Stocking the library

I finished my honey cowl, but I have not taken a picture of it yet.  Melva used the left over yarn to knit a little pixie hat for her cousin, on the way from Stilbay to Aston Bay.  I had a chance to visit a bookstore in George on our way here, and found wonderful books to read aloud to the children.

The Children’s Bible was originally written in 1992 in Denmark, and later translated into Afrikaans.  I have not had enough time to read through it yet to decide whether or not I like the way they translated.  Being from a Calvinist background, we never had Children’s Bibles in our house (Soli Scriptura, of course). Now I consider them a very useful introduction to the Bible, almost like reading Padriac Colum’s version of "The Odyssey" before reading the real book, or Charles and Mary Lamb’s “Tales from Shakespeare.”

I have been quite inspired lately by a seminar that I attended where Andrew Kern from CIRCE spoke.  He spoke about many things, those who know him will know that he does not follow a very structured outline but rather tells stories and asks questions until you somehow understand what he means.  He encouraged us to teach in the same way, reading good books with our children; books that are reflections of truth.  The Fairy Books are a good resource in English, but my children are fluent in English, I need to encourage their Afrikaans.  I was delighted to find a translation of the Complete Fairy Tales by the Grimm Brothers.  They are only slightly altered, as far as I can see, although in this collection Little Red Riding Hood survives her ordeal (to Jean’s dismay, he prefers the gory endings). 

Nils Holgerson was a TV series that I grew up with; I do not think my American friends are acquainted with him.  It is a story about a boy that is put under a spell by a dwarf, and then travels with the wild geese, learning many truths along the way.  I have never read the book; I am looking forward to reading it with the twins.

We spent another lovely day on the beach today, the weather was fine, and we had grilled meat and corn for dinner. Lovely.

Joining again with Ginny for yarn along Wednesday.

PS.  A gratuitous picture of the sweetest, friendliest baby boy you have ever seen. (The youngest addition to our dear friends' family of four boys.)  The picture was taken by Melva.