The Pea Museum

The Baby Dragon!

2011-11-23T21:18:00.010-07:00

The Baby Dragon!

Alina, Age 7

Once upon a time there was a Mom Dragon.

She fell asleep. One of her eggs rolled out of the cave. A farmer chased it. A knight chased it. Then crack the egg is now a baby dragon!

The farmer ran back!

The knight ran back!

And the baby dragon flew back to his cave!

Look who's waiting!

Coming Soon! A Guided Tour of The Baby Dragon story with Pea Museum Docents Dragon Douglas and Honeydew the Fairy Bear.

A Cat Named Christina

2011-07-16T09:52:00.006-06:00

A Cat Named Christina
by
Ellis, Age 6
and
Hugh, Age 3

Once there was a cat named Christina. She was all yellow except for her tail, which was white, and her nose, which was black, and her eyes, which were green, of course. She was an Egyptian cat.

She walked along until she came to a forest. When she entered the forest, she met another cat. This cat was blue all over, except his head was green, and his nose was purple, and his eyes were orange. And he had red paws.

“How did you get to be so colorful?” asked Christina the Egyptian Cat.

“Well,” said the other cat, “My father belonged to a wizard, and my mother belonged to a witch. And so of course they were magic cats. Now, my mother was a blue and purple cat, and my father was a green and orange and red cat, and so naturally I have some of each.”

“So, are you magic too?” Asked Christina.

“Of course,” said the other cat. “And, if you wish, I will teach you how to change colors.”

“I do wish,” said Christina. So the other cat, whose name was still unknown, taught Christina how to sing the magic words. And these are the magic words for changing a cat’s colors:

htn 0btnt78y9 5n577777n Ngg Ggh HHHgghh gggh ghgh 333 ghg hhghghghgtg hdgshwhdhw dgdhwhhhardfhh hhdhth gtthgtgtggtt ttxxtd dztt tss sssTTT TTSSSSr hkdhru JYD J4HEURJY EUUD 4888I5 UR 4OT 6T6T6TT6T6 6TBB meow

(But of course, you have to sing it in cat language for it to work.)

Well, of course, it did work, and so Christina could change her colors to be anything she wanted. And she could camouflage herself in the woods, and so she decided to stay there with the other cat.

Now, that’s not the end, because she met another Egyptian cat, who was the son of the colorful cat, and they had many other adventures. And of course, their kittens grew up to be lions because they learned some other magic words that go like this:

5ythrhFJ47EI3IE[3K;OM.W.MWNNBNBN6BNTH6T6T6T6T63T3T63T62333 T3T3T6 36T 3 6T3T62N NN3N1222 3365598 8EE EEEEEEE T†66666666 ETTEGDC EJE YTGHG G UUYYYTUTUF H M JYGUY U000. OOOOO OOOO LOOOOO 333 H HU HUGH HH

And so if you want, we can tell you some more of their adventures, but that’s another story for another day.

Bins

2011-07-16T09:34:00.004-06:00

Bins
by
Ellis, Age 6
with
Hugh, Age 3

Once upon a time there were some bins. And there were more bins. And there were more bins. They were all in the same place, and the were all the same size, and they were all the same color--green. They were sitting in the room, not waiting for anything. (And there were a couple more bins, which I forgot to tell you about.)

"What will we do with all these green bins in our house?" said the ghosts.

"Well, we just have to live with them," said a teeny-tiny ghost. And that's what they did. The End....

Until the moving van arrived.

(That's the real end.)

The Magic Flute Frogs

2011-07-16T09:30:00.002-06:00

The Magic Flute Frogs
by
Ellis, Age 6

Once upon a time there was a prince named Tamino. But the problem was, he was a frog. One day a princess named Pamina went for a walk by the river. She saw the frogs. They were singing. They sang, “Five Green and Speckled Frogs.” They danced to it. They were frogs.

“Ha ha. Hello,” said Tamino. “I am very glad to see you,” he said.

The next day the frog came to dinner. What a mess. Afterwards, it went up to Pamina's room and slept in her bed. In the morning, she put him back. But the next night it happened again. And again. And again! Pamina was getting annoyed. She didn’t like that frog coming back again and again.

“I’ve had it! One more night, and then you stop!” she said.

“OK,” said the frog. He came back. But he didn’t stop. He came back three times.

“This time I mean it! One more night, and then no more!” said the princess.

“OK,” said the frog.

So, on the last night she said, “Ok, frog, this is your last night. After this, don’t come back!”

So the frog ate dinner with her and went to sleep in her bed. In the morning, she expected to find a muddy frog in her bed. But she didn’t. What did she see? A prince hiding under her bed, of course.

