The best memories are the times we share with others. So I developed these activities for children to enjoy while sharing my book, Butterfly Tree (Peachtree Publishers, 2011).
First, the heart of this book is about making a memory—taking time to do something together . Talk about and then write about a special time you remember sharing with someone.
Now, explore the special memory Jilly and her mother share in Butterfly Tree.
I’ve been playing fetch on the beach with Fudge.
This time when I toss the stick I stop.
Shading my eyes with my hand,
I look out over the slate gray water.
Out past the rocky point,
way out over Lake Erie,
it looks like its raining black pepper from a clear blue sky.
Fudge bounds back with the stick in his mouth,
but I keep on watching.
Describing what something looks like by comparing it to something else is called a metaphor. Basically, something unfamiliar is described by telling how it’s like something familiar. A metaphor can be a powerful way to use words to paint a picture in someone’s mind. Try it.
Sit quietly for a few minutes either indoors or outside. Look around. Pick out something to focus on. Then think how you could describe what it looks like to someone who’s never seen it by comparing it to something else--something familiar.
Next, share your metaphor. Ask the person to describe the visual image your words painted in their mind. Trade metaphors back and forth to work together building a description.
Here are some places and times you could use metaphors to partner building a description others can enjoy too.
*A sunset
*A stormy day
*A bird taking flight; a squirrel in a tree; a cat playing
When Jilly first sees the orange cloud in the sky, she makes lots of guesses of what it might be.
"What in the world could this spooky cloud be?
Fall out from a distant volcano?
Some sort of smoke?
Or could it be an alien space ship?
Or the breath of an invisible dragon?"
Spend some time cloud watching with someone. Look out a window or go outside on a wonderfully cloudy day. Focus on one cloud that looks like an animal, an object, or something totally magical. Tell a short story about that cloud and what you imagined about it.
Then write your cloud story. Be sure to include at least one metaphor to help your reader see what you’re describing.
Jilly’s ready to run away because of the orange cloud she’s spotted, but her Mom suggests they go searching for where the cloud landed.
And then they arrive at a clearing in the forest.
Lots more happens....
Mom says she remembers seeing the butterflies when she was a girl. Why do you think she didn’t just tell Jilly what the orange cloud was?
It’s hard not to tiptoe.
Our footsteps on dry leaves sound too loud.
I look so hard I think my eyes will pop.
Then I spot something orange, flopping
in high branches just up ahead.
I wonder if it’s part of the orange cloud.
And if it’s a monster ready to pounce.
But we discover it’s only a wind-tattered kite
the forest has caught.
And then they arrive at a clearing in the forest.
When we get there, though, it’s only a clearing
with one big, tall tree covered in
sunlit clumps of orange leaves.
Suddenly, Fudge arrives chasing a squirrel
up the tree.
This sets off an explosion
of golden-orange bits that fill the sunlight
streaming between branches.
What I thought were leaves are butterflies.
Monarch butterflies, says Mom.
There must be hundreds—thousands.
The big tree looks like it is in motion
because of all the monarchs slowly fanning their wings.
And Fudge, Mom, and I are inside
an orange cloud of still more fluttering butterflies.
Mom grins when a monarch perches on her nose.
More land on her head.
Lots more happens....
Mom says she remembers seeing the butterflies when she was a girl. Why do you think she didn’t just tell Jilly what the orange cloud was?
This is my story. When I was a girl, I was near Lake Erie when Monarch butterflies by the thousands--at least it seemed that many to me--arrived. They had flown across the lake and were there to settle for the night. Being immersed in a cloud of butterflies was an amazing experience. It's a memory I treasure.
Here's wishing you a Wonderful Butterfly Tree memory moment too!
