
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.
Kirsti Call is one of the collaborators today. If you follow the series you probably recognize her name. She has collaborated with her other four children in previous episodes. It has been delightful to feature this talented family as part of this series. Below I will have links to the other episodes featuring the Call Family.
Today it is my pleasure to share a creative collaboration from . . .
Kirsti Call and her 14 year-old son, James
James’s Movie: Clouds
Artist Statement: The ever changing nature of clouds makes me think of how life gives us a fresh start every moment of every day.
Kirsti’s Poem
A photo of the collaborators.
Many thanks to James and Kirsti for sharing their talents with us today.

Meet James: James Call is a 14 year old boy who loves drumming, singing, and making movies. You can follow him on YouTube, here. Or Instagram, here. He’s currently rehearsing for his role as Reverend Shaw in FOOTLOOSE for the local middle school.
Meet Kirsti: Kirsti Call is a homeschooling mom of five. Her debut picture book, The Raindrop Who Couldn’t Fall, came out December 2013. Her family band, Calling Out, plays songs written by her children. She contributes to Writer’s Rumpus, Kids are Writers and Institute of Children’s Literature. If you visit her house, you’ll likely find her reading or writing. You can find out more about her at www.kirsticall.com or on Facebook or Twitter.
See all the Call Family Collaborations:
Episode 6: Kirsti Call and Daughter, Naomi
Episode 23: Kirsti Call and Daughter, Sydney
Episode 26: Kristi Call and Daughter, Sophia
Episode 34: Kirsti Call and Son, Sammy
Thanks to Elizabeth Steinglass for hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup today. If you’d like to know more about Poetry Friday, click HERE for an explanation by Renee LaTulippe.
Great post about this talented duo!
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Thank you for stopping by to enjoy the talent, Marcia.
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Great poem and video/movie! 😀
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Thanks for following the series, Erik 🙂
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A Hitchcock in the making, complete with birds. And Kristi’s poem definitely found magic. Another wonder collaboration, Penny!
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Thanks for coming by, Brenda. Yes, this had a Hitchcock ending for sure.
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I needed a break from my life, which is sliding toward hand basket travel.
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Ha! James has a great sense of humor. Love that he chose to do a movie and the introduction of the ominous crow at the very end. The sky is a beautiful and magical canvas — Kirsti picks up on that so well in her poem.
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I agree, Michelle…Kirsti’s poem did capture the magic of the sky and the clouds. Clouds do tell a story. And the crow was such a great touch.
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All the creative goodness of the Calls makes me wonder if I have mistaken my own Calling–should I have homeschooled? Oh wait–Duncan was born to push every one of my control-freak efficiency buttons. Better we should go our own ways most days. ; )
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I had one who was born to push every button, too, Heidi. He attended the school where I taught for three years and that was fun. He only had me for physical education and luckily that went just fine.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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How wonderful to have a movie with a poem this time, and both wonderful. I take sky pictures of clouds all the time, so enjoyed the movie very much, and also those “characters who play tag”. Thanks, Penny.
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I take cloud photos, too, Linda. In fact, I have a perfect dragon cloud photo that helped inspire my Dragon book. I show it in school visits and the kids see the dragon right away. When I saw James’s movie and read Kirsti’s poem, I immediately connected.
Thanks for coming by 🙂
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What a talented family! Love James’s cloud video and Kirsti’s poem. 🙂
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It’s been so fun to see each of their talents and to read Kirsti’s poetry.
Thanks for stopping in, Jama.
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Another wonderful pair, Penny. Thank you for digital duo.
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Glad you enjoyed today’s episode, Carol. I’m lucky to have so many collaborators who will share their talents with my blog readers! The episodes showcase a variety of talents. And it makes me smile every time I receive an email with the “goods” for a post!
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Love the poem and cloud video AND the music in the cloud video. Wow!
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The music was perfect, right? Thanks for coming by, Genevieve 🙂
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Hi Penny–another great partnership. I love that the art uses an increasingly broad range of media.
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Thanks, Liz. The creativity of the collaborators continues to impress me!
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How fun is that! I love the movie and the poem. I am a big fan of time-lapse photography. Thanks for the post.
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Thanks Rosi. We had a lot of tun with this!
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Thanks for being such a fan of this series, Rosi! I appreciate it 🙂
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What a great collaboration with your son, Kirsti! The time lapse was cool–and the crow felt very Edgar Allen Poe-ish (even though his was a raven 😉 )
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Thanks Maria! We had a lot of fun…James actually surprised me with the crow…he showed me a movie without the bird, I wrote the poem and then he gave me this movie. So funny.
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I agree, Maria…the crow was a nice touch! Thanks for coming by 🙂
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I really love the time-lapse photography! Such a great video. I love clouds too. The poem was perfect! Great collaboration!
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Thanks Patricia! I love clouds and working with my son too!
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I loved the time-lapse, too. It felt so peaceful…well, until the crow jumped in! That added a touch of humor which always works for me 🙂 Thanks for coming by, Pat.
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Nice movie of the clouds. I didn’t hear the Raven quote, “Nevermore.” So keep on with the movies. The poem was a nice metaphor for looking at the happy circumstances of life. Very nice.
Sent from my iPhone
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Thanks Larry. We had fun working together 🙂
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Thanks, for coming by, Larry! I didn’t think of the poem in that way until you mentioned it. You’re so right!
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We’re honored to participate in your blog series, Penny! Thanks for the opportunity!
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You’re very welcome, Kirsti! Like I’ve said before, I’d love to come hang out with your family. I know I would be in awe because you’re all so creative! I love that you foster that in your children…awesome!
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Love this. My 15 y.o. loves making movies, too! Great job James, and Kirsti, you have such beautiful lyrical language in you! I love your deep poetry!
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Thanks my dear! It’s so MUCH fun to collaborate with the kiddos!
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I think it’s great how kids have the tools to extend their creativity to movie making. In my day, that wasn’t the case. Technology opens many doors and it’s great to see parents that encourage their kids to use the technology for creative endeavors and not just for communication.
Thanks for coming by, Carrie.
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