From the Breakfast Table

Questions, Questions
By Marcus Pfister


Read It
Questions, Questions is a great new read by Marcus Pfister author of The Rainbow Fish one of my favorite books.  Based one the idea that "a good book acts as a bridge between a child and an adult, sparking lots of questions, and expanding the imaginations of the child," and inspired by the Lucio Dalla song Cosa Sarà , this book stirs up the kid in all of us and leads readers into awe and wonder about the world around us.  The simple, poetic lines ask things like "How do birds learn how to sing? What brings summer after spring? . . . Did dinosaurs eat all day long / to make them grow so big and strong?" 

Enjoy It
We read this book today over breakfast.  I thought it would be a fun way to start the day--asking questions and having conversation about the wonderful world around us.  Sometimes as adults we forget to stop and think about the bigger picture; we get tunnel vision for all the tasks we have finish in a day, we forget to wonder and delight in things like sunsets and a gentle breeze and the scent of a flower and the song of a bird.  So grab this book when you get the chance, slow down a little, and enjoy talking about life with your little ones.  Anyone who has been a kid, or anyone who has children knows, that we all start asking questions at a young age--we want to learn and know everything!  When I was little I used to always say, "But why, Mama?" "But why, Dada?"  And when they gave me an aswer it would be followed up with more whys.  Finally they started answering with, "It is a big mystery, Kali," which would leave me quiet and pondering.  Do not be afraid to ask big questions with your child--even if you do not have the answer.  Part of learning is learning how to learn, and it all starts with a question. 

Make It Come to Life
In the back of Questions, Questions, Marcus Pfister explains his method for the illustrations in this book.

First I transferred my drawing to thick cardboard.  Then I cut out each piece of the drawing.  I put acrylic paint on these pieces, then stamped them onto aquarelle paper, creating each illustration piece by piece.  This technique gets quite fast and interesting results, and it's simple to do if your pieces aren't too complicated.

We are still eating breakfast, but later we are going to try this!  It will be fun to see how this different method makes our pictures turn out.  And for my little guy who is not quite ready to paint, I used a free MP3 voucher from Amazon.com and downloaded Cosa Sara to listen to--he loves music!  What kind of fun will you have with the books you read today?