Rebecca Colby and Daughters, 9-year old, Sasha and 5-year old, Alanna

Posted on by Penny Parker Klostermann
Ants may rule the hill, but they don’t rule here! Art by Landon (Click to Enlarge)
Ants may rule the hill, but they don’t rule here! Art by Landon (Click to Enlarge)

Hello, Great Readers of our series! Just in case you haven’t visited before, let me tell you a little about A Great Nephew and A Great Aunt. My great nephew, Landon (a fifth-grader) and I (his great aunt) collaborate. I write a poem which he illustrates. We started this collaboration last fall and have had so much fun with it that we decided to invite others along. Landon and I will continue to have a new episode on the second Friday of each month. The other Fridays are filling up quickly with guests. I have created a page on my website to view all the episodes of A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt. Click HERE to visit the page and enjoy past episodes.

Today it is my pleasure to welcome a collaborative trio  . . .

Rebecca Colby and Daughters, Sasha and Alanna

Rebecca’s words about the collaboration: When I first asked my daughters if they wanted to collaborate with me and create either a poem or illustration for Penny’s blog, they both replied enthusiastically.

“I want to color a picture!” said Alanna (a 5-year-old who could quite happily spend the entire day coloring pictures).

“Yes! But you need to write the poem first,” continued Sasha, directing her comment at me. “And then we’ll draw a picture to go with it.”

I explained to my nine-year-old that it didn’t matter who wrote the poem. She could do whichever she chose, but when pressed for a reason why she preferred to draw, Sasha replied, “You’re the poet, Mummy.”

Although she’s been known to brag that her writing is much better than mine, she rarely writes, claiming that she ‘hates writing’. I worried that I might be partly to blame for this. Perhaps having a mother who writes puts pressure on her. Perhaps she feels there is an expectation for her to both write and be good at it.

I didn’t press her further.

But then Easter rolled around. And with it, lots of chocolate eggs. Also, around this time, Sasha studied chocolate in school. For a week, her class did nothing but eat, breathe, and live chocolate. Not only did they learn how chocolate is made and sample various kinds of chocolate, they were expected to write about chocolate.

And that’s when—if you’ll excuse the expression, Penny–the penny dropped. It dawned on her that she could write about anything. Absolutely anything! The next thing I knew, she proudly presented me with a poem about one of her favorite things–chocolate.

“I’ve written an awesome poem,” she said, and then added, “You can draw a picture to go with it.”

Except I can’t draw pictures. So she threw my words back at me and explained that it didn’t matter who drew the pictures.

“But you and your sister are the illustrators,” I said.

Thankfully, Sasha didn’t press me further. And before long, it dawned on me that an illustration doesn’t need to be hand-drawn, it only needs to be visual. So I took a picture of my daughters eating crème eggs, and everyone was thrilled. Although I did eventually cave-in and sketch the outline of a crème egg for the 5-year-old to color.

Here is our work:

Sasha’s PoemSlide1

Collaborative Drawing-Sketched by Rebecca, Colored by Alanna

creme egg - Alanna's pic (1) copy
Art by Rebecca and Alanna

Photography by Rebecca-Creme Egg Obsession

Creme egg obsession (2) copy
Creme Egg Obsession

Photography by Rebecca-Creme Egg Feast

Creme Egg feast (2) copy
Cream Egg Feast

A triple round of thanks to Rebecca, Sasha, and Alanna for being our guests today. This was truly a feast of talent 🙂

 

Colby author photo copy

Meet Rebecca: Rebecca is a picture book author and poet. Her second book, It’s Raining Bats & Frogs, will be published by Feiwel & Friends in August 2015. Her first book, There was a Wee Lassie who Swallowed a Midgie, is published by Floris Picture Kelpies.

Before writing for children, Rebecca inspected tights, taught English in Taiwan, worked for a Russian comedian and travelled the world as a tour director. You can learn more about Rebecca at www.rebeccacolbybooks.com or follow her on Twitter at @amscribbler.

