Come Gather Round/ Books for the Holidays/ Free Giveaway

Christmas is just around the corner and parents are beginning to ask me, "Do you have any suggestions for good spiritual stories for my child?" I have loved children's literature over the years and now many of my favorites I read in my classroom, or at home to my grandchildren. My favorite stories have a theme or a spiritual quality that I'm trying to convey to the children.

There are many things I look for in children's literature. But here are some guidelines that I use when selecting books.  These are some of the questions that go through my mind, when I am quietly selecting a new story. 

         1. Are the illustrations beautiful? Do they uplift the spirit? Do I gain a greater insight from the story 

              through the artwork? Is the technique that the artist's used something we might be able to expand on?  Might the story be used for dramatic play, games, or by exploring additional art techniques? Can it create a week/ month-long theme for learning at home or in the classroom?

         2. Does the story uplift the child's spirit? I have seen some wonderful books that are beautifully 

              illustrated but the story leaves you a tad bit puzzled?

        3.  Do children love it so much they ask for it again and again to read it?. That is the real clincher.

I also do not select books with cartoon, movie or television characters. I am a firm believer in uplifting each child with beauty, color, imagination and uplifting joy. 

We are approaching a mile stone in my blogging history this month. The "Inside Out" blog has almost reached 10,000 page-views. I am so humbled and would personally like to thank each and everyone that has occasionally stopped to read this blog. 

As my thank you, for the person, who I can tell is the 10,000 visitor to read my blog this month I will send one of my favorite books from the list below. Please leave your name with a comment below. Did I leave your favorite book out?

This books I have used several times and have created Education for Life themes around the qualities expressed in the books.

Below are a few of my favorites.                                    Qualities, Themes 

• All the rainbow fish books   Marcus Pfister                 Friendships, forgiveness, sharing, love
• Holey Moley              Marcus Pfister                       JOY, love, cooperation,
• Milo and the Magic Stones “   “”                             Choices, joy, service to others
• The Little yellow leaf   Carin Berger                         Seasons, friendship, expansion
• Badgers Bad Mood  Hiawyn Oram/ Susan Varley    Friendship, creating good habits
• Angels, Angels, Everywhere   De Paola                    Love, joy, expansion, wonder 
• Art Lesson                              De Paola                   JOY, love of art, friendships 
• Diamonds in the Snow          Marcus Pfister               Light, nature, winter, seasons
• Gift of Nothing           Patrick McDonnell                  Your presence of love is the gift
• Just like Heaven            “”           “”                           Love all around us, even on earth
• Grandfather Twilight        Berger                                Light, wonder, nature
• Oma's Quilt                     Bourgeois                          Love, change, excepting life
• Big All Series and Shrimpy  Clements                       True friendships, courage, love
• Brave Charlotte Anu Stohner and Henrike Wilson    Courage, faith, Do it now, joy 
• Moles' Music David McPhail                                    Inspiration, music, expansion
• The Kissing Hand        Audry Penn                            First day / school Mothers love!   
• You are Special         Max Lucia                                Self esteem,                                                  
• Each Breath I Smile    Thich Nhat Hahn                     Meditations, nature, peace
• Great Kapok Tree      Lynne Cherry                          Endangered species, love for all
• Everybody needs a Rock  Byrd Baylor                     Nature, earth, deep understanding
• Mother Earth     Sibylle von Olfers                            Earth, contentment, acceptance
• Story of the Root Children Sibylle von Olfers            The story of the Season
• Fox makes Friends   Adam Reif                             Friendship book for the beginning of school year
• Little Yoga (Toddler Book)                                       Yoga Book
• Gossie and Gertie Oliver Dunrea                                Toddler friendships
• Photographer Mole Dennis Haseley                           Happiness, joy, families
• Chubbos Pool        Betsy Lewin                                 Happiness, joy, friendship
• My love for you all year long                                     Nice collage book on loving.
• “Little Cloud “          Eric Carles                                Art calmess, peace, stillness
• Om Baby    Schamet Horsfield                                 Community, Peace, Harmony                    
• Fletcher and the Falling Leaves  Rawlinson               Fall, love, nature, acceptance
•   Stone Soup   Jon Muth                                          Building Community, Harmony                  

