Growing Up Creative

books

When I first moved back to Israel I kept on writing lists in my head (thinking I will one day share them with you) of the good and bad in living in Israel. Very quickly the lists became of the things I miss the most, like Target, walking my girls to school via the best French bakery, Anthropologies' window displays, breakfast at the Rose cafe etc. Those things I have missed have become part of my sweet memories. Those routines and favorite small habits have now been replaced with breakfast at the Tishbi café, camping at the beach and day trips to mom. But there is one thing that I find difficult living without, please don’t laugh…it’s Amazon. The pleasure of having such an easy access to the biggest book store in the world is irreplaceable.

Luckily my brother, who has also moved back to Israel, goes back and forth a few times a year which enables me….you know what…

Well....my brother and his family just got back form Boston, and so I am sitting in front of Oren’s computer (mine just passed away) with a pile of new/used books beside me, that i just couldn't resist sharing with you (in no special order)
 

Avian Architecture – how birds design, engineer and build by Peter Goodfellow
Unfolded – paper in design, art, architecture and industry by Petra Schmidt and Nicola Stattmann
Messing around with Drinking Straw Construction by zubrowski
Amazing Leonardo Da Vinci Inventions you can build yourself
2012 IKEA catalogue (it was mixed with the pile)
The dot (excellent for the ones who think they cannot draw)

And three more from my bedside:
Digital fabrication Architecture and Material Techniques by Lisa Iwamoto
Kindergartens, schools and playgrounds
Folding techniques for designers from sheet to form by Paul Jackson

I was thirsty for some new books, can’t you tell how much.....
Have you read any great books recently?
I dare you to share.....

tali

A book addiction

Earlier this week a good friend of mine “accused” me of being a ‘compulsive book buyer’.  I admit, it is an addiction and a weakness of mine, and that’s why I try and keep away from the book stores…

I am not sure when it all started, but I remember as a child, the excitement and the wait for the annual book week celebration. I can recall the crowds, the cotton candy, the tables at chest height, just tall enough for me to brows through the piles of books, ready to be taken home, and the smell of a brand new book that has never been opened before (I’m sure you know what I mean)

This week is the annual book week celebration in Israel, and I find that I’m far from being alone with that addiction. Everybody’s buying books and so am I!!
How can one resist a “buy one get 2 for free” deal!?

If you share my addiction, you may want to check out a friends blog - In Our Small Garden, she is doing a great job offering some children’s books and book store recommendations.

If you’re living in the LA area AND share my addiction….you can visit one of Israel’s most popular book stores – “Steimatzky” (located in the valley), but don’t say I didn’t worn you; the experience is a little bit different then shopping at “borders”. If you do end up going there, make sure to cross the street and get a cup of coffee (café hafuch) at the Aroma cafe for a complete Israeli experience.

If you're also a computer addict…you can find some Israeli literature translated to English at Amazon.

I am currently reading a book by Sami Michael – Aida. Unfortunately it hasn’t been translated to English yet, but you can find some of his other titles here:Sami Michael

what are you reading at the moment? anything good?

I am off to read my book now.
Night night

tali

Our responsibility

For over 10 years I have been finding excuses why not to read Erna’s book: The Survivor in Us All: Four Young Sisters in the Holocaust . Erna is Vivian’s mom my dearest second cousin who is like an aunt to me (she hates when I call her aunt… but she knows I only mean it because I love her so).
It is not easy to sit down and open a book about the holocaust, defiantly not one about your family. But I finally did.
I finished both books (she has 2) a couple of months ago. I couldn’t stop the tears, I couldn’t put them down.  I only regret for not reading them while Erna was still alive so I could tell her how much her books meant to me. And how much I admire her strength to sit down and do it all over again in writing, so we - the future generation- will have some clue of what it was like.

We all have a responsibility of remembering the past as hard as it is sometimes, but we also have an even bigger responsibility of accepting the different and teach our children to do the same. Yes we are all different and that is why we need to try and find ways of celebrating those differences and enjoy each others' culture instead of fearing traditions we don’t know. We need to plant seeds of tolerance and acceptance instead of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.

SO...
Take your kids to cultural festivals (they are everywhere),
Try different foods
Listen to world music such as Putumayo Presents Series, one of our favorite CD's from that series is Dreamland: World Lullabies & Soothing Songs
Read to your kids books that celebrate tolerance such as It's Okay To Be Different . Or Let's Get Along!: Kids Talk About Tolerance
The Crafty Crow has recently featured a world craft series which you may enjoy also. This is the link: crafts from around the world

I would love to hear any other suggestions
Tali

Egg & Nest and cake update

Egg &Nest

I wanted to share a book recommendation to compliment the nest craft tutorial I have recently posted. It was sent to me by Blue from  the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge:
Egg & Nest

I haven't purchased it...yet...but you can read some of the reviews on amazon.

Cake update
I am not sure if you have been following or not, but Anat my friend who was sure I am having a boy after 2 girls lost on her bet. and so, a couple of weeks ago I was very much enjoying a delicious strawberry cake that she made (answering cravings of a prego women...). I would love to share the recipe with you, but she made it up. Talk about creativity.

before

and after

I did share...some.

tali

The Giving Tree

I volunteer in Zoe’s class room every so often, (she is already in first grade...oh my… time flies….). This week we have created the classroom ‘Giving Tree’, inspired by an old time favorite The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

 
You will need:

Empty water or soda bottles from your recycling bin (or your neighbor’s bin) could be a variety of sizes
Copy paper cut in half
Drawing tools
Clear tape
Permanent markers (sharpies) or stickers
A sharp knife and a pair of scissors
String
A tree (not too tall)

How to:

• Pre-cut the base of the bottles using a knife or scissors, then rinse and dry the bottles if needed.
• Get the kids together and introduce what you will be doing today. They always like to know in advance, it keeps them more attentive while you read the story.
• Read the story out loud. I usually raise questions, followed by short discussions on various segments of the book
• Follow the story with a discussion; ask the children to talk about the different things they gave to others that made them feel happy inside. 
• Ask the children to draw some of those things. (I also gave them an option of drawing something from the story.)
  