“What are you doing under my bed? And what happened to that muddy frog?” asked the princess.

“I’m the frog,” laughed the prince.

“Ok, but how come you are under my bed?”

“Hiding,” he said, “Just hiding.”

“From what?” Pamina asked again.

“From you,” he said. “I wasn’t sure you would like me as a prince.”

“Well, I do,” said Pamina. “As long as you don’t eat from my plate and sleep in my bed. Get your own room.”

“I won’t do that anymore,” said Tamino, “And, I was wondering…”

“If I would marry you?” finished Pamina.

“Yes,” he said sheepishly.

“I will. But not till you stop hiding from me.”

So, the prince and the princess were married and lived happily ever after.

THE END

Ghost Taxi

2011-07-15T21:54:00.006-06:00

Ghost Taxi
by
Hugh, Age 3

Once a boy went to sleep in his room.

A ghost came to his house in a taxi. It got out of the taxi and closed the car door. It went into the boy's house and into the boy's bedroom.

And then the ghost scared the boy! It said, "Boo!"

But it [the ghost] was actually the boy's sister.

The End

A Phone Number and an Address

2011-07-15T21:44:00.007-06:00

A Phone Number and an Address
by
Ellis, Age 6

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Hisssssssssssssssss
The snakes have a phone number:
332-157-7855

They also have an address:

312 South Slithering Street
Dark and Scary Woods, Magic Flute Land

The Bears have a phone number and an address:

GRRRRR GRRRRR
673 Bear Hollow Drive
Dark and Scary Woods, Magic Flute Land
654-87EB

Ellis is 6. She is going to visit them. And they will watch movies and eat cookies, and then Ellis will go home and go to sleep.

The End

A Story is Born!

2011-01-31T20:19:00.009-07:00

Welcome to The Pea Museum!

It is the last day of January, 2011. On this day, ten years ago, a pretty great kid was born. His parents named him Gus--a pretty great name. Now Gus has "given birth," so to speak, to a pretty great story. But unlike Gus, this story needs a pretty great name. And what's more, this story doesn't have an ending. With the beginning Gus has written, a reader can imagine all kinds of exciting things that might happen next. And that's where you, the reader, come in. After you read Gus's beginning, go ahead and write down what you think will happen next. And while you're at it, give the story a name. Gus can be the judge of his favorite title and ending to his story. Or he might just finish it himself. You never know what amazing things a pretty great kid like Gus will do next. Happy Birthday, Gus!

And now, for the story... by Gus, Age 10.

Once, in a treacherous and vile castle, some 800 years ago lived a terrible excuse for a king. But this was not an ordinary king. No, not an ordinary king at all. First of all, this king had wolves for pets; murderous wolves to whom he fed a whole cow each. If that weren't enough, he destroyed others treasured items for his own amusement. As you could understand, the villagers grew tired of this. So they simply decided to kill him. The villagers found a sly man with much stealth and pleaded for him to kill the king, and after the man had heard what the king had done he accepted the deed. That very night when the king was gathering water from the well, the mysterious man threw a sleeping dart that pierced in the kings neck. He then pushed him into the well never to be heard from again. But several weeks after that, the king's spirit started haunting the villagers. The desperate villagers went to the same man and asked if he could help them capture the spirit, and again he accepted the deed. He crafted a box, said some words and the box seemed to glow. He said, "Take this box and hold it upon the dreadful king. The box will open, and the king's spirit shall be sucked in. Hide it where nobody will ever find it." The villagers took the box and obeyed the man's orders. As he said, the king's spirit was sucked into the box. The villagers threw it into the river strapped to bricks of steel, hoping that no one would ever find it again. And for 300 years, no one did. That is, until a Californian boy was playing on the beach and saw the dark form of a box floating just beneath the water...

What do you think happens next? Write your own continuation of Gus's story here.

NOT-YOUR-BREAKFAST-CEREAL SERIAL

2010-11-20T18:00:00.005-07:00

Welcome to The Pea Museum's
November 2010 Exhibit
NOT-YOUR-BREAKFAST-CEREAL SERIAL

Welcome to The Pea Museum. I'm Norman, the Doorman--or Doormouse, rather--inviting you to stop and rest for a while at The Pea this November. (I'll explain my costume in a minute....)

Long ago, the poet Thomas Hood penned a poem about November. He wrote:

"...No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds--
November!"

But no matter how bleak it becomes outside in November, here inside The Pea Museum we always have plenty of stories. So come on in!

