tell what was happening just by the “Trip, trip/trap, trap” lines. Many of them did, especially the one who knew Norwegian (whew, she understood me).

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    3. This is a sidetrack, but the mention of Native American folk tales reminded me…
      I was once hired to participate in a group engaged in coming up with a name for a western-themed restaurant or chain of restaurants. One of the names I suggested that I particularly liked was “Blue Mesa”, envisioning the tables set with blue tablecloths. But the name I suggested that really caught fire was “Windigo”. It seemed evocative and euphonious and, as a native mythological name, sufficiently western. When we left at the end of the day, Windigo was very much in the running, subject to rights research.
      I had a vague feeling of uneasiness about it, so much so that I stopped on my way home to buy a book on Native American Mythology. Later that night, I had to call one of the principals involved and tell him that, despite it’s appealing sound, the Windigo was in fact a giant naked cannibal.

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    4. Your reference to coyote—the trickster— puts me in mind of the other trickster, Br’er Rabbit and the Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris, which have fallen into disfavor. I think my introduction to them was through the aforementioned Better Homes and Gardens compilations. The stories are rich and amusing and close to the earth. I wonder if we will ever be able to look past the milieu in which they were created to appreciate the stories as they were collected?

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  8. 20 years ago as part of teaching how to write news leads, I had the idea that students would turn nursery rhymes and tales into who, what, where, when, why/how one sentence leads. But only very few had ever heard of Jack and Jill. These were the moe literate of students. Some had a vague idea of the three little pigs.
    My solution was to giv them the rhymes, not under copyright. It worked well for the lesson and provoked discussion about the meaning of lack there of, and cultural importance. I bought a few copies if longer tales.

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    1. Bad typing I know. On the iPad and my eyes are clouded over by liquid for the first hour or two I am awake most days. Had a terrible weekend of pain. Had an dea for a blog on another aspect of childhood. See if I am able.

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      1. I’m sorry for your pain, Clyde. But, please, don’t worry about typing errors; we’re pretty good at figuring out what people mean…we’ve had years of practice with tim.

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    2. I used to have a copy of Baring-Gould’s Annotated Mother Goose and it made for fascinating reading. I don’t know what happened to my copy. I don’t part with books that often and when I do, it’s usually conscious and deliberate. Still, they somehow drift away and I never know how.

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      1. I had a copy of the Annotated Mother Goose at one point, perhaps I still do. Fascinating reading, but not for kids.

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  9. I also like the Dr. Seuss stories. Two others I like are Where the Wild Things Are and Fredrick the Mouse. I am afraid I am one of those people who is not familiar with the Bremen Town Musicians story.

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  10. My granddaughters were indifferent to Beatrix Potter for some reason, but they loved Mary Poppins and completely wore out the dvd version. They also loved The Secret Garden and, for a time, were working their way through the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. They still have Laura and Mary days where they put on long dresses and look for rustic things to do.

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    1. (Computer is now on; eyes are unclouding.) In first grade I found two things we read often just inane. 1) Dick and Jane readers, especially when they went to their grandparents unrealistic farm. 2) Beatrix Potter.
      There is an excellent movie about the quite amazing life of Miss Potter starring Rene Zellwegger.

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    2. The movie version of Mary Poppins presented a very different Mary than the one that inhabited the books. I saw the movie first, and read the books later. At first I found Mary off-putting in the books, but soon came to prefer the original to the Disney-fied.

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    3. we had a family gathering this weekend and my 22-year-old informed me that I for them to read the little prince too early in the fourth grade and that he didn’t understand all the undertones of the story he has however become a pretty good reader and has a two-person book club with his sister where they share similar tastes
      my daughter who is entering 10th grade this year needs to read the alchemist and the odyssey before school begins
      my daughter who is entering 10th grade this year needs to read the alchemist and the odyssey before school begins my daughter who will be a senior this year was the book sponge a couple years ago and has since backed off to become nearly mortal as opposed to reading 10 or 15 books a month
      this is because of her involvement with theater working as a nanny sports and keeping up with your homework
      he still gives me really smart books as gifts so I know she gets it
      my two oldest kids in elementary school had an interesting situation where the teacher was there for fourth fifth and sixth grade so there was an overlap of my oldest two children by one year
      that teacher assigned 20 minutes of reading whatever you want a day be at sports page or comics or Shakespeare or newspaper or Internet he said that all reading lead to the same place in your brain I’m not so sure I agree about scanning the web
      I see my children get lost along with virtually everyone else on the planet by staring at their smart phone I’m going off into la la land
      kind of the opposite of reading

      sings were a big deal with us too
      taj mahal shake sugaree peter and the wolf family concerts at oechestra venues and local events and music ob the waves be it radio cd internet
      jazz classical folk
      shape those little twits then they bring home rap hip hop justin bieber
      im not sure there is a right way but i know several wrong ways