  
  ^{I am featured in Zoe's drawing (I have this green shirt I guess I wear too often...)}
  

• Insert each drawing, facing out, into a separate bottle. Secure the drawing with clear tape. 
• Let the children decorate the outside of the bottles with sharpies and stickers if they’d like to. 
• After all the bottles are done, go to the yard and locate the tree you wish to turn into a giving tree. Take a string, and then tie one end to a branch and the other end to a bottle cap. The bottle will protect the drawing from the winter weather. Try and hang the bottles in different heights but low enough for the kids to look at.
  
  

“And the tree was happy...”


tali

 

Swan Lake and a dancing Excavator

On the away to the desert a couple of weeks ago we were listening to the Ballet Stories audio book. When Swan Lake was playing, we were passing by a road construction site. There was an excavator situated on top of a small mount of dirt doing its job, turning, lifting and pouring. Having our windows closed we could only hear the sounds of swan lake and see the magnificent performance of the excavator that appeared to be dancing to those notes.

No, I didn’t get it on tape…but I did find this short video that is a choreographed version of what we saw. 

As for the Ballet Stories , I bought it at the LA Phil Disney Concert Hall store. They have a wonderful collection of CD’s for kids, if you happen to be in the area you should pop-in. The Ballet Stories audio book is a combination of classic stories with classic music, double pleasure. I highly recommend.

Sparks: 005 drawing inspired by reading

I remember Shoshanna was telling me that her son’s kindergarten teacher often asks her students to draw a favorite part of a story after reading it to them, this way she knows they will be tuned to the story and their mind stays in focus. I remember thinking how clever that was; she gets their attention and boosts their imagination at the same time.

The other day we were reading flotsam by David Wiesner (again), it is a story told in pictures only, of a curious boy who finds an underwater camera at the beach; after developing the film he discovers some fantastic photos of unreal scenes that are illustrated in a realistic manner, such as an octopus perching on an arm chair reading a tale to his little ones

 
oversize starfish as big as islands walking in the clear blue ocean,

a small oriental village made of shells mounted on to the back of a sea turtle, etc. 

Somewhere in the process of telling the story, I remembered Connor’s teacher and a post I have  recently read of drawing inspired by “The Little Prince”; I proposed to Ori and Zoe to make a drawing of an imaginary picture that could have been one of the pictures the camera took… the idea was a success.
A VAST world of imagination has just open up to us.
When we were done with the story we pulled some paper, markers and colored pencils, and we drew an underwater fantasy.

I always thought this book was wonderful, but trying to create an image inspired by the book made me realize how brilliant the author is.

You will need:
The book Flotsam
Paper
Drawing material

What to do:
Tell the story
Draw an imaginary picture that the camera may have taken
Discuss each other’s drawing
Hang on the wall

Thoughts and variations:
This activity could also be done with any other book and with any age group.
Drawing inspired by a story helps a child engage with the story on a deeper level, it encourages him/her to concentrate in the story and gain a better understanding. It increases creativity, noticing details, drawing skills, and helps with rendering thoughts and ideas onto paper.

Here are some ideas of what you may draw:

• your favorite part of the story 
• a place depicted in the story
• your favorite character
• a different ending
• an instrument or a tool that was used in the story

Some other books that you may use for this exercise:

• It's Okay To Be Different : draw yourself and how different you are (you may offer to sit in front of a mirror)
• The Little Prince : draw a planet of your imagination (see Berlin's Whimsy: summer lists)
• My Father's Dragon : draw a map of the Island of Tangerina and Wild Island; make a picture of the dragon (one of my favorite books)
  

These are just a few books that were lying in front of me, If you have any other suggestions, please add them in the comments below or email me.

Happy drawing

Wendy Mogel

I have never imagined I would be in tears of laughter and emotions from a parenting lecture. I also never thought I would pay $45 to attend one. Well, I just did both. Wendy Mogel the author of “The Blessing Of A Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children” is a brilliant speaker. I must admit I haven’t read her book yet, but I have it in my hands (signed by the author), waiting for my glass of wine…good night

Books 01: A day at the beach

When I find a good book I feel like I want to tell the world about it. So this is me telling the world about two incredibly beautiful children’s books I have read this week. Flotsam by David Wiesner, and Wave by Suzy Lee. Both are wordless picture books about the ocean (I know the beach is probably not the best topic for the winter, but, I couldn’t wait till the summer to tell you about them…). Wave is a simple tale about a little girl’s day at the beach, which begins and ends with a wave. Flotsam is about a boy that finds an object that swept to shore. This object opens a world of fantasy that will take your imagination miles away. With super realistic water colors that make the story even more believable (Zoe kept on asking me if this story is for real…). The story has a great little discovery that I can’t give away.
Both authors are telling a story with no words of most children’s favorite - a day at the beach.  Although each author is taking a completely different approach, both are done extremely well. Hope you and your children enjoy them as much as we do.

Enjoy