It was a week of minstrels, dragons and magical happenings at the Lyceum as five young artists joined us for our Contemporary Fairy Tales Inspire Great Art summer camp. Using some truly beautiful contemporary fairy tales as their inspiration they made dragon collages on canvas, sculpey clay landscapes and painted fans.

We were impressed by the students‘ thoughtful responses to the stories told. One particularly memorable conversation found them discussing whether it would be better to face a demon or be condemned to death. Milo said, “There’s nothing worse than being dead.” Everyone else agreed.

We felt blessed this week with the freedom (and staff!) to be able to adapt our program to meet the needs of the students involved. This meant that there was extra time for Peppy to complete a very detailed work of art and revisit the much-loved story Dove Isabeau at Leo’s request.

Each day we also checked the Lyceum’s butterfly tent. As the week progressed we watched butterflies hatch from cocoons and spread their wings. On the last day, we set them free in the Lyceum’s garden – a magical ending to a magical week.

We’re going to be upfront with you. Although we promised to look into the work of five author-illustrators during this camp, the energy the students put into their art projects meant that we only had time for four. But they were an amazing four! Over the course of the week we looked at the work of Oliver Jeffers, Phoebe Gilman, Mo Willems and Audrey and Don Woods. Each day we worked on an art project inspired by the author-illustrator we studied. From canvas board collages inspired by Oliver Jeffers stick characters to shrink art necklaces featuring Mo Willems’ famous pigeon, the whimsical artwork created in this camp knocked our socks off.

This was a very kind group. We ere struck by their empathy for the characters in the stories. When we asked whether the witch in Heckedy Peg should die, Sofia said, “No. She won’t do it again.”

We spent time each day talking about the defining characteristics of each author’s work. We loved how, by the end of the week, we could say, “Oliver Jeffers” and the students would instantly say, “The one who does stick legs”. On the last day of class we presented books to the students in random order, asking them which author-illustrator created them. They guessed every one correctly, giving the author’s first and last names!

Perhaps the lasting contribution of the authors we studied this week was most accurately summed up by Gabriel who said, “I’m going to tell my stuffies who talk to me when it’s night time that Phoebe Gilman is dead, but we still have her books.”

Last week we had the pleasure of spending our afternoons with some intrepid bug catchers.  A large group of curious and enthusiastic 3 to 5 year olds joined us for our Insects in the City camp, exploring insects through literature and art, as well as catching their own bugs and examining them under in their very own bug catchers.

I loved this camp!  The students were so inquisitive and got really into looking at bugs. During our excursions into the neighbourhood we listened to them talk like scientists, discussing how they could identify the gender of an insect by their load of visible eggs. It was amazing to watch them learn the names of all the insects — they went from saying, “Hey!  Look at that wiggly one” to “Hey! Look at that spittlebug.”  Incredible.

The students also created some fantastic works of art.  Each had an aquarelle painted background, tissue paper leaves and bugs made out of polymer clay.  I was impressed how the students took pains to be accurate.  Each spider had 8 legs, each insect had 6 legs. I was also impressed by how steadfastly all the artists stood by their vision of their pieces. Despite the fact that we told Noah that a crab was not an insect, his finished product was a gold crablike masterpiece.  It was beautiful.

Our art explorations were interspersed with some of Christianne’s favourite stories about insects.  Here’s the complete list:

Hey Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose

Tadpole’s Promise by Jeanne Willis

I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe

Crickwing by Janell Cannon

Honey Bee and the Robber by Eric Carle

Bug Butts by Don Cusick

Bug Zoo by Nick Baker

Field Guide to Insects by Paul Beck

Buzz by Dorling Kindersley

Old Cricket by Lisa Wheeler

Bubblegum, Books and Bugs by Monica Kulling

On the final day of camp, the students collaborated on a poem.  Each supplied some information that they’d learned during the camp, some anecdotes from their own lives, as well as some more whimsical musings.  The final product knocked my sox off.  Here it is:

I Know All About Bugs

Flies sting you twelve times,

but this is a poem about a ladybug.

Orange lady bugs, they have orange on them

and black spots and they bite.

You have to be careful when you pick them up.

That’s the kind of ladybug I saw on my back deck.

This is their attack thingy.

When you get a ladybug is sprays out yellow.

It’s horrible.

If you eat it,

it would taste like yuck,

like crunchy

and sour.

It would taste like wood.

You’d need to cook them first.

A ladybug was in my backpack and my mom saw it.

When my mom was a ladybug she found a big castle.

My dad is not a ladybug, he stays in my house with me.

But my mom is not a ladybug yet, she’s still a mommy.

And my dad is not a ladybug, he’s still a daddy.

If a ladybug were the size of a car it would squish you,

but if you ran away, it wouldn’t catch you.

If you ran into your house

and locked the door just in time

and your family did it too,

you would be safe if you didn’t open anything.

A ladybug flies.

It goes all the way to a flower

It goes all the way to a compost.

It goes all the way to the top of my house.

Then it goes all the way to the top of Mount Everest.

It sees everything. It sees me.

It sees trees. It sees flies.

