Wisdom from Children’s Literature

I can’t think of anything weird to post for April Fools, but I have two fun snippets from my kids’ books. And I’m doing a little challenge with some friends, we are going to post everyday (other than Sunday) in April. Life’s been busy here, true, but mainly my perfectionism has kicked into high-gear regarding my blog writing, and it’s time to beat that back. Just like for NaNoWriMo, when I put my critical inner voice in a box with duct tape over her mouth, I’ll be locking the “it’s-not-good-enough” perfectionist side of myself in the closet. But don’t worry, unlike NaNo, I’ll proof-read before I post!

I’ve also been informed that April is National Poetry Month! A perfect way for all of us to share our favorite poems. Since I’ve decided I’m not the ereader type (and I tried hard) I’m going to load my ereader up with poetry. Naturally, I’ll need more poets! This is my favorite poem – have I shared it before? I just LOVE it.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

— J.R.R. Tolkien

It’s been colorful …

On to the words! Wisdom bit number one comes from Little Bear (ch 4), and as “the mom” I am so happy other wonderful, sweet, literary mamas have used these words:

“And now,” said Mother Bear, “you can make me happy, too.”
“How?” said Little Bear.
“You can go to sleep.” said Mother Bear.

While Little Bear goes to sleep, the other selection this week, very appropriately, deals with waking. This is from The City of Gold and Lead, which is the second book of the Tripod series. My son has read it, but I have not, so I’m catching up while he reads The Gammage Cup. It’s also from chapter 4. Warning: possible mini-spoiler, skip to the quote if you don’t want to see it! ……………. Okay, ready? I am so, so disappointed in these boys for stealing the hermit’s boat! I support their decision to leave the island, but to take one of his meager possessions because their mission was more important than his livelihood — that was wrong. I hope to read later on that they have somehow paid him back for his boat, with an apology. I don’t believe the ends justify the means. Now, a quote from said hermit:

I rise early, so I don’t stay up late.

Short and sweet. Tomorrow I will post the next link-up for Learning by Hand! I’m hoping to make some kind of index or set up some pInterest boards to make the posts easier to find (maybe both!). If you have any wishes for how that is to be organized, let me know!

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