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  11. At the end of the years in AP English, when we were all burned out and those who were taking the test had done so, I gave the students an assignment to choose a book that made a strong impression on them in grade 3 or below and make a presentation giving the book a literary analysis as we had done to Huck Finn and to Shakespeare.
    Their choices ranged all over the map. The kids loved doing the presentations and hearing them. My wife loved it because all these kids from her story hours were coming back to see her in the public library to get the book. It was one of my more inspired assignments for any class. They sort of psychoanalyzed each other over the book choices. Most were surprised to see what they discovered in books like Wilder, or the Little Prince or Sendack.

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    2. One classmate of my son who had many demons to fight and was a bit anti-social, did Where the Wild Things Are. I should have seen that one coming.

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  12. I live here in Betsy-Tacy territory, the books of Maud Hart Lovelace set in Mankato 100 and more years ago. I do not understand their appeal at all, but then I am not a little girl.
    I am not convinced that any specific books are vital. I think an acquaintance with some good percentage of the body of kid lit is important. In AP English what the kids needed and were missing were classic myths and the mythic and folk tale aspects of the Bible. So much of literary analysis is dependent upon that background, which were once the common reading of children. Even the churched students did not know the story of Noah and the like all that well.

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    1. Lovelace also wrote a book called “Early Candlelight” about the early days of Fort Snelling. It would be good preparation, I imagine, for a visit with children to the fort on one of their reenactment weekends.

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      1. Drat – was hoping to make it all the way through without finding a title I hadn’t heard of before! Just a minute while I swing over to the library website…..

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  13. I suppose Dr. Seuss was around when I was young- maybe or maybe not. At any rate, my youth was entirely Seuss free. A lot of what was available to me were books that had been my dad’s when he was young and that I had rescued from my grandparent’s attic. These were typically serial books with titles like “The Newsboy Partners”, “The Boy From the Ranch” “Jerry Todd, Pirate” and “The Lone Ranger at Mystery Ranch”. So my early reading life dwelt in a ’20s and ’30s frame of reference. I also loved “The Swiss Family Robinson” and read it several times.

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    1. We share common background in several ways. I loved the little big books. All the island books, Swiss Family, Crusoe, Swallows and Amazxons.

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    2. Looked to be sure: Seuss published a few little know books before WWII, during which he did political cartoons, some of which now look racist, and then books soon after WWII. I remember seeing an early copy of one of his books and it triggered a memory of seeing the book in my childhood. We may have used it in class, not sure.

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  14. I know I told the story before about seeing my son at target with his friends before Christmas and they were walking past an end That featured Frank Sinatra Bing Crosby Nat King Cole Judy Garland and my sons friends all in fourth or fifth grade said who the heck are those guys and my son said don’t tell me you don’t know who Frank Sinatra is
    don’t tell me you don’t know who Frank Sinatra is…
    I knew my job here is done

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    1. In a fitness class of seniors with 50s-60s music in the background, the twenty-six-year-old leader didn’t know who Johnny Cash was…though he professes to like the old music better than the new. Guess he didn’t grow up listening to the Late Great Morning Show…missing much music education, he is.

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  15. Pippi Longstocking. I was first introduced to her by a grade school teacher. I didn’t discover Sandburg’s Rootabaga Stories until college. For some reason, they never really resonated with my kids.

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    1. Nor with my kids.
      Pipi and Snick and Snack and Snurr (is that right) were used in my classes in about grade 4. My mother joked it was a Scandinavian conspiracy in Scandinavian Two Harbors. It was years before I was aware of the German roots of so much of classic fairy tales and the like.

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  16. It’ll come as no surprise that Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales were a big part of my childhood. What you may not know, however, is that he also wrote songs and poetry that were pretty much a part of every Danish child’s repertoire when I was growing up.

    Because of my mother’s Irish roots, Mother Goose and Alice in Wonderland also were very much in the picture as were the Brothers Grimm, Aesop’s fables, and Winnie the Pooh. Disney was a responsible for introducing Pinocchio. Once I was old enough to go to school and had learned to read myself, my school librarian steered me toward the marvelous Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf, Harriet Beecher Stowe and a little later on, Steinbeck.

