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Don't trust spiders!", was the advice from one student at Melbourne Montessori School last month.
What an absolute pleasure storytelling at Melbourne Montessori. Thank you everyone for such a fabulous warm welcome and for your support.
What a hoot and an absolute pleasure to be invited to tell stories in Wonthaggi, Williams Landing and Cowes during the July school holidays.
I’m not sure who had more fun, me or the kids?
Peanut Monkey™ featured in the list of tales told, along with other entertaining yarns.
And then we did craft activities, from sock puppets to cut and paste and drawing - everyone allowed their imaginations and creativity to flow.
A local teacher from Gippsland, Sigrid Jeffery, took copies of Peanut Monkey books to Stepping Stones school in Cambodia, where she regularly volunteers during her holidays.
Stepping Stones is based in Kok Thnot, near Siem Reap and provides free high quality education and also improves access to healthcare facilities.
Go to the Stepping Stones website to find out more about their projects.
What an honour! Thank you Sigrid.
What lies beyond the now?
What came before that?
And before that?
When did it all begin?
Who told you that?
When did you become so judgemental?
To know what is right for others?
Through the keyhole you see…
Through the keyhole you judge.
Through the keyhole you are separate.
Through the keyhole your vision, smudged.
PER-SPEC-TIVE
What happens when you ask questions?
PER-SPEC-TIVE
Open the door to understanding.
PER-SPEC-TIVE
What is it you see now?
Just when I thought I could sit down at a friend's party... My wonderful inspiration for my Peanut Monkey children's book series finds himself up a tree.
Back in the driving seat so to speak...
After a long time finding my feet, and now with the imminent release of my new Children's Book, and a fabulous team of friends pushing me to get out there, I took the opportunity to read at a local primary school.
Thank you Newhaven Primary School for your enthusiasm and for having me to read stories on Wednesday during Book Week. Your students are engaging and clever.
I read one of my kids' favourite stories, Wonky Donkey. They especially love when I do funny voices. As well as Peanut Monkey of course!
Such relief after the Poetry Slam last night at Archies Creek.
As I read the poem I started shaking.
It was a deeply emotive poem anyway and I had practised and practised with the ocean as my test audience. I had reached a point of not emotionally reacting to my own words but that kind of went to pieces as I stood up in front of a full crowd. I didn't win the prize but I felt like I won for me.
WHEW!
On wards!
It's the first day of Spring. Yay! Enjoying the sunset and beach life.
Book 2, "Peanut Monkey Learns to Ride a Bike" is so very nearly ready for publication.
For Mary and Denis Safe ❤️ @amygillettfdn
There was a mess made by one of my children this morning...
One task used two chopping boards, two different kitchen benches leaving a trail of zucchini “from here to Timbuktu”! Cue the obvious question regarding my geographic knowledge, “where’s Timbuktu?”
We looked it up on the map software and found it in Mali, Africa.
Cue the next obvious question, “can we go there?”
I replied “we’ll do some research”.
“Would we go in a plane?”
“Yes, we’d go in a plane, definitely not a boat.” Sometimes I really set myself up, especially before 7am and on stomach that hasn’t seen its first COFFEE!
“Why won’t we go on a boat?”
“Mainly because Mali is surrounded by land and not by sea, but also between here and there the seas are renown for pirates”.
“What do pirates do?”
I explained about guns and robbery at sea.
He raised his voice excitedly, “I have a sword!” <that sword I made out of cardboard, icy-pole sticks and gaffa tape for a fancy dress party he attended.
More discussion on guns and killing and why some people become pirates ensued. Why hadn’t I simply said “Mummy gets sea sick?”
“Are there pirates on planes?”
SERIOUSLY??? <send coffee!>
“No - well maybe but they can’t bring their weapons on to the plane.”
“Why not?”
There’s no going back now, I set myself up good and proper.
“All the airports have a lot of security practices that stop people getting on planes with anything that hurts people. Remember that thing we walk through when we get on a plane? Where sometimes mummy has to take her shoes off to walk through?”
Without skipping a beat his reply was “Why don’t pirates like taking their shoes off?”
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