Rebecca’s Books
Wee Lassie cover copy
Published 2014
Bats and Frogs jacket copy
Coming August 11, 2105

 

Carol at Carol’s Corner has the Poetry Friday Roundup today. poetry friday button

 

46 thoughts on “Rebecca Colby and Daughters, 9-year old, Sasha and 5-year old, Alanna”

    1. Thanks, Stacy! Food definitely inspires the members of this household so we’re looking forward to many more YUMMY collaborations! 🙂

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  3. I, too, have been inspired by Cadbury eggs, though not so much the ones in the U.S. (They’re just not the same.) Love the collaborative spirit in this family, Rebecca– do you share your chocolate eggs like you share your creative endeavors? My kids tend to go the “vicious” route, unfortunately.

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    1. Ha! It’s everyone for themselves in this household when it comes to chocolate! Now throw some green veggies in the mix and we might be more collaborative–there’s just something about brussel sprouts that makes my girls far more inclined to want to share. Cheers, Michelle!

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    1. Thanks, Patricia! I’d never seen Sasha more enthused about writing. She’s studying Mexican food this week and I hope it leads to another tasty poem.

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  6. Thanks for the Creme Egg Collaboration and for introducing me to Rebecca! I have a collection of “Old Lady Who Swallowed a…” books, so I MUST have Wee Lassie!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Mary Lee! We also have a collection of “Old Lady Who Swallowed a …” books, and my husband sings it to my daughters a couple times a week at bedtime–hence the creation of a Scottish version. Sasha and Alanna often make up their own lines too. I must write them down!

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  7. This poem, and the accompanying illustrations, make ME want a creme egg. And they are not easy to find (in fact, they may be impossible to find) in Colorado in late June. So glad Sasha has found her inner poet! I hope she will share some more on Poetry Friday!

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    1. I often wish creme eggs were more difficult to find in England–to stop us from eating too many of them! Sasha certainly seems to have found her inner poet and Alanna her inner artist as it’s been a song writing and painting Friday evening at our house. So nice to see them initiating creative activities. Many thanks, Carol!

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  8. Be still my heart! I thought I was the biggest fan of creme eggs alive, but I see there are more dedicated CE-lovers! We must be kindred spirits – what with also sharing a love of words and art! Yes! Oh, happy day!!!

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    1. Thanks, Julie! I’m so glad to see my children relishing words and art as much as creme eggs this month. We’re definitely kindred spirits!

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  9. There are those in my family who will love this ode to creme eggs, & also love to “go down south” with that “creaminess in their mouths”. Love that there are pictures colored too. Thanks for the reminder to see if there are any creme eggs still hiding in my house!

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    1. Ha! That’s exactly what I have to do in our house too–hide the creme eggs. If I don’t, they all get eaten the day they’re purchased. Thanks for commenting, Linda, and here’s hoping you find one!

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    1. Thanks for your kind words about my daughters and our collaboration, Rosi! I’m not sure ‘pudding’ and ‘thudding’ rhyme, but it is precisely what Sasha does when she heads to the kitchen looking for dessert. 🙂

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    1. Hooray for all the people who have stopped by to comment on our work! The girls are so pleased and proud that people are responding to their efforts. Cheers, Patty!

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  12. Thank you, Joanna! We’re all passionate about food in this family! 😉 I was just so glad Sasha found something that inspired her to want to write.

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  13. This is what our kidlit dreams are all about! Inspiring kids to love literature and art. You are a master encourager, Rebecca. I love this! Sasha is quite a wordsmith and Alanna has a special connection with color. Great team work!

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    1. Thanks so much, Carrie! It must be working because Sasha wrote a song last night. She’s gone from ‘hating writing’ to being regularly inspired. And yes, Alanna, has an eye for color.

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    1. Cheers, Cathy! And, yes, very addicting! You can get creme egg ‘everything’ here in the UK–creme egg cake, creme egg ice cream, and scarily, the creme eggs are now sold year round.

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    1. Many thanks, Tina! I’m craving one now too–the only problem is the girls ate them all!

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  16. I love Sasha’s passion in this poem and especially her contrasts in the second verse. And Rebecca and Alana’s colorful collaboration is perfect. Bravo Team Colby!

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    1. Thank you, Joanna! We’re all passionate about food in this family! 😉 I was just so glad Sasha found something that inspired her to want to write.

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