This month we are publishing a new artist's debut exhibition in serial format. That means one long story will be told a little bit at a time. It's kind of like only getting one chapter at a time, then having to wait a while for the next chapter, all the time biting your nails in suspense! Some really long books were originally written that way, including Sherlock Holmes mystery stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and books by Darles Chickens...uh, I mean to say Charles Dickens. (That Dickens-of-a-joke comes from a great book by Roald Dahl called Matilda, about a 4-year-old girl who uses her magical powers to outwit her nasty parents and evil school principal. Check it out!)

The serial in this month's exhibit is a fantasy adventure that's a whole lot more exciting than corn flakes, with leprechauns, dwarfs, dragons, and vikings. (That explains my costume.)

It all starts with the courage of one, lowly...

“CABIN BOY!” called an angry voice as Dale picked up another bucketful of meat....

Want to find out what happens? Put on your horned hats and read Part 1 of The Cabin Boy's Dagger.

The Cabin Boy's Dagger--Part 1

2010-11-20T17:00:00.003-07:00

The Cabin Boy's Dagger
by
Simon, Age 12

Part 1

“CABIN BOY!” called an angry voice as Dale picked up another bucketful of meat.

“Coming!” Dale called back. He wheezed as he ran over.

“Yes?” he said when he reached the hairy Viking, annoyed but trying not to show it.

“Get me a chicken leg, fast!” gripped the muscular man.

Dale was a small boy with short, brown hair. He had on a torn, white windbreaker, a pair of brown shorts made of a weak cloth that was also in bad condition, and a hat with horns attached to it. His father, Lachlan, had given him the hat before he was killed by the fierce dragon, Necrobiosis, while trying to steal his treasure in the cave atop the mountain where the great beast lived. He was a great Viking, a great leader of the Viking tribe, and was the only person on record who had got past the three hydras that guarded the dragons cave in the forest surrounding the mountain. Even though he was great, his brother, Warren, was extremely jealous, and when Lachlan died and Warren became the head Viking, Warren got revenge and made Lachlan’s son, Dale, a pitiful cabin boy. But, despite his loathe for Warren, Dale worked hard, hoping for a few extra coins or more than one small meal a day or something.

Dale struggled to carry the buckets that were gathered in his arms and hanging on the horns of his hat. He ran to the meat barrel as quickly as he could and took one leg. As he picked it up and left the payment for the leg in the jar next to the barrel, he thought about taking a bite. Almost instantly he realized that the one who wanted it would notice and bash Dale on the head. All the Vikings could tell when food was missing. It was one of their… interesting qualities.

“But I’m fed so little,” thought Dale. “Just one bite.”

The rich sauce was almost touching his lips when the great voice bellowed, “CABIN BOY! WHERE’S MY LEG?”

Dale shook his head, snapping himself out of his trance, and ran back. He sighed and handed over the leg, then ran off to do his many other duties.

He was handing over another bucket of food when a voice yelled “LAND HO!”

Dale’s eyes lit up. They were stopping at The Pina Caves to buy and sell weapons to the dwarfs. Dale was always collecting old, thrown out helmets and rusty swords and junk like that. They weren’t worth much, but the dwarfs would buy almost anything, and he figured he had a week’s worth of food in his storage chest.

He ran to grab his chest, dropping all the buckets. He knew he wouldn’t get in trouble for abandoning his duties. The Vikings on the ship were dimwitted, and would forget about Dale as they were trading. He felt the ship bump into land and the CLANK of the dwarf’s pickaxes. He grabbed the handle on the side of his chest and lugged it of the ship, onto the hard, grey stone with mining carts coming in and out of holes that were scattered everywhere. The dwarfs, small, ugly men who spent all their time forging weapons and armor, were bringing out gleaming weapons that could slice through a metal lock and armor that could deflect any of the weapons they brought out. At least, most of them. Some of the more pricey weapons were enchanted. Like wands that casted powerful spells, or swords that deflected attacks and sent them back to the enemy. (By the way, don’t try using two of these against each other. The last time someone did this, we were all gasping for breath and trying to grab any remains of the ship to keep us floating.) Dale went to the nearest dwarf and started showing his materials. He grunted, obviously not impressed, but agreed to buy a few helmets and a rusty sword for five silver coins. Dale dropped the coins in his chest, then dragged it to the next dwarf. He continued to sell until his chest was empty, besides the silver and bronze coins. He was about to head back when something caught his eye. A small dagger in a leather case rested on a stand guarded by a dwarf with bright, red hair. He was short, even for a dwarf, and he was wearing a bright, green suit. The dagger was accompanied by many other weapons, but they looked much too expensive.

He pulled his chest over and asked “How much for that dagger?”

“This wee one?” the small dwarf crackled in a high voice. “That’ll be 80 silver coins. I dinna’ think it’ll do much against ana’ big beasties that cross ya’ path though.”

