Miss Rumphius by two time Caldecott winning author and illustrator Barbara Cooney (Viking Books for Young Readers, 1982). Cooney won the National Book Award the year it was publsihed. She was also the U.S. nominee in 1994 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition for creators of children’s books. This book was first published in 1982 and continues to strike a chord readers of all ages. This book is one that I remember checking out of the library as a child and just dreaming of what I would do to make the world more beautiful.
- one or two sentences and a picture
- free write about what they would do to make the world more beautiful
- five paragraphs about who they would make the world more beautiful, why they would want to do it and how they could encourage others to make the world more beautiful
- brainstorming with table group ways that they could make their community more beautiful and then share aloud
- make a list of the things “Ways in Which My Life Would Be Different” and “Ways in Which My Life Would Be The Same” if I lived on a tropical island
- Brainstorm several examples of beauty in the world. Sorting ideas into different lists, such as:
- natural things
- made by humans
- things to do: actions
Art:
- make drawings or collages to represent what they would do to make the world more beautiful
- recreate their favorite part of the book
- paint lupines using bubble wrap dipped in paint
- finger painting lupines
Science:
- tropical island study: learn the plants and animals that live there. (like the island Miss. Rumphius visited)
- buy a packet of lupine seeds and plant them and do predictions about how the seeds will grow and then plant them around the community or the school
- Watch The Magic School Bus “Goes to Seed” episode to learn more about seeds
When I worked in the elementary world, I had the most fun making bulletin boards, with one of my very best teacher friends, and this one would be amazing to create a hillside with lupines filled with what the kids would do to make the world a better place/more beautiful.
What I love most about this book is that it is still so relevant, maybe now more than ever. Barbara Cooney filled a void that was present at the time in children’s books, a void that I believe many authors and illustrators are still trying to navigate. Here are her thoughts on receiving the Caldecott in 1959:
“I believe that children in this country need a more robust literary diet than they are getting…. It does not hurt them to read about good and evil, love and hate, life and death. Nor do I think they should read only about things that they understand…. a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. So should a child’s. For myself, I will never talk down to—or draw down to—children.”
We couldn’t agree more. This is a timeless tale that petites of all ages will enjoy.
The Petite Stag 