    Having no children of my own, I have taken great pleasure in reading and singing to and with children that have been entrusted to my care. It gives me great pleasure to know that those are memories that are treasured by them as well. Quality, one-on-one time with caring adults is so important to children of all ages, and engaging kids in stories and song is one of the most satisfying things I can think of. I wonder why so many parents would rather park their children in front of a TV set?

    I don’t know that there is anything I’d consider essential to read to a child, I think it’s more important that you do (or someone does). One local writer of children’s books that I’m very fond of Kate DiCamillo, I think she’s marvelous.

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  17. One of the only good things about an Elementary Education major was the Children’s Literature course. We had mostly Little Golden Books at home (and some of those are real gems), plus whatever the library offered, which must have included the Bremen Town Musicians because I remember it from way back.

    In addition to the Little House books, I recommend Louise Erdrich’s series from the point of view of a Native American girl (although I haven’t read them all). The Birchbark House, The Game of Silence, The Porcupine Year, Chickadee, Macoons.

    Still thinking…

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  18. My kids’ favorite was Roald Dahl.
    MR. Tuxedo reads fantasy series. Now they are letting him read more adult fantasy science fiction with an edge, like Enders Game. As soon as he finished the book he went back to page one and read it over again. There is an owl series he read a year or more ago that is excellent. I read the first three. Owls of Gil’howly or something like that. There are some excellent YA (grades 4-8 or so) writers right now who write in series. Lots of social commentary in those books.
    Then of course there is Harry Potter.
    Mt fingers are exhausted., Fun morning.

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    1. I did too. They were wonderful. Later on, in grade school, I read Dickens. I think the appeal was that he wrote about children who were worse off than I was, at least to my mind.

      Clyde’s point about bible stories is well taken. Before I went to school, and before I could read, I went to Sunday school every Sunday. This despite the fact that the Sunday school was Lutheran and my mother, and I, by extension, was Catholic. But I loved those stories, and the pretty glossy pictures that were handed out each Sunday of angels and other biblical subjects.

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      1. I extemporized a bit when I read Babar, telling both children that Ronald Reagan was the wicked hunter who killed Babar’s mother. Now I will have new villians to insert in the story.

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  20. My father told me funny stories about a group of pug dogs, some of whom had names reminiscent of popular Oldsmobiles.

    Husband told stories to our children about Flippy, Drippy, and Zippy, three little perch who lived in the Crown Butte Dam near Bismarck.. He told lots of stories like that, always with three protagonists, one of whom was somewhat depressive, one who was a trouble maker, and one who was brave and wise.

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    1. Folk often feature three siblings…with the youngest being the one who figures out how to save them or get the prize of a princess or gold. Something magic about the number 3, I think.

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  21. Children are snowflakes: no two are alike. I wasn’t clever about presenting the best books when my daughter first began to read. But when she flashed her passion for books, I got good at finding new ones to keep it all going.

    I waited too long to introduce her to Laura Ingalls Wilder. When I finally offered to read the first one to her, my daughter informed me she had read the entire box set on her own. Doh!

    Some happy discoveries: we had fun with Sandra Boynton, but best of all were the many books of Steven Kellogg and William Steig. I avoided books with a moral lesson rammed through them. Books that were whimsical were sure to please.

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  22. My kids, and now the grandkids, all liked/like the Alfie books by Shirley Hughes. These are picture books of a young boy named Alfie and his little sister Annie Rose and his various friends. Very realistic, simple but interesting, with delightful illustrations. The other picture books that are especially delightful and timeless are by Robert McCloskey – Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, A Time of Wonder.

    For older kids reading chapter books, I would say the books about the Melendey family: The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, and Spiderweb for Two – by Elizabeth Enright. A more recent series that has the same sort of flavor is The Penderwicks (four books so far) by Jeanne Birdsall. I re-read most of these two series when I was sick recently and enjoyed them very much.

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    1. That’s kind of where my grandkids are now- with the Penderwicks. My own kids at about that age were much taken by Ruth Chew- books about witches and magic.

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      1. make way for ducklings reminds me i was going to mention how we all should miss cptain kangaroo and his way of introducing us to make way for duckilings, ping, mike mulligan and his steam shovel
        what was the one about the lemon and the harmonica? and hats for sale. geeze i loved that show

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        2. The book about the lemon and the harmonica was Lentil by Robert McCloskey, about a harmonica-playing boy who saved the day when the town hero came to town.

