Thurston and Stanley: A Commission!

Out of the blue this afternoon, my sister Maaike asked if my daugther would draw a picture of an elephant and a mouse for a story she's written. Said daughter was thrilled. I think. She churned this out quite quickly, and was stunned -- stunned -- by the fact that I could scan it in, e-mail it and get comments back from her aunt in a matter of minutes. I guess I should tell my kids a bit more about technology, eh?

Anyway, here's Thurston the Elephant, with his friend Stanley the Mouse. And, for fun, Maaike's story:

THURSTON THE BRAVE ELEPHANT

Thurson is an elephant.
He is great at making noise with his trunk…
And stomping up dust with his feet…
But the other elephants laugh at him because he is very small.

One day they called him names
(Runt! Pee-Wee! Tiny!)
Which made him sad.
He went to his quiet place to think.

“Hello,” said a little voice. “My name is Stanley Mouse.”
“I’m Thurston.”
“Why are you sad?” asked Stanley.
“The other elephants called me names because I am small,” said Thurston.

Stanley walked up to him and said,
“You may be small, but you are the bravest elephant I have ever met.”
“I’m brave? What do you mean?” asked Thurston.
“Watch this!” said Stanley.

They went up to the edge of the tall grass.
“Wait here,” said Stanley.
Thurston watched as Stanley quietly crept up to the other elephants.
When Stanley was in the middle of the elephants he said,

“Squeek!”
(Yikes! Eeek! Run away!!)
Thurston laughed as he watched the other elephants run from Stanley.
Stanley smiled and waved.

When he came back Stanley said, “That is why you are brave.”
Thurston was always small…
But the other elephants all agreed that he was very brave.
(Thurston with Stanley standing on his trunk.)

The End.

Chicken and the Beast

Once in a while, one of my kids will ask me, "Daddy, what should I draw?" I love it when that question is posed, because it not only allows me a chance to interact with their art, but also to occasionally encourage flights of fancy on their part. That's where today's art examples come into play.

First, we see ehre a drawing my middle child did of her acting as "The Beast" from Beauty and the Beast. The drool, I think, is most becoming, and the best effect I could have asked for, though the hunch and the scary teeth and eyes are also entertaining. She got the inspration for this drawing through playing a game of charades the day before. Asking her to draw herself as the beast was easy, as she'd already imagined it.

Next, something more mundane. A chicken:

This is an example of art that can be produced by a child who says "But I don't know how to draw a chicken!" All I had to do was say: "Well, give it a try." And she did. Now, I grew up with chickens, so maybe it was easier for me to draw them, since I knew their habits and behavior and how they liked to poop all over the landscape. She has not had that distinct advantage, but I think she did rather well in capturing the essence of all that is chicken: The goofy stance, the over-the-shoulder look from that beady eye, et cetera.