Seasons South and North

What to Look for in January in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres

 Whether in the city or the country, in the northern hemisphere or the southern hemisphere, there is always something to see in nature. Teaching children what to look for helps them to learn to observe. To give an example, here are some of the changes and activities in nature to look for in a place in each hemisphere: southern England in the north and southern Brazil in the south.

In the south of England, in the northern hemisphere, it is deepest winter just now. This year has an unusual amount of snow and cold there, as all across Europe. In spite of the cold, here is what could be seen and heard outdoors:

• The White Wagtail should appear
• The Green Woodpecker will "laugh"
• Robins and Wrens are more easily seen
• The Winter Moth might still be seen in the evening
• The Dung Beetle appears
• Honeysuckle begins to leaf
• Butcher's Broom may flower
• Slugs appear

In the south of Brazil, in the southern hemisphere, it is summer, hot and humid, especially in the Atlantic Rainforest. Plants are in flowers, birds and insects are everywhere. Here are just a few of what to look for:

• The Blue Dacnis (above) can be seen, especially at feeders
• The Mourning Rose butterfly (top) appears
• The Orange-barred Sulphur butterfly is still about
• The Mandana Metalmark butterfly appears
• Yellow Cestrum (below) is in flower
• Fuchsias are blooming
• Toucans can still be heard at dusk

 

 The South-North Seasons Table

On the two sides of the seasons table, try to put drawings and/or examples of the above on either side.

Compare not only the seasons but the similarities and differences between what happens in each season in the two hemispheres. For example, summer in both places is a time of great flowering, but there are not as many different kinds of flowers in England as there are in Brazil. Winter is cold in both places but not as cold in southern Brazil as it is in England. There are birds in both places, but their colours are different. 

Let loose and have a session of everyone "laughing" like a Green Woodpecker. You can hear his crazed laughter on the RSPB site here

(The drawings above come from the January page of The Big Field : a Child's Year Under the Southern Cross)

©2010 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

 

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Book Review - The Night Life of Trees

 

Following on from the two previous posts about drawing and painting trees, I cannot recommend highly enough this exquisite, handmade book from Tara Books in India, The Night Life of Trees. Not a new book, it was published in 2006 and is a treasure of magic and inspiration for children and maybe for adults too.

It features art by three artists of the Gond tribe of central India. Seventeen pictures of trees are each linked with a myth or legend about them. The pages are black, with "each page of every book, screen printed on special handmade paper, making every copy an original print. The books are created from a commune of printers from local villages trained in this unique skill." The book is truly a work of art. Please, please go to the website, where you can see some of the inner pages of intricate drawings of creatures hidden and blended within trees.

Activities With "The Night Life of Trees"

Obviously, this book can be used in a number of  activities with children:

• Make up a story of your garden tree's night life
• Draw or paint the nightlife of the tree of your story
• Study other legends from other countries about trees
• Draw or paint the nightlife of one of those trees
• Learn more about the Gond tribe of India and more of their legends about other things
• Do paintings on black paper
• Stay up all night as a class and see what the real nightlife of a tree is

This is one of those heartbreakingly beautiful books that is a true treasure.

©2010 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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Hot January

 

Just now, it is hot summertime in the southern hemisphere. In Australia, South Africa and South America, the daylight lasts long, people are on holiday at the beach, farm children play outdoors until late in the balmy nights. In nature, the many, many different kinds of flowering trees are in bloom. It is the opposite season of the "cold January" of the previous post, but the analogy made there between the seasons' changes and drawing or painting still holds:

As nature's starkness in winter is to its plenitude in summer, so drawing is to painting.

And so, if you live where it is summer, now is the time to teach children to paint the flowering trees that they see. If they are all ready familiar with sketching, they may wish to do a sketch and then colour it with watercolours. If not, they may enjoy painting with watercolours on wet paper, which can give a wonderful, bright effect of the fullness of a tropical tree in bloom. Try to have the children do a painting a day of the same tree over an extended period of time, to help them observe its changes throughout its blooming.

Be sure to display the paintings!