Dale took note to the accent. “You not a dwarf,” he observed. “You’re a…”

“Aye, a leprechaun,” the man finished for him.

“What are you doing out of the forest?” questioned Dale.

“Crivens! With those beasties the hydras?” the tiny green man asked enthusiastically. “I might as well be puttin’ up a sign that says, ‘EAT ME!’. Nae, it be much more comfortable here.”

Dale shrugged and counted up his money. He had 58 silver coins and 105 bronze. 5 bronze were worth one silver coin. He was one silver coin off.

“Can you spare me one of those silver coins?”

The leprechaun rubbed his red beard. “I guess for a wee lad like ya’, I dinna think I need all a’ it. Hand over ye coins.”

Dale pulled up his chest and poured the coins on the table. The leprechaun counted them, nodded, and handed over the knife. Dale started to head back when BOOM! The leprechauns stand burst into flames. Dale jumped out of the way, dropping his chest. Sparks flew everywhere. Dale heard a deep, loud roar. He and the leprechaun looked up.

“Holy crivens!” yelled the scorched leprechaun over the noise.

“Necrobiosis,” Dale whispered under his breath.

The dragon roared again and began swooping down, picking up Vikings and dwarfs, then swimming out to the sea and dropping them. As Dale watched, terrified, as the great beast let his own shipmates plunge to their dooms. But, just for a second, his fear formed into anger. His loath for the giant beast suddenly grew much bigger than his fear for him. Dale forgot where he was for a second. He thought about screaming to the skies and threatening the beast, but Necrobiosis let out a spine tingling shriek, and fear plunged back into him. And then he ran. Towards the ship. Towards the wooden plank lying on the hard ground. To the wooden plank that was slowly being lifted.

“NO!” Dale shrieked in horror. “WAIT!”

Too late. The ship slowly began to drift off. Dale jumped in the water.

“WAIT! STOP!” Dale screamed at the top of his lungs.

But he knew they wouldn’t. That crew cared much more about their own life, rather than a pitiful cabin boy. Now that he thought about it, they probably left him on purpose. He wouldn’t be surprised at all if they did.

Necrobiosis let out another triumphant roar and flew away. Dwarfs were picking themselves up and cursing to the sky.

“I’m getting’ oouta’ here!” yelled the leprechaun. He dashed away, his green suit now partially black with ashes.

Dale scanned the area. Everything was on fire that could burn, and all the once great and swords were melted and dripping. Dale started walking. The best he could figure, he needed to go forward. He walked fast, trying to ignore the screaming dwarfs and the flaming stands. He just kept walking.

After what seemed like forever, he reached the edge of the giant slab. Nothing but water. He pounded the ground and screamed.

“A’bit troubled are we?” said a voice in an Irish accent. Dales head turned to see the Leprechaun in a small boat.

“Where’d you get that boat?” Dale asked.

“Brought i’ over from The Baiden Islands,” he replied. “How else doo’ ya think I got here? I was peepn’ and saw ya’ oown crew left ya’ behind. I ken a young lad like yerself would need a lift. I dinna think you’d’ sink the boat.”

Dale hesitated a bit before he put a got in the boat. It wobbled a bit.

“Easy there lad!” warned the leprechaun. “One wee step ata’ time.”

Dale carefully lifted the other foot in, and the leprechaun began paddling. The boat moved slowly but hardly bobbed at all. Eventually, Dale fell asleep.

~~~~~

Do you like the story so far? Leave a comment telling us what you like about it.
What will happen next? Visit us tomorrow for Part 2 of The Cabin Boy's Dagger!

The Cabin Boy's Dagger--Part 2

2010-11-20T16:00:00.005-07:00

The Cabin Boy's Dagger
by
Simon, Age 12

Part 2

“Is he gone?” bellowed Warren.

“Of course!” said the Viking. “We left him on the island. The Dwarfs are so cruel, they would never give him any food, and the island is surrounded by water too, so he has no chance of surviving.”

Warren grinned. “So he won’t be able to take my place as captain away when he’s experienced enough. Well done.”

“A pleasure,” the Viking said and grinned.

“Now, fetch me some ribs. Raw. I’m feeling good today.”

~~~~~

No chance of survival, eh? We'll see about that when our adventure continues in Part 3 of The Cabin Boy's Dagger.

The Cabin Boy's Dagger--Part 3

2010-11-20T15:00:00.004-07:00

The Cabin Boy's Dagger
by
Simon, Age 12

Part 3

“Wake up, lad!” called the leprechaun. “We be getting’ close!”

Dale snorted and woke up. “What?” he said dreamily.

“I dinna think it’ll take more than a minute, lad.”

The boat rocked a little quickly. Dale jumped up, suddenly realizing where he was. He looked around. A tentacle was poking up and feeling around the boat.

Dale screamed and was about to hit it. To his surprise, the leprechaun stopped him.

“That be the Kraken, boy.”

“Well get it! Paddle away! Do SOMETHING!”

The leprechaun laughed again. “He dinna want to kill us, lad. The beastie only harms who brings harm ta’ the villages. He’s just raising his tentacle to test the wee boat.”

After a few minutes of feeling around, the tentacle receded. Dale shifted his position and calmed a bit. The boat hit land. “Ye can go noo’.”

“Where?” asked Dale.

“I dinna thinka’ that. I’m just a wee leprechaun. I’m sure someone will tent ta’ ya’ needs. I goota get back ta’ my forest with all the beasties. Not fit for a wee lad.” The leprechaun thought for a bit. “Not very fit for a wee leprechaun either.” He shook his head. “Off you go, now.”

And with that, the leprechaun winked and paddled away. Dale stared blankly in his direction. He sighed. Again, he figured walking onward was his only option. He walked for hours. He was sweating and gasping when finnaly he came across a little house. He was slightly puzzled, but decided to see if anyone was home. He walked over to the porch and hesitated before knocking on the door. A large man in a pointy purple hat opened the door.

“What?” he said in a voice that reminded him of one of his crewmates.

Dale flinched at the memory and said “Can I come in? I’ve been walking for hours.”

“Well what are you doing out here?”

“I was dropped off by a leprechaun at the edge of the beach. My ship left me at The Pina Caves.”

“Was this leprechaun selling’ you goods?”

“Yah, I bought this.” Dale showed him the dagger.

The large man inspected it. “That’s Archey’s all right.”

“Whoeys?” asked Dale.

“Archey’s. I’ve seen him before. I actually know him well. Any friend of Archey’s is welcome here. Come on in.”

Dale stepped in slowly. He looked around. The shelves were lined with books and many different things were spread on tables that Dale didn’t understand. A big pot was boiling on a stove. Dale picked up what looked like a twisted stick made of pearl.

“What’s this?” asked Dale.

“Unicorn horn,” said the man.

Dale’s eyes lit up. “You’re a wizard!” he stated.

“Clever boy,” he said. “Yes, I’m a wizard. One of the last.”

Dale felt the unicorn horn. “Where’d you get this?”

“I have my sources,” the wizard said proudly. “Names Myron.” He stuck out his hand. Dale took it.

“Can you show me some of your tricks?” Dale asked, excited to meet a wizard.

“Like?”

“Turning animals into people, stopping time, turning invisible…”

“Whoa, slow down. How about a simple fortune telling? Your fate revealed?”

Dale nodded enthusiastically.

Myron got up and moved through the mess and picked up a blue book with no title. He opened it to a page near the end. He scanned the page, then got a jar labeled “UNICORN BLOOD: ORIGIN-HYDRA FOREST” out of a cabinet. He also got out a small pair of antlers labeled “JACKALOPES ANTLERSANTLERS: ORIGIN-HYDRA FOREST” and a strange rope like thing labeled “GIANT RATS TAIL: ORIGIN-PLAGUE ISLAND”. Dale watched in astonishment as he put them all in a pot. They all turned to a deep blue liquid. Myron motioned for Dale to come forward. He walked over hesitantly.

“Look inside,” Myron said, pointing to the bowl. Dale looked in. “What do you see?” Myron asked.

“I see me.”

Myron rolled his eyes. “Other than you. Look deeper.”

“I have my dagger. I look terrified.”

“What’s the background?”

Dale concentrated. “Rocks. A mountain I think.”

“Is anyone else there?”

“No… wait, there’s something dark… moving around me… a lizard? No, it has wings, it looks like…” Dale stopped and turned pale. “Necrobiosis.”

Myron stared at Dale. They stood in silence for a good 5 minutes.

Finally, Dale said, “It can’t be. I can’t fight anything bigger than a fox, much less a dragon. No, THE dragon. The last and the most powerful dragon!”

“You can’t fight fate,” Myron said calmly, but a strange timid tone lingered in his words.

“So what should I do?”

“Try to find and fight with him. If you try to avoid your fate, it will only catch you by surprise. Do you have anything against Necrobiosis? Anything personal?”

Dale flinched and said in a quite angry voice, forgetting where he was again. “He killed my father.”

“That’s good. That will help you.”

“How do I get there?” asked Dale.

“I could whip up a teleportation spell. All I can get you is around the edