Loomy Grey Forest Created by the Children of Chickadees Room at the NSNH Daycare Curated by Maria Jeong, ECPN Pedagogist
For the children of North Shore Neighbourhood House— whose stories and drawings invite us to imagine, to notice, and to create alongside them. Editing and publishing thanks to the Early Childhood Pedagogy Network (ECPN) and the B.C. Early Childhood Pedagogist Program, which is funded by the B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care hosted by the ECPN. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form without permission from the ECPN.
At the Early Childhood Pedagogy Network, we understand drawing as a mode of inquiry through which children think, wonder, and imagine together in relation to materials, ideas, and others. As children draw lines, colours, and marks begin to gather into shared possibilities. In responding to one another and to the materials in their hands, drawings can give shape to something not yet known, inviting us into worlds that are curious, strange, magical, and real all at once. This story is one of those worlds. We listen closely to the ideas children tell through their drawings, following the story already unfolding. A loomy grey forest emerges. Stars fall from the sky. A forest rocketship appears. Slowly, these fragments gather and begin stitching themselves together. This story is our offering back to the children: gathered from their stories and held in narrative form. This is a story about wondering, noticing, and finding comfort in unfamiliar spaces—together.
In autumn, as the trees turn orange and brown, a curious chickadee notices something different in the forest.
This forest is darker. It is quieter. The chickadee flutters closer. “I am a loomy grey forest,” the forest whispers. “I am covered in lines that keep the animals safe.” “Lines?” asks the chickadee. “I don’t see any lines.” “They are sleeping,” says the forest. “Sleeping up in the moon.”
The forest grows still. Then it says, “Come closer. You can watch the stars fall.” The chickadee finds a branch and settles in. Plop. Plop. Stars fall into the water. Stars land on the forest ground. Stars blink and shimmer in the dark. “Look,” says the forest. “So many stars.”
“Shhh,” hushes the forest. “Look. A gloomy cave.” The stars glow just enough for the chickadee to see it too. “Ooohh…Ooohh…” howls the forest as the stars fall. “You sound like a ghost,” says the chickadee.
“Something is coming out!” chirps the chickadee. “It’s my forest rocketship,” says the forest. “It’s taking the stars back to space.” “The stars will go night-night,” says the chickadee.
Whoosh! The rocketship lifts into the sky. Fire bursts into bright, crackling fireworks. Then the light fades. The forest grows loomy and grey again. Everything is quiet.
The chickadee stays on the branch. It listens to the soft breathing of the forest. It feels safe. “I think I’ll stay,” says the chickadee. The forest hums, low and slow, happy not to be alone.
Together, the chickadee and the loomy grey forest rest beneath the sleeping moon.
The End.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg1ODc0NA==