Extend the Activity By Discussion

Try to learn as much as possible about the species of tree, what birds eat its fruit, what insect live in it, what it needs to thrive, where it originated and where it grows now. Would it grow in the northern hemisphere? Why or why not? Would it be in a greenhouse? Children in the tropics often find the idea of a greenhouse hilarious, so it is a good topic of discussion.

©2010 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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Cold January

 

Oh, it is cold in the north this January! It always has been. From China to France, across the northern hemisphere, there are many sayings about and names for January's chill.

• the ancient Cornish name for January is "the cold air month"
• now is the time that China refers to as the season of "Little Cold" (the season of "Great Cold" comes next week. Beware!)
• an old saying: "as the day lengthens, so the cold strengthens"
• in Yorkshire folklore, the 14th of January is always the coldest day of the year

Now is a time when we want to stay indoors and admire the winter through a thick window. The children may play in the snow for a bit, but then need to come inside to warm up with a cup of hot cocoa.  

A northern winter is one of the most beautiful times of year anywhere, whether or not there be snow. It is a time of skeletal beauty, a time when trees and plants show their real shape and structure; it is a time of truth. As nature's starkness in winter is to its plenitude in summer, so drawing is to painting. 

Now is the time to teach children to draw with pencil. The most obvious things to draw are the leafless trees all around. 

Choose a warm place to sit where a tree can be seen. Make a game of drawing as many of the tiny branches as possible. (If there is not a tree to be found, may the heavens pity you, but it is still possible to provide the children with an image. Click on the one above to enlarge it and use it. But honestly, even a branch glimpsed from a window is better than drawing from another reproduction.)

Make dozens of drawings together. Draw the tree every day in wind, snow, rain and sunshine, with birds and without, as the case may be. Nothing will heighten more a child's observational skills than such an exercise as this.

©2010 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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There Is Order in the Universe - the December Solstice

 
 

Today is the December solstice, the day of least sunlight in the northern hemisphere, the longest and sunniest day in the southern hemisphere. Children in both the northern and the southern hemispheres are perfectly aware of this difference from an early age. They all know and will grow up keeping the memories of summer days that last so long and winter nights that seem even longer. This is one natural experience that has not changed for people over the centuries. What we and our children do during those hours of extra light or dark may have changed radically, but not the fact that days lengthen and shorten cyclically.

This is order. This is structure. In a world where many adults are as confused as their children, and where chaos seems to lurk on every corner, where childhood is as frightening as it ever was, the ordinary movement of planets remains consistent, as well as beautiful.

Bring children's attention to the chnging amount of sunlight from this solstice onward into the new year. There is a French expression that, from this time the days grow longer by the length of a rooster's step per day. In the southern hemisphere, the days may be said to grow shorter by the same length, I would imagine. There is a baby steps and light/dark game in here somewhere.

The December solstice coincides with important holidays for a number of cultures. Holidays, especially the big ones, usually have traditions about food, and this can be used to help children understand the fact that, whatever their season, those in the opposite hemishpere are experiencing the opposite season. At this time of year in the norhern hemisphere, there is a lot of holiday baking going on: cookies, cakes,pies and tartes fill ovens and fill the air with delicious aromas. In the southern hemisphere, many families have the tradition of a great picnic feast for the holiday, with salads and barbequed meats and fresh fruits.

Have an Opposite Hemisphere Party

If you live in the southern hemisphere, bake cookies and mince meat pies with the children. One batch of cookies can be decorated half in chocolate, to symbolise the solstice. As you swelter in the double hat of oven and summer,  try to imagine snow on this December day.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, make a picnic of cold chicken and sandwiches (I do not think much fresh fruit is available) and potato salad. Bundle up and go outdoors to eat it if it is not too cold, and imagine those in Australia or Argentina playing in the hot sun this December day.

Use the globe to remind children of the earth's movements around the sun creating the seasons and help them to understand that the cycle repeats eternally.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Just Plain Story Time

 

Years ago, teachers read to children every day. They did not read to teach them to read, nor to teach them grammar or history or anything else. They read to them for the sake of the story. I still read to groups of children who come to the library.

One of the best times of day for reading is just after lunch, when the children have been playing and are tired and fed. This is when they are at their sleepiest and most irascible. This is when story time is most valuable. Choose a book of many chapters, one a tiny bit beyond their years, and read for twenty minutes after lunch every day. Those who are exhausted will sleep, those who are alert will listen, those who are naughty, as always, will be asked to leave the room.

As the story unfolds, the children will become entranced. As they become accustomed to stories, they will want more. As they hear and remember the stories, their lives will be richer. 

Wonderful stories about nature include:

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Rikki Tikki Tavi, and other Jungle Book Stories by Rudyard Kipling

©2009 Anne Morddel

 Seasons South and North

"The Big Field" now in French and Portuguese

        

I am most pleased to be able to announce before the holidays that "The Big Field" is now available in French, with the title of "Le Grand Pré" and Portuguese, with the title of "O Grande Campo". I hope to be announcing a Spanish edition in the near future.

These can be purchased:

•  directly from my storefront at Lulu.com
•  from the Paypal store in the panel on the right
• by sending an e-mail to me at:  info (AT) morddeleditions.com

Free Teacher's Guide PDF with Your Purchase

For every purchase of a copy of  "Le Grand Pré" or "O Grande Campo" , and/or for every purchase of three or more copies of "The Big Field", I will send you by e-mail a free download of "A Teachers' Guide to The Big Field. "

"O Grande Campo " for schools and libraries in Brazil

I am seeking funding and cooperation with a charitable organisation to enable me to donate copies of "O Grande Campo" to all primary schools and children's libraries in Brazil. If anyone can advise or help in this, please contact me.

Thank you.

.

Le Grand Pré by Anne Morddel

ISBN 978 2 9531864 4 4

Price: €12 / £10 / $16.45

Size: 27.2 cm x 21.4 cm

.

O Grande Campo by Anne Morddel

ISBN 978 2 9531864 8 2

Price: €12 / £10 / $16.45

Size: 27.2 cm x 21.4 cm

.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

 
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Slowing Down in Winter

 
 

In the northern hemisphere, it is late autumn moving into early winter. Winter is a time of rest, of quiet, for some animals, of hibernation. 

Would our children know that? They live, for the most part, in cities, protected from the extremes of weather. We have power to keep us warm when it is cold, to keep it light when it is dark. Families race to skiing holidays or beach holidays at all times of the year. Children watch television and play electronic games at all hours. Yet our bodies follow still the rhythms of nature. We are more tired and grumpy when we have to move about in the cold and the dark; we become ill more easily when we are tired and cold. In many ways, we are living at odds with our physical world. Helping children to understand seasonal changes and how they affect us may help them to relax and accept certain changes in themselves, as well as those around them.

The Bear's Life

The bear is the star example of a creature whose life follows closely the seasonal changes. By following the bear's life through the year, children can learn about the seasons as well as nature.

Craft Aspect - Back to the Felt Board

Using this fine silhouette from Karen's Whimsy, with thanks, cut out a large felt bear:

 

 

Consider if you want it to be brown or black, as relates to what once roamed where you now live. Then, cut out from grey or brown, a large cave into which the bear can fit. You may wish to do another bear, curled in sleep.

Teaching - Repetition

When I was a schoolgirl of about eight or nine years, I had a teacher named Mrs. Doctorman who, every single morning, made us stand beside our desks and sing brightly:

Good morning to you! 

Good morning to you!

We're all in our places

With sunshiny faces

And this is the way

To start a new day.

Because we were young, we accepted it. In later years, I thought it was tacky beyond belief. In truth, it worked. She smiled, we smiled, and everyone got down to their tasks. The Bear's Life can be just such a morning repetition, focusing on what the weather is and what the bear would be doing. Encourage the children to pretend to eat lots and lots and LOTS of berries when the bear would be storing energy for the winter sleep, to stretch and pat their places when the bear would be settling down in the cave, to put their heads down and snore when the bear is hibernating. Do not do all of this in a morning, but in phases over many mornings. 

Extend the Teaching

If possible, visit a zoo's bear enclosure many times during the year to see how their behaviour changes. 

Read bear stories about real bears' lives, not those with bears acting like people. We have put some suggestions in a list in the column to the right: A Few Good Books About Bears.

This activity should go the year round, for only then will children, especially city children, gain a deep understanding of nature's changes.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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Seasons and Months Around the World - Keeping Track

 

I find that, as I write more blogs about the different seasons around the world, keeping track of what is going on where becomes more difficult. So, I thought I'd put together a little chart to help.  It gives a sampling of locations in the northern hemisphere, along the equator, and in the southern hemisphere, with what seasons they experience for any given month.

I would have liked to put in some drawings, put it is all ready so dense, that I thought they would make it too hard to read. I wanted to keep it A4 size so that readers can download and print it:

Download Chart of Seasons and Months Around the World

I might do a much larger one some day, a poster perhaps, so that I can put in some illustration.  

I also think it might be a nice idea to do more charts of other aspects of seasons around the world. I do hope this will be helpful.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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Don't Drop the Problem Into Our Children's Laps

Forgive me, but I think there is something quite sinister afoot among the people wanting oh, so much, to make the global warming go away. I want that too, without a doubt, but I know that it is my generation's responsibility to clean up the mess. I do not think it is right to teach our children that they are the future, they have to consume less, they have to be more green, they have to find alternative energy, etc.

Are we really planning to make our own children clean up after us? Do we really wish to communicate that they have to be stronger and wiser than we are? Must they watch us continue to pollute and overpopulate while we tell them that they will have to save energy, restrain themselves, be clean and green?

Well, firstly, what child in this world would buy that? And why should anyone accept such a double standard? No, if we want our children to help to save the planet, we have to show them the way. We have to learn how ourselves and then guide them and lead them, train them and explain to them.

There are many, many science museums and institutions that explain the problems of pollution and global warming, overpopulation and the destruction of rainforests. Begin by learning with children, sharing the experience of discovering what is wrong with our habits and lifestyles and of thinking of ways to change.

 Some of the best museums and websites explaining global warming at the moment are:

Climate Change Education

The Koshland Science Museum

The Science Museum  - This has a number of excellent, interactive screens and clear explanations.

The American Museum of Natural History 

Klimahaus - In German and English; a very nice site, very simple, of photos of different regions around the world. It could make a nice geography lesson as well.

The Encyclopedia of Earth -- very dense text here, but all of it interesting and useful. Better for preparation that for an activity right off the bat. The Climate Literacy Handbook is superb for older children.

But do not stop there. Just explaining the problem to children is frightening. Work with them to discuss what family habits can be changed. Get them involved in helping parents to change. As a group at school or as a family at home, change together. We all know what to do :

Walk instead of drive

Cook instead of going to restaurants or buying packaged food

Growing our own organic fruits and vegetables and working in the garden ourselves

Play physical games instead of electronic games

Go walking or sailing or swimming on holiday instead of flying far away

Don't buy a Kindle; borrow a book from a library and read it

Have home theatricals and rock concerts instead of going to the cinema so often

Try to live without plastics!

Think of ways to recycle things by reusing them in new ways

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It is up to us to change for our children. Let us make them proud of us.

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©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

POLLY BLUE

Today I have redesigned this blog in honour of the launch of my new book, Polly Blue. 

 

It tells the story of a small blue butterfly, innocent and free, who suffers a great trauma from the sky. Polly Blue is paralyzed by her fear, to the point that she can no longer fly, for the sky is too frightening. So, she walks, trudges, and lives a life of despair and fear. Eventually, she meets someone whose simple wisdom and hope free her from her terror.

 

Clearly, I wrote and illustrated this story after the ghastly events of the 11th of September, 2001. It came quickly, in a surge of compassion for the children of the world, among them my own,  who will be marked for all of their lives by the events of that day. I also wrote it for the Pixie, whose childhood was shattered not only by that day, but by the cruelty of a deranged man who nearly killed her for a lark. She spent years cowering under tables when a plane flew overhead or when the wind rattled the windows. Unable to spend a moment alone, she spent countless nights falling asleep in restaurants or in her father's arms at corporate events when her parents could not stay at home and took her with them. The hollow look of horror in that child's eyes is something I will never forget. She is a fine and strong and happy young woman now and I hope that part of what helped her to overcome her troubles is the words and pictures of Polly Blue.

Polly Blue is a hand made book. Each cover is cut from pure cotton, hand made card from India, which I then prepare, paint, and inscribe. The drawings were done in ink and watercolour. Some can be seen in the album in the column to the right. The book is hand bound, in the Japanese style, with green ribbon of pure silk. This is a first edition, limited to 250 copies, each numbered and signed on the last page.

           

Polly Blue will not be sold in shops. It will be available only through my blogs and website, either directly or via the little Paypal storefront in the panel to the right. Each book takes a bit of time to prepare, so if you would like to order one as a gift for the holidays, please do so soon.

Thank you.

Polly Blue by Anne Morddel

ISBN 978 2 9531864 9 9

Price:  €19.50

Size: 203 mm wide x 143 mm high  (about 8 inches wide x 5 and 1/2 inches high)

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons in the Soil

 When I was a child, my friends and I used to spend hours chatting and absent-mindedly picking up a handful of soil and letting it filter through our fingers and back to the ground. Over and over again, we allowed ourselves the idle sensuality of feeling loam flow over our fingers. It was a beautiful rich sensation, as if velvet has been crumbled.

Now I know that there was a universe of life, hundreds and thousands of tiny creatures in each handful. It has been estimated that the number of creatures in a single acre of healthy soil exceeds that of all the people living today so, more than 6 billion. In an acre!  Some of those microscopic creatures we hardly know anything about and there are some that we understand quite well. Perhaps my scooping hand went near one of the many larger creatures that make their home underground, such as a toad or a mole or a snake. 

 In truth, most of those millions who live in the earth live between the soils, in tunnels and air pockets, burrows and dens. Even the smallest creatures live in tiny spaces between the soils. All of them, even those deep down, have their responses to the seasons. They will rise toward warmth, go back down to cooler regions when the surface is too hot, rise for for food, go back down again when the surface freezes and it is comparatively warmer below. When the rains come, they may drown by the millions, as their tunnels and pockets are filled with water. If the soil is covered with concrete or tarmac, seasons, water and air are cut off and they all die.

In some parts of the northern hemisphere, farmers refer to the soil as "sleeping" during the winter, when it seems less alive. They speak of the earth "awakening" in the spring, when it warms and the life comes closer to the surface.  When every creature in it has been killed and nothing can grow in it, they say the soil has "died". Children need to know this feeling of soil that is healthy and alive, soil that is sleeping or awakening.  If you have a place where they can garden, allow them the extra time to play with the soil, to learn its feel. Help them to try to find some of the creatures that live in it.

Soil on the Nature Table 

For the hyperactive in your group, by all means, invest in an ant farm to sit on the nature table. From the garden supply shop, get a small amount of composting worms to keep on the table and feed and discuss. Even the squirmiest child will stop his or her own squirming to watch these creatures' movements.

For a Craft activity - have the children draw worms and cut them out. Place a bit of brown felt shaped into mounds like the earth on the nature table and place the children's worms under the mounds. Move the insects toward the surface on warmer days.

Some books about the soil and its creatures:

Life in the Soil

This is a serious read, and a bit heavy in places, but excellent for a full understanding of the latest knowledge about what creatures live in the ground.

Living Earth

This is an older book, and an easier read. It is still quite useful as a basic starter on the subject.

Life in a Bucket of Soil

This is a Dover book, clean, simple and clear, with good drawings. An older child could read it on his or her own.

Microlife That Lives in Soil

A children's non-fiction book, with photographs of microscopic animals, drawings, and a lively layout.

Let's Look at Animals Underground

A gimmicky book that actually works very, very well. Illustrations and text on white pages explain the animals that live underground. See-through pages backed by black allow for a child to use a special "torch" to see the underground world. 

The Soil We Live On

This is a book from the 1960s, and its geography is North American, but it has clear explanations and some very fun experiments.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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Book Review - Garden and Wood

                                                          


Buy Garden                                                                               Buy Wood

Evans has published a series of four books called Sparklers - Out and About, written by Katie Dicker. They are "designed for young children ready to find out more about the world around them. The books are designed to support and extend the early years curriculum." Sounds a bit dull, but the books are just the opposite.

We have two of the four: Garden and Wood, and they are charming. Illustrated with  high quality and colourful photographs to which speech bubbles, flowers for page numbers, and coloured strips for wording have been added. Some pages give facts, while others pose a question:

•  "How tall is your sunflower?", 
• "What time of year do frogs appear?"
• "How many pine cones can you collect?"
• "What different bark textures can you find?"  

Clearly, the emphasis here is on encouraging thinking and enquiry, and not just on the memorization of facts. Unusually for such books, every single one of the children actually looks happy (even though, looking at the photo credits, they seem to have been taken all over the world). The close-up shots of the animals will please young children who so enjoy photographs of real animals.

Both books commendably have a table of contents and an index. In spite of each book being only 24 pages long, it is very helpful to have these to be able to begin to teach children how to use them. 

These are excellent and attractive early non-fiction books.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Winds That Herald Storms Coming and Storms Going

Across the world from one another, two October winds are traditionally known as heralds of tropical storm activity. 

In Mexico, El Cordonazo, which means the lash or whip, giving a pretty good idea of how fierce it can be, can hit the west coast just around the 4th of October. It may continue for a couple of weeks longer. When it blows in off the Pacific Ocean, lashing at the trees and buildings, it is a herald of tropical storms and people know to protect their homes and themselves.

Far away from the Americas,  in India, another great wind makes an announcement, this time that the storms are finished for the season. The Gharapuri is a strong wind from the south the arrival of which means that the southwest rainy monsoon season is ended.

Discussion

Wind is something that we cannot see, but we can see its effects. Discuss with children how they cannot see the wind but they can see the trees bending, the clouds moving, flags flapping, laundry on the line billowing. Ask them what else they cannot see but the effects of which they can see (and try to lead the discussion more toward electricity or gravity and away from ghosts). 

The interest in these two winds is that they are heralds of a change in the weather. From repeated observation of these winds coming at the same time or just before the changes, people were able to recognize what was coming and even to plan and prepare. Ask the children what weather events or natural phenomena they know of the indicate something to happen in the future. Their lives are short and they have not seen many repetitions, so perhaps their knowledge will be limited to the sun going down meaning that soon it will be dark. No matter. The point is to encourage them to look at the world around them and to pay attention to it, to observe its changes and learn its patterns.

Geography

Discover more about Mexico and India and the oceans full of storms that surround them.

Mexico For Kids is a delightful site for learning more about this country.

India by the Woodlands Junior School is a great site for children to learn more about India.

Dance

With the children and some scarves or other very light fabric, create wind dances. Have some of the children be the lashing wind that heralds storms, while others can be the soft zephyr that heralds the end of the stormy season.

For more wind activities, see the post on Autumn winds of the 5th of May, 2009. See also the many books about winds in the panel to the right.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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Competition Winners

The Prince's Rainforests Project for Schools has completed its Teacher Survey Competition. It won an overwhelming approval with 99% of the respondents saying they found the resources that are offered free on the site to be not only useful but inspirational. If you have not looked at the resources pages, be sure to do so, for more is being added every day.

I am very proud that my book was considered the appropriate prize to offer and  to be a "great complement" to the rainforests teaching resources.  Twenty-five of the teachers who responded to the survey will soon receive their prize copy of The Big Field : a Child's Year Under the Southern Cross and be able to start using it in the classroom to teach children about nature and the seasons as they occur in the Atlantic Rainforest.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

The drawing to the left is from the month of February in "The Big Field".

Book Review - Dragons Explain It All

The Trouble With Dragons

Debi Gliori is one of the illustrators and authors I most admire, for she seems to write her stories from the heart and to give great whimsy to her drawings. This bright book is true to her style, with its story one of concern to us all and its illustrations full of charm.

Many books warn of the problems of global warming, pollution, and overpopulation, and I have written often about how to help children to cope with this frightening knowledge. Ms. Gliori has chosen to tell the story not with ungrateful people who mindlessly destroy the environment that sustains them. She tells the story with dragons.

In rhyming couplets, she tells of dragons that overproduce, hatching from spotted eggs. It is orange and purple and pink dragons that cover the earth with roads and houses and leave trash in the rivers. She skips round the complicated explanation of the warming of the atmosphere by having it be caused by too many dragons breathing too much fire....and Santa is left in a pink pool where the North Pole once was.

Gradually, all of the colours are sucked out of the illustrations as all of the life is sucked out of the planet, and the dragons are a lonely species. Realizing their fate as the last animals leave, they call out for help. "OK, start by not chopping down trees," they are told, and so start the recommendations -- so simple, really -- that lead to the return of life, colour and health for all.

As a gentle and not frightening way for young children to learn about the subject, this book is among the best, and Bloomsbury is to be commended for publishing it. It will bring discussion, including the most difficult question of all : if we know what we are to do to end the terrible effects of pollution, and we are teaching our children to do it, why are their elders not doing as they recommend?

Indeed, why are we not?

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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Myths of Spring and Autumn

Aristotle wrote that he read the old myths more and more as he grew older, for they were so true to human nature. That is why they were first told, to enlighten us to certain unchanging aspects of human behaviour; and surely that is why Freud raided their character list to name his complexes and ailments. Myths generally got it wrong when it came to explaining certain phenomena, though they are so poetic they can be forgiven, but they rarely got it wrong about people and their emotions in the long play of life: jealousy, romantic love, desire, mother love, despair, vanity, are all explained in stories that have lost none of their validity over the centuries. 

The Greek myth explaining the cycles of the seasons in the terms of a mother's grief at the loss of her beautiful daughter to a cold and aloof husband is a story of maternal love and devotion above all. Whether you are in the southern hemisphere, where it is spring because Persephone has returned to her mother for a visit, or in the northern hemisphere, where it is autumn because Demeter is grieving that her daughter has gone away again, tell the children the story. Ask them to tell their own stories about something cyclical, whether the seasons or some other lesson about life's repetitions they may all ready have learned in their young lives. Let their poetic side express itself, for there is no need to adhere to scientific explanations when sharing myths. Send us your best stories and we will post them here.

For a simple version of the myth about Persephone, Demeter and Hades, here are some links:

Odds Bodkin's retelling of the story for the very young

And a Greek production for children in which you can hear the names pronounced correctly:

Demeter and Persephone. Theatre for children @ Yahoo! Video

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

Harvest Moon

This year, the Harvest Moon, (that fall moon which occurs closest to the September equinox, for the northern hemisphere) will be tonight, the 4th of October. It may not be orange, but it will be as beautiful as ever and will carry with it the symbolism of autumn celebrations and harvest festivals.

Harvest festivals have a charm all their own. The origin of the North American Thanksgivings, they are ancient in their observance and simple in their meaning: gratitude for the harvest's yields. Traditionally, the festivals have involved an offering of food and drink to the gods, or decorating a church with food, sheaves and flowers, and feasting. 

A Planting/Harvesting Seasons Table

In the same vein as the South/North Seasons Table, decorate a seasons table with two sides: one with tokens of spring (which is the current season in the southern hemisphere) being sure to include many seeds for fruits, grains and vegetables, and perhaps some that you have sprouted in advance. On the other side, place tokens of autumn, such as leaves whose colours have turned, and apples, gourds, sheaves, etc. Put in plenty that relate to one another, enabling you to discuss with the children how the seasons relate to the growth cycles of the plants that give us food.

See the Light of the Harvest Moon

Plan a class night outdoors in the school yard or garden late enough to be in darkness with the full moon above. Note the silvery glow of the light as compared with sunlight. Lead the children to look at familiar trees, tones, shrubs, etc. Point out how different the colours seem in moonlight. 

(Do NOT allow this to become a time for scary stories. This is a lesson in observation. It is NOT a time to create fear.)

The next day, take the children to look at the same objects and plants in sunlight and see how the colours have changed.

To illustrate the difference even more: Close the curtains and blinds, blocking out all light. Shine a torch or flashlight onto some colourful objects in the room. Then, take a mirror and use it to shine the torch's reflected light upon the same object. Explain to the children that the moon's light is really the sun's reflected light and, as such, much weaker, making the colours seem different.

Finally, point out that, without light we would not have colour and that without plants that we eat, we would not see at all.

©2009 Anne Morddel

Seasons South and North

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