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        3. thanks ljb. i loved that one and i never would have come up with lentil as the name but i remember old man sneech as the guy sucking lemons. funny selective memory

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  24. Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren (same author as Pippi)

    The Country Bunny and the LIttle Gold Shoes – Dubose Heyward (feminism before its time)

    The Golden Egg Book – Margaret Wise Brown

    a good collection of poetry – I have A Children’s Book of Verse (from Brimax Books, England) – great illustrations by Eric Kincaid, though I do see the point about maybe not so much illustrated

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    1. One of my favorite childhood poetry books was by A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I rediscovered it when I worked in a library in my twenties…one with fabulous illustrations by Brian Wildsmth. And has anyone mentioned AA Milne, Winnie the Pooh and friends plus poetry? One of my all time all time favorites…as an adult, never knew about them as a kid.

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      1. The more it snows (Tiddely pom),
        The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
        The more it goes (Tiddely pom),
        On snowing.

        And nobody knows (Tiddely pom),
        How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
        How cold my toes (Tiddely pom),
        Are growing.

        Or even shorter:
        Isn’t if funny how a bear loves honey?
        Buzz buzz buzz, I wonder why he dies.

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  26. my son was talking about how he and my daughter are having a hard time finding the books to read and i told him to come to my headboard where i have 11 feet by 5 shelves each shelf 2 books deep . i know its ridiculous but by golly he came up and stood on my bed and dug in and grabbed 5 or 6. i was going to see which ones and he tucked them and ran. he didnt want me to tell him to read my choice instead of his.

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  28. Our son loved a Finnish series called The Moomintrolls, fanciful and comical characters with a Moominpapa and Moominmama, and others called Snorkmaidens.

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    1. Grandkids here for 3 days. Taking them to Arb today. They love the Arb. Will not be doing a guest blog. Wrists and fingers throbbing.
      Our kids had sets of Disney stories with books and LPs, actual records. I think Disney kid classic stories are rather cheesy. But listening and following in the books was a big key to how they learned to read. I think the music on the records was part of the appeal and helped them learn to read. K teacher friend gave us them for that reason.

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  29. Morning all – was at the zoo all day yesterday w/ Young Adult – blog coming soon on that!

    I love all the suggestions above, but I also love the newer books that are coming out, especially those that challenge the status quo:

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  31. Nice bit, Renee. I do know the story of the animals scaring away the thieves, but for the life of me, I don’t know why!!!

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      1. Sorry, I meant I don’t know why I know this story – my folks weren’t big on folk stuff. Maybe I read it somewhere as a kid!

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  32. My almost three-year-old grandson is absorbed by some of the current kids shows, which he can watch on ipad. Daniel Tiger, Little Einsteins. I have not seen them. So much of kids TV when my other grandkids were small was awful: Tellatubies, Barney. They never watched it, or much Sesame Street. The other thing from which my kids learned reading was Electric Company.
    But of course the key thing was being held abd read to, as studies show.

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  33. AND SPEAKING OF THE NEXT BBC…. it’s been on the Blevin’s Book Club page for awhile as a reminder, it’s this Sunday, the 14th. Minnehaha Falls near the Sea Shanty (w/ Jim & Kathy offering back-up in case of bad weather). 2 p.m.

    Castle Danger by our own Chris Norbury
    &
    The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

    I will bring paper plates, napkins, cups, etc and I have it on good authority that we might have an author visit!!

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  34. Hey Gang–

    First day back at ‘work’ work today… got my tea, got Radio Heartland, I’ve emailed my friend Paul and I’m catching up on the blog.
    We’re planning on doing the play version of BFG for our fall childrens show. Still in the conceptual stages. Read the book, saw the movie. Enjoyed both in their own ways.
    And I was just looking at my office bookshelves. Not the ones full of theater books, but the one with my reference books such as
    shop math, knots, the AFSCME handbook, The Backstage Handbook, the MACWHYTE book on cable, The Color Scheme Bible, and my copy of ‘The Little Prince’ along with the box of Little Prince books I give deserving students.

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  35. Each passing day brings fresh proof of the fact I spent my youth inappropriately. When I see BFG I automatically translate the acronym. And because of the gang I used to hang with, one of those words is naughty. No matter how often I correct myself, my mind always goes there.

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    1. You are not alone, Steve. That’s where my brain goes as well, despite having tried to re-route it several times,

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  36. Quite a sky tonight in St. Paul. I was just out near the bluff, and the sky over downtown St. Paul is a dark purplish blue. Overhead, cloudy but not dark or threatening. Lightning strikes in the distance, toward the west, lighting up the underside of the cloud cover. It’s moving in.

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