Robert McCloskey

Today in Storybook Art we did Blueberries for Salby Robert McCloskey! After I read the story, I asked the children what they noticed about the illustrations. Of course, the illustrations in this book are done all in blue ink. There's not a speck of black line. So our follow-up project was to finger paint blue fingerdots on a background of green construction paper, and then students used their colored pencils to add in leaves and stems to the blueberry bushes. Simple and fun! These activities really help students to look at our picture books on another level. It's one thing to say, pay attention to the illustration style. It's quite another to explore storybook illustration with your hands in a container of blue paint!

I got all my students the 12-color Waldorf selection of Lyra Super Ferby pencils this year, one box for each child. It was a real investment but it has paid off big time! They always carry their colored pencils with them in their traveling cubbies (Montessori children move around a lot through the classroom so they keep their planbook and subject notebooks in a National Geographic leather magazine holder, AND their colored pencils, so that all their supplies are always with them) and we always get the pencils out several times each day for one reason or another. $27.50 well spent.