into the clouds

I'm pretty sure I'm no different to any other child (or adult), when lying on my back staring into the sky, I imagine what it would be like to sit in one of those fluffy looking clouds as they float on gently by. I have very vivid memories of this from my childhood, they look so inviting, don't they? 

 It's with these fond memories in mind that make me fall head over heels in love with this book - Mr Bear Branches and the cloud conundrum by Terri Rose Baynton (written and illustrated by! - super talented huh?). It also happens to be a finalist in the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. 

It's a lovely story about two friends, one with a dream of playing and sitting in the clouds and the other a "realist" or a spoil sport to put it bluntly!

It uses some pretty sophisticated language when describing why, playing/sitting in the clouds will never be a reality. This use of the correct terms delighted miss E who had studied the water cycle at school and knew all the correct terms. 

I know my two also harbour dreams to sit and play in clouds and we've laid on our backs together in long grass before, watching the clouds drift by. So I wanted to create a "cloud" for them. I told them to gather up all the pillows off each bed in the house, including the ones on mummy and daddy's bed (the ones they aren't allowed to play with!) and bring them to the lounge. 

They were just like this character in the book, Lintfrey Longfellow, they had "growing curiosity" as we placed the pillows into a circle and draped a crisp white sheet over. I hung a sheet behind them also. Then I dished out some "cloudy" snacks, popcorn with a meringue for afters. 

It was quite magical and we sat and read the lovely book. Made all the better by our cloudy surroundings for sure!

my camera didn't do a great job capturing the true magic of the cloud - so I magic'd them up a bit with pic monkey!