Jon Scieska And The Mysteries Of The Blanket Fort

We constantly underestimate kids. But, they just get it. From my time in the classroom, I realized that adulthood is just a lot of unlearning all the things we’ve been told along the way are worth giving attention. But, kids, kids just get it. We could say it’s because they understand life on a simpler level, with a less-developed lens so to say, but I think they are just, quite frankly, more present to the moment. They are seeing life without the price tags, the wear and tear on the car, the expectation for a clean kitchen or tucked-in sheets, or the risk of a broken limb. So, when we cross the bridge under the canopy of trees at the park it’s a magical path to somewhere unknown, with mystical creatures taking up residence below. When we build the blanket fort in the playroom, it’s a hide-out in which they are safe from the scoundrel on their trail. Or, much, much simpler, a pink balloon becomes a three little pig and brown construction paper is the wolf’s ear. All they see is opportunity and adventure.

Being under quarantine has brought life down to a tick-tick-tick pace. I saw that with full awareness that I’m juggling very little work with my extra dose of parenthood right now. But, nonetheless, I’ve been given the chance to slow down, leave the sheets untucked and the car turned off, and explore the mysteries of the blanket fort.

Jon Scieska, author of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, said in an interview with Reading Rockets: “But I was thinking adults would be a great audience until I started teaching second grade and just saw how smart these little guys were. But in different ways. I mean it's not like they're gonna explain something to you or write a position paper, but they just understand what's going on. I knew they would understand Three Little Pigs told by the wolf, or they would understand goofing around with fairytales. I think that's what informs all my writing. I always go back to just how smart those little kids are. I just know that at some deep level.”

Check out our Three Little Pigs puppet show from last week! It’s a very adaptable project for your kid’s favorite characters.

Color-Coded Schedules and Curious Monkeys

I went into quarantine-school strong. Sure, I dropped the initial cathartic f-bomb when I learned school would be closed months, but then I pivoted quickly. Armed with years of solid teaching experience, some okayish classroom management (never was my thing), and a pretty good grasp on what Beckett needed to know before kindergarten. Let’s call it what it was...smug.

Just look at that color-coded schedule. Whole-child, am I right?

Here we are 8 weeks into this nonsense, and let’s just say that schedule isn’t curling at the edges because I’ve been referring to it so much. It hasn’t been touched since week two, and I’m okay with that.

None of us have been through this before, and the schedule stopped feeling right. Most days are truly just this constant dance of figuring out what the next best thing is for us to do. Where are we on screen time? It’s time for something creative. Whoa, the energy level in this house is untenable. It’s time for a scooter ride around the block. How many bowls of pretzels has he eaten today? Snack #8 should probably be an apple. Pajamas all day again? Sure, why not?

Through this uncharted experience, I’m reminded of the Reys, the authors of Curious George. I learned through Louise Borden’s children’s book The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margaret and H.A. Rey, that these German-born Jews escaped Paris on a homemade bicycle two days before Paris fell to the Third Reich. They escaped via Spain, Portugal, and Brazil with nothing but their travel papers, the money the bank would let them withdraw, and a manuscript for a children’s book about a monkey. They landed in the United States, where they lived out their lives as trail-blazing children’s book writers.

We are living through pretty darn scary times. Let’s remember that we are doing the best we can, perhaps just the next right thing. The Reys were plucked out of their romantic lives as writers and artists in Paris. They emerged from a hellish experience with a book about a monkey. Perhaps if we just resign to the chaos and do our absolute best to stay safe, we’ll end up with our own versions of homemade bicycles and revolutionary manuscripts.