A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt-Landon and Penny

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 sixth-grader) and I (his great aunt) collaborate. I write a poem which he illustrates. We started this collaboration in the fall of 2014 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.

I just love every illustration Landon creates, but I have to say that today’s ranks up there with my favorites. The detail is amazing and hilarious. Enjoy!

From Landon’s Mom, Laura: He got very inspired by reindeer being at a camp! And he used pieces of the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer song to add some of the details. I asked him, “How about a checkers board game?” when he was brainstorming and he said, “Nope. I have to do Monopoly because that’s the game kids add in the song at— ‘they never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games…like Monopoly!'”

The PoemSlide1

The Art

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Art by Landon

Don’t forget to search for Landon’s hidden object in his art. He always hides the same object 🙂 Make sure you read the sticky note on the brick wall, too. You can click to enlarge, if necessary.

Thanks so much for joining us today. I appreciate all of you who read this series. See you next week for more collaboration.

Tara at A Teaching Life has the Poetry Friday Roundup today. If you’d like to know more about Poetry Friday, click HERE for an explanation by Renee LaTulippe.poetry friday button

 

33 thoughts on “A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt-Landon and Penny”

  1. I finally made it over to see both the poem and the art! Always a great pairing! Landon’s art just blows me away- such a voice! And the detail, too, and the skill! (The brick, hidden objects, funny body language and expressions, concept: the Monopoly game that kids always add into the song!) Brilliant! And Penny- I love how your poem alludes to the “used to leave you out” and now Rudolph is play AND winning the game! Cool message there. 🙂

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    1. Thanks so much, Carrie. Landon’s talent blows me away, too. Pretty amazing. I think he has that something special that goes beyond just an illustration…the thing that tells a story within an illustration. Thanks for coming by 😀

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  2. “Like Monopoly!” Perfect! And outstanding grimace! This was wonderful.
    Have you thought to put the images and poems you’ve collaborated on in a book for him? ‘twould make a wonderful Christmas present!

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  8. The poem and illustration are fabulous together. I love the positions Landon has the reindeer in. Hilarious!! Penny your poem makes me want to go to reindeer camp.

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  9. I don’t know what happened to my comment!

    Anyway, this is spectacular. I can’t wait to share it with my own sixth grader. He will be very impressed. I think he is right about Monopoly, that is what the kids say during the song. Well done.

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  11. I think this might be the best yet. Love your clever poem including those ‘reindeer games’ and that reindeer totally upset about (probably) landing on Boardwalk! I think I’ve spotted the hidden pencil, always bonus fun! Thanks Penny and Landon.

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  14. Definitely one of my favorites! Langdon has outdone himself. Love those reindeer playing Monopoly — just brilliant. And I see the hidden object! Bravo and Brava!

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  15. I’m always so impressed with Landon’s artwork. Love the post-it not. And, your poetry is always so much. I’m sure he enjoys coming up with illustrations ideas. How long does it take him to do an illustration?

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    1. Thank you, Pat. I’m always impressed with his work, too. He started this one at the beginning of the week and I got it Thursday night. I’m not sure how long he worked on it. I know school work had to come first so I’m assuming just a little time Mon.-Thur. evenings. Pretty impressive that he could do it that quick, huh? His mom said he worked really hard on this one. It shows.
      Thanks for coming by 🙂

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  16. Love it! So like you to champion the “under deer,” Penny – and with a perfectly rhymed and metered poem. Love Landon’s post-it note from Santa and all the other clever elements of his picture. Can’t wait to see what you’ll do in 2016, Landon. Merry Christmas!

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    1. Thanks, Carole. I’m glad you enjoyed the episode. There’s no telling what Landon will do in 2016. I just love how he interprets a poem. It’s always fun to see what he comes up with.
      Thanks for coming by!

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