It sees cars. It sees a skyscraper.

Then it the sees the whole town.

I don’t have lady bugs on the top of my house.

I go to the park. I see a ladybug.

Perhaps our own feelings of awe about the insect world were most accurately summed up by Lucas who, after a long discussion about insect stingers and secretions said, “Our bums are so boring!”

Can you think of a better way to start your summer than spend a week exploring the world of blossoms and butterflies with a group of thoughtful and artistic 3 to 5 year olds? No? I didn’t think so. Our Blossoms, Bubbles and Butterflies camp wrapped up on Friday as we watched some beautiful works of art walk out our door, in the hands of some very proud artists.

In addition to the art pieces, we engaged in some pretty wonderful (and hilarious) conversations.  Here’s a sampling…

Christianne had just finished telling a story about how she was sprayed by a skunk when she was young.  The children found this pretty fascinating, and had a number of questions and comments for Christianne.

Sophia: But you don’t still stink, right? Wait…do you smell, Christianne?

The students start sniffing in Christianne’s direction

Juliet: No, it’s all dried up now.

Good point!

Over the course of the week, each student worked on a multimedia art project that came together on the final day of the camp. On the first day we went on a walk through our neighbourhood, sketching flowers along the way. We blew bubbles in the park and had a picnic snack. On the second day, the campers painted the background of their canvas and on the third, they cut out blossoms based on their sketches from painted paper. On the fourth day they made butterflies out of polymer clay and on the final day they put the whole piece together and added bubble prints to the finished product.

Throughout the process, Christianne shared some of her favourite stories about blossoms and butterflies.  As we were reading a book about a fly who couldn’t fly, Tully piped up, “Maybe her mom or dad could hold her up!”  If you weren’t at the camp, but you’d like to read some of the books, or if you were at the camp and you’d like to revisit some of your favourites, here’s the complete list of everything we read.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (with props)

Snail’s Birthday Wish by Riona Rempt

Tadpole’s Promise by Jeanne Willis

The Wonderful Life of a Fly Who Couldn’t Fly by Bo Lozoff

Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson

Don’t Worry Bear by Greg Foley

The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone by Timothy Basil Ering

I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe

Varmints by Helen Ward

The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen

Rose’s Garden by Peter H. Reynolds

On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole

Find the books at the public library, or at your local independent bookstore.

Have we ever told you how much we love Jackie?  Whenever her name gets mentioned around the Lyceum Christianne says, “I love Jackie. She’s the bees knees.”  Jackie volunteers every Saturday for our Left to Writers and Story Catchers II – offering superb editorial advice and a quiet encouragement.  She’s also a wonderful writer in her own right – every once and a while she drops by our Author’s Night Out sessions and blows us away with the latest chapter in her memoir about her time as a teen model in Japan.

The other day we got some amazing news from Jackie.  Earlier this month she gave birth to her son, Sandon!  Both mom and baby are healthy and happy and spending some time resting and recovering with Jackie’s mom in Maple Ridge.

We can’t wait to meet Sandon.  We’re pretty sure we’ll have him playing Bananagrams in no time!

The reading

Last Monday the Tale Spinners, our Grade 2 and 3 writers’ workshop celebrated the launch their first collection of poetry with an evening of readings for family and friends. The collection, entitled There’s A Cafeteria On This Train!, brought together five poems that the group has written collaboratively over the fall term.

Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it – the launch was awesome. From the group’s energetic readings, to the sprinkles on the horse-shaped cookies, this event is one of the highlights of my time at the Lyceum so far. I really could go on and on, but I’ll limit myself to a Top 5 list.

Laura’s Top Five Favourite Moments from the Tale Spinner’s Book Launch

1) Hanging out in the living room before the launch, practising our “author” signatures. Adrian letting me know that the more illegible the signature, the more authorish it is. His signature? Incredibly authorish.

The authors signing their books

2) Realizing as I listened to the Tale Spinners read that in each of their poems, you can pinpoint the moment where the group got hungry and began to think about having a snack. My favourite example is from their Halloween poem – “Phantoms in the air / Doughnuts flying everywhere.”

3) The energy and pride the authors put into their readings. The way they smiled when they read their favourite lines. The way it is impossible to say the word “barf” without giggling a little.

4) The awesome cookies from Tinker’s Hatch Bakery. How happy Cole was about the awesome cookies from Tinker’s Hatch Bakery.

5) Getting my book signed by each of the authors.

The Tale Spinners are incredible poets. Check out Scrumptious Snack, the first poem from their anthology:

I have nothing in my head
but on my plate I have
mouth-watering ice cream
sprinkled with sizzling cherries
fresh from the mouth-watering airplane.

Gooey Key Lime Pie
is succulent in fall
when the pumpkin-toasty leaves
are creamy and sweet.

Tart lemon curd is scrumptious when eaten
with everybody on the planet.

I eat lemon curd with Captain Rex.
I eat lemon curd alone.
My sister is too annoying for lemon curd.
I eat lemon curd with you.

I am hungry.
I feel gross, acidic -
cheese and ketchup,
porridge and breakfast.

Is it almost snack time?