Land of Saints and Scholars 2

And now for....THE SCHOLARS!

Jonathan Swift -1667 -1745

Remember Gulliver's Travels?

W,B. Yeats 1865-1939

How I love his poems, Lake Isle of Innisfree and The Stolen Child!

Oscar Wilde - 1854-1900

He wrote my favorite giant story ever- The Selfish Giant.

C.S. Lewis - 1898-1963

Thank you, Mr. Lewis, for the wonder of Narnia and Aslan!

Seamus Heaney -1939-2013

The beloved Nobel Laureate whose last words were
"Noli Timere" (Latin for Do not be afraid!) - which is really what all great stories tell us - that GOOD will triumph - and so, we do not need to fear!

And we have St. Patrick to thank for all these learned and beloved Irish scholars!

Girl Scout Troop #2732

What a wonderful welcome Girl Scout Troop #2732 of Centennial gave me this week.

We read The Giant King and talked about our Writers' Roots - what they are and how to feed them.

We talked about my two "Muses," who are....

My two Goldens, of course - Isla and Fergus

These clever girls even knew who the nine Greek Muses were!

They asked me, "Is Nessie real?"

  

Yes, or so all good Scots will tell you!  So impressed that these clever girls knew where Nessie lived - in Loch Ness of course.

We talked about how "reading aloud can cure pretty much everything from warts to global warming," as Mem Fox tells us, because reading aloud GOOD stories feeds our hearts, making them bigger and better and bolder!

We talked about the importance of learning poems "by heart."  I was "heartened" to see that all these girl scouts were reciting all kinds of little chants and ditties before their meeting began - they already know the value of LEARNING BY HEART!

Gorgeous Gaggle of Girls

Thank you Girl Scout Troop #2732
"Burn Bright!"

Land of Saints and Scholars

As those of you who read this month's read aloud, St. Patrick and the Peddler, found out, Ireland is also known as "The Land of Saints and Scholars."

Here's why ...

St. Brigid - Patron saint of Ireland, poets, babies, midwives, and blacksmiths - Feast Day  - February 1st

St. Brendan - Patron Saint of boatmen, sailors, travelers, and whales - Feast Day - May 16

St. Ita - Teacher of St. Brendan - Feast Day - January 15

St. Kevin - Patron Saint of Blackbirds - Feast day - June 3rd

St. Patrick's Day

A few years back I happened to be making a school visit on St. Patrick's Day, and was delighted to see all the children dressed up in my favorite color - GREEN.
But I was somewhat dismayed when I asked them "Who can tell me who St. Patrick was?"  One little fellow boldly proclaimed, "I think he was a LEPRECHAUN."

Ah well, no doubt St. Patrick, having lived with the Irish for most of his life, has enough of a sense of humor to be laughing at that line from his heavenly home!

 So, why do I love St. Patrick?

Let me count the ways....


1.  He was born in Scotland -as I was. 

2.  He converted the Celtic people to Christianity but never shunned their love of nature and fairies.  (Indeed, it was easy for the Irish to embrace Christianity, because they already believed in other worlds, like the fairy kingdom, and were quite comfortable with the idea that, often what we cannot see is more real than what we can.)

3. He gave us the first Celtic cross - the ancient Celts already believed in the sacredness of the circle - stories were told in a circle, the sun and moon were circles, and so when Patrick converted them to Christianity, he simply placed the cross 
CELTIC CROSS.

 4.  He knew what it was like to be homesick for your native land (as I am, sometimes.)  As a young boy, Patrick was captured from his native Scotland, and taken to Ireland as a slave, and for many years, he pined for his own country and his own people.

5. He was a lover of nature and had a tremendous reverence for the earth and all God's creatures...as all the Irish do.


6.  And...he was a....STORYTELLER!



One of my favorite children's  books about St. Patrick and this month's read aloud on my storytelling site -

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

How Love sees

When I make school visits, children often want to know about Scotland, the country where I grew up, and also about Ireland, where I spent so many childhood summers.

I like to tell them that one of the great gifts of my Celtic background is that I grew up knowing that what cannot be seen is often times more real, more important than that which can be seen with the eyes.

The Celtic people have a tremendous reverence for nature, for mystery, for the sacredness that surrounds us, if only we can see with the eyes of LOVE.

THE LITTLE PRINCE

LOVE IN ACTION

The theme of this month's read aloud is LOVE - but as I have said before, LOVE, does not mean the sappy soppy stuff of Hollywood - it is not a feeling - it is something we DO.

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch is a delightful example of LOVE in action - of ordinary people doing tender little acts of love that turn a lonely old man into a jolly soul filled with a joe de vivre!




As Mother Teresa maintains, we need to be mindful of those in our world who are not dying from lack of food, but rather from lack of love......





Good question for me to ponder.....

What little acts of love can I do for someone today?

Cleverness

This month's read aloud is Mabela the Clever - a lovely African folktale featuring a feisty clever mouse who outwits the crafty cat by following her father's advice.

As I mentioned before, we can learn much from observing other cultures, whether through their folktales, or by actually visiting the country.  

On our recent trip to India, we had to take a three hour road trip, and it did not look to me as if all five of us, plus our American sized luggage were going to fit in that one car.

But of course, I had not taken into account the basic "cleverness" of our Indian driver who knew exactly how to solve such a dilemma......

WHAT ELSE IS THE ROOF FOR?  LOADING YOUR LUGGAGE, OF COURSE