                                                                 

   For Older Children

• Monkeys and the Mango Tree                              Indian Stories and Parables
• Tenzin’s Deer    Barbara Soros                              Harmony, love, wisdom
• Zen Shorts  Jon Muth
• Little Secret of Friendship  J. Donald Walters        Focus one a day.                                                
• The Little Troll     Thomas Berger                          Friendship, service, expansion
• The Gardener          S.Stewart                              Love, faith, serving,joy under all circumstances      Caldecott Award Winner
• The Three Questions  Jon Muth                             Expansion,service, harmony, peace          

                     
I hope this can give you a starting point for some new literature to share with your family this holiday season. 

Please leave a comment if I have left your favorite storybook off my list. 
I will continue to write book reviews for these and others on my favorite lists in the coming weeks. 
 

                                                                        

Guest Post: Celebrating Circles

In our classroom at the Living Wisdom School we celebrated the Fall Equinox with one of our specialty teachers, Martia Denniston. I have had the great privilege of collaborating closely with Martia on several large art projects and she has taught me so much about creating extraordinary spiritual art experiences that uplift young children. 
 This month I have asked Martia to be our guest bloggers and describe our ceremony and celebration. 

  Celebrating Cycles

May 2012: A dawning awareness and astonishment appears in the face of a youthful student when he asks me, “Are we really made of stars?” his voice rising upward at “stars”. “Yes,” I reply, “we are made from the elements of the stars.”  In a moment of meaning we experience a meeting of mutual understanding and admiration.

These are the moments I live for.

I am privileged to create celebrations and art with children. Like the 4 & 5 year olds in Chandi's class I started life curious and connected to the world of nature. As I learned to read I became more and more immersed in a world of imagination and less interested in exploring the world outside. At 45, I awoke with a shock at how distanced I was from the natural environment and my Self. Experiencing nature, and ourselves as nature, helps us develop an authentic inner life. We learn who are, where we come from, where we are going...WHY WE ARE HERE.

Why I am here, at Living Wisdom School, is to volunteer my life experience in service and sharing. The teachers, children and I weave shared experiences of gratitude and relationship in ceremonies to celebrate our place in the cycle of the seasons, to honor the Earth as our Mother, to evoke respect for the elemental forms of the Universe, Earth, ourselves...to revere all Life.

I am a Tree

coiled within a seed within the earth. I stretch and grow as I draw the element of water up from the earth into my trunk and branches. I become living earth, growing and unfurling my leaves, feeling the breeze of air whispering through me. Lifting my hungry leaves up and up I capture the fire of the sun. I am water, earth, air, and fire. For many decades I remain here, the center of a world of life, breathing in, breathing out, cycling air and energy. After a long time I become weary with longing to return home. I fold in upon myself and into the earth, returning to the planet water, earth, air, and fire for the future life that will embody the memory of me.

The Circle

We lay out the directions for our circle. West is water (mist & clouds, rivers & oceans, blood & tears, tides without and within cleansing and healing). North is earth (asteroids & moons, mountains & forests, hearts & muscles, skeletons and shells for strength and endurance). East is air (ether, atmosphere, breath, the inhale and the exhale, inspiring and awakening). South is fire (sun, earth's molten core, life's metabolism of energy, creating and transforming). In the Center we become a Unity of Spirit, the Center is here and everywhere. Each of us takes a tiny glass pebble. We silently, secretly say our words of gratitude and slip the stone into a receptacle of water placed at the center of our Center.

Does every child understand it all? Do I? Deep in our being we do. We know what we are doing is significant and sacred. I see it in the glow of respect and reverence in their small faces, in the hallowed hush of their bodies.

    Autumn Appreciation

I read the Greek myth of Persephone, Hades and Demeter. I come to the part where the land is laid waste by the mother's grief for the loss of her daughter. My voice falters and tears find form as I push forward a small blue bowl of water, “these are Demeter's tears.” I am moved by the moment of mystery. We are all touched and talk about Autumn rains and darkening landscapes, what is going and what is coming.

I am a living Autumn, my hair turning and skin weathering like bark on the trees. Like the oldest trees on our planet, I hope I have gained a little wisdom. The children are mere beginnings of Spring, full of joy and enthusiasm. They are helping me to heal the cares of my past. I hope I am helping them to see the possibilities of the future.

Earth, ourselves,

breathe and awaken,

leaves are stirring,

all things moving,

new day coming,

Life renewing.

Pawnee Prayer

To close our ceremony we share in the Blessings of the Fruits of the Earth, calling out the qualities we are about to consume: richness of plum, melody of pear, knowledge of apple, brightness of orange...fruits to sooth our souls, berries of summer to which we say farewell until next year. We use their juice to dye grains of rice. Tomorrow we will arrange bright blue seashells (water), crushed shells of eggs dyed green (earth), light yellow grains (air), and the raspberry red rice (fire) in patterns to make mosaic mandalas ~ circles of elemental forms, our inner feelings and thoughts made visible.

It is a good day.

 

 

 Martia Denniston

Since graduating from the Whole Systems Design program at Antioch University in 2001 Martia has worked with school, community, and spiritual groups in many capacities, including designer, school librarian and storyteller, and art, meditation, and youth group teacher. Martia earned a certificate in Drawing and Painting from the University of Washington in 2008 and is a mixed media artist. She co-creates art and nature experiences with teachers at Living Wisdom School and Gaia's Temple in Seattle. “I have always used nature as our inspiration and teacher for art. I believe that making art can enhance our ability to observe deeply the processes of nature, and that observing the interactions between living systems and their environment will enrich students' art making. My dream is to help nurture in our youth a lifelong relationship with Nature and Mother Earth, one characterized by mutuality, founded in inquiry, exploration and self-expression, with a healthy respect for the awe and mystery of Life.”

Children and nature dancing together

This past month Nitai Deranja was visiting our school. Nitai is the founder of the Living Wisdom Schools and is currently on the faculty at the Ananda College of Living Wisdom in Gaston, Oregon.

 I had asked Nitai to join us, during our afternoon circle time. The children had been practicing a new chant and I wanted to share it with Nitai. 

It was late in our morning and we found the day zooming by.  All the children had not ventured outside yet when I realized we would be concluding our closing circle time outside in the playground  instead.

As a teacher, you try to plan spiritual activities daily for young children to uplift their consciousness and spread joy. Today was one of those times, when  Divine Mother planned her activity for us. We were just a witness to her beauty.

 See the description below written by: Nitai

 We walked out into a beautiful nature area for the close of the preschool session for the day. As we stepped onto the grass, the sun peeked around the clouds to give enough warmth for the children to begin shedding there jackets and sweaters. A slight gust of wind caused one of the trees towering over our heads to shed many of its bright yellow leaves. They came swirling down upon us in great arching circles. The children lifted their hands and began running and laughing in their attempts to catch the leaves. Their faces were lit with a sense of excitement and wonder. When the wind paused, everyone started picking up handfuls of leaves from the ground and tossing them up again over our heads. After about 10 minutes the teacher called everyone over for the closing circle. The children lead a song called “O God Beautiful”, complete with hand motions that emphasized the words, “In the forest, Thou art green. In the mountains Thou art high...” It was the perfect way to acknowledge and celebrate the children’s moment of communion with nature.

We all spotted a Northwest monkey.

 This day will be cherished and etched in my mind for many years to come. The pure joy of children and nature dancing together.

Photo Inspiration: Sing in the Meadows

Sing in the Meadows and everywhere
Sing out the blessings to everyone
Lift up your voices,
Lift your hands on high
Sing and the battle is one. 
Song by: J. Donald Walters

This is an inspiration photo entry today which was taken by one of our parents at the Living Wisdom School.
We had a double blessing in our meadow about a month ago. What an amazing sight for our children and a blessing for our new school location.

We were all singing in the meadows, when we saw this!