On a Friday after school let out, I met up with a boisterous and lovely group of five, six, and seven year olds to read a story to them.
The story is The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau written by Michelle Markel and illustrated by Amanda Hall. A few months back, the editor at Christian Home and School, a magazine I write for, sent me a stack of children’s books to read and review. This book was one of my favorites. I had no idea that Henri Rousseau didn’t start painting until he was 40, or that he was a toll collector and each time he sent his paintings to art shows people laughed at him and wondered what in the world he was thinking presenting his work.
Despite the terrible things the experts said, Henri kept painting. He couldn’t afford art lessons, but he made trips to the Louvre, studied photographs and pictures from magazines and postcards. “Sometimes,” Hall writes, “Henri is so startled by what he paints that he has to open the window to let in some air.” I love that sentence. I love the idea of being so startled by what we create that we have to let in some air.
I wanted the kids to know about Henri Rousseau, so I read Hall’s story to them, and then the kids worked on some activities after words.
In the story, Henri walks around Paris and, “it’s like the flowers open their hearts, the trees spread their arms, and the sun is a blinking ruby, all for him.” I gave the kids some crayons and paper and asked them if they could draw a place they love.
Henri collected leaves and pedals or flowers to study and sketch, so we went on a leaf hunt that afternoon to collect leaves we thought were interesting.
The journals I made have six activities in them, from taking a walk around the neighborhood collecting leaves (or flowers), to writing a letter to Henri, to throwing your own art party (there’s a lovely celebration at the end of the story). There are also some reflection questions for kids to think and write about or discuss. I made two kinds, one that you can download, and one with a cover that can be shipped to you.
The activities are fun. I love watching what kids come up with and I love watching them process stories. But it’s the book that is the real treat. And on a warm Friday afternoon, I don’t know if the kids were so much inspired by an artist’s terrific journey into painting as they were by hanging out with each other and running around. Somehow though, I think that’s OK. In fact, I think that’s how it’s supposed to be. The jungles they live in are fantastic, too. I hope they always think so.
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