Dragons, Monsters, and a Cookie Spider

Kate brought this home from school. She named it Licorice, and then ate it for her after-homework snack. (I was relieved that she did decide to eat it, rather than keeping it as a friend.  I could see her wanting to do that.)



We were over at the Tracys' recently to practice a song for a special musical number at church. Kate treats the Tracys' house as something like a toy library. This time she borrowed a little Fisher Price dragon that she calls Golden. When we got home, she told me she wanted to write some things about Golden (like she did with her starfish.) She had me draw a picture of Golden which she colored in, and then she wrote this:

by Kate and Mom
note (my mom that is)

We discovered that Golden eats presls [that's pretzels] and cheddar cheese cheese cheese.
Golden is a treasure finder.

(She did ask me how to spell a few words.)



And here's a little "Things I Like" book that Kate made at school.

Written and Illustrated by: Kate AKA Randall (that's Randall from Monsters Inc.)



I like dragins
I like bugs



I like my cornr (this is something about a spot in her classroom. Kate tells me that the bit above that says "Note, how long is this book")
I like giyint squids (I love her spelling. The squid is cute too.)



I like Spore (computer game)
I like zoos



I like me to

I love seeing what she comes up with.

Kate's Starfish

We were down at Owen Beach and found this little dead starfish. Kate's been keeping a science notebook at school, so when we got home she wanted to write some observations about her starfish. She asked me how to spell a few words, but she wrote most of it herself.



Kate
My Starfish.

Mine is dead
and wet. it has some
pointy tentacles
and it's red.
it has circles on its
side. the end.

(I took out Kate's grocer's apostrophes... we'll have to work on that.)



We also found this little shell, which is now sitting on the kitchen windowsill along with some interesting rocks.

"Kate and Mrs. ______ Race through Dragon Tower" (story by Kate)

Kate and I put together this gift for her teacher.  She wrote a story featuring herself and her teacher, and I made it into a book.



I was going to have Kate draw the picture on the cover and I would write the title, but she wrote it herself, in her own inimitable style.



I wrote the title again inside, on the off chance that anyone might find the cover a little hard to decipher. (You know, just in case.)




Kate recently came home with a little stuffed blue whale that she named Alex, so he had to have a part in the story.





Kate says this is an advertisement. I had to leave it in because it's just so Kate.



The sudden introduction of a new character. I asked, "The Queen of Flowers? Is she in the story?" and Kate said, "She's at the end of the story." Of course.

Kate wrote the story in her notebook originally, so we knew how many pages it was.  Then I put the book together and wrote the words, and had her draw the pictures again.



I cut the cover boards from some thin dense cardboard (I believe it came with a package of cardstock, originally).  I covered the boards with paper, glued with PVA and pressed under heavy books to keep them from warping.



I hinged the cover with purple duct tape. Quick and easy! 

When Kate saw the cover she wanted to keep it. I said we'd make her a copy too.



The pages were four sheets of paper stitched together.  (I still have a lot of bookbinding thread left from my class at BYU.)

Here's what it looked like on the back.

After Kate drew the pictures I glued the end papers into the covers and pressed the whole thing overnight, under three big heavy books. 

We wrapped up the book this morning so Kate could take it to her teacher.   Today was Kate's last day of school before Christmas break.  They had pajama day and early dismissal.  It was so cute to see all the kids running around the playground with their pajama pants sticking out under their winter coats.  (Kate and I have matching pajamas, but I figured that would be a bit much for me to walk her to school in my pajamas!)

"Kate's Rescue Mission" (story by Kate)

We don't remember exactly when Kate wrote this story--any time between August and November, probably. This one has a bit more of a coherent narrative structure than a lot of things she comes up with. Doug did the writing at Kate's dictation.



Kate called beetles, bugs, and butterflies to play with her. Some fell off and landed on their backs.



Kate's video watch showed her a giganotosaurus eating a bug. A nearby Tyrannosaur was eating a bug, too.

(I'd never heard of a giganotosaurus before. It is an actual dinosaur.)



The giganotosaurus looked at the bug. "YUM," he said, "that is a tasty bug!"



The giganotosaurus GRABBED the bug that came from Chevy's restaurant!

(Bet you didn't know they served those there, did you?)



"Oh darn," said Kate. "The giganotosaurus is eating that bug!"



Kate to the rescue! "I am coming to help you, bug!" called Kate.

(Here you can see Kate's hands on her hips in a heroic stance, with her cape blowing out behind her. The cape has a K on it.)



The giganotosaurus tried to eat the bug!



Kate rescued the bug from the hungry giganotosaurus. Kate was a hero!

(I love the expressions in this one.)



But the giganotosaurus ate the bug anyway. CHOMP!

(A surprise ending! Ha.)