Why do I love children’s stories? I believe that as adults we fill our life with so much busyness. We spend so much time nurturing everyone around us that we forget to nurture the very heart of who we are, we leave our imagination on the back burner. We need to nurture that child within, we need to bring him or her back again.
live in the land of old books,
children’s illustration and
storytelling. When my girls were beginning their teen years, I put away my storybooks and teddy bear picnics and told myself that someday when I was a Grandmother I would revisit these joys. I no longer gave myself permission to be the child that they brought out in me.
hen my girls were little, I was one of those mothers who was happiest when I was lost in storytelling, creating magic for my children, and half believing that I would find the faeries that we searched for in the garden.
ld volumes of children’s books found their way onto my book shelves once again, and they reawakened the little girl who I remembered...me. I found myself still visiting the section of Children’s books, lost in illustrating my favorite things, and still wanting to write stories for children.
hen we treat ourselves to remember those stories of our childhood or that of our own children, we become a child again. A child filled with awe and wonder about our world. I suspect we can all have that child-like vision that finds joy and zeal everywhere.
hildren stories hold the key that unlock the door to our imagination. Books like
The Secret Garden, Little Women and
The Children of the Bluebird of Happiness and
The Adventures of Oz and your favorite children’s book, hold so many important secrets about life.
he other night I treated myself to a movie at home called Inkheart. Oh I fell in love. It was one of those Fantasy movies that make you remember things that you knew before.
nkheart is a story about a young girl who discovers her father has an amazing talent to bring characters to life. The problem in the story is that each time one character comes to life another real person disappears inside the book. The making for a marvelous story. Yet there is even more to the making of
this wonderful movie. 
uthor,
Cornelia Funke wrote this book with Brendan Fraser in mind as the lead character. When she finished the English version she sent him a copy of the book, never thinking that the book would become a film.
Well, it did become a wonderful movie. So there was Brendan Fraser playing the character in the story that was written with him in mind, which was about a storyteller who could make characters come alive. Amazing!
f I could give you a gift, I would tell you to snuggle into your favorite chair with a box of cracker jacks, a teddy bear and your childlike mind, and let your imagination come to life while you enjoy this movie,
Inkheart. The movie has some scary characters, so be careful to watch it first before you invite any little children to join you.
The children’s books Inkspell, Inkheart and Inkdeath are a trilogy, written by Cornelia Funke in her native language of German, and are available in English.
There is an audio book available and read by the enchanting voice of Lynn Redgrave. The song for this post is the theme song,
The Declaration. The original soundtrack song is sung by the star of the film, Eliza Bennett. My teddy bear painting was painted by my sister, Susan.
Painting, painting, painting...
I am painting violets and hollyhocks this morning, and I am almost up to peonies on my list. I sent out the first batch of miniatures. I'll be putting on the finishing touches on Celeste's surprise and I will show you the reveal soon. 
If you are one of my giveaway winners, I haven't forgotten you. I am carefully putting custom touches on each little painting to show you how much joy you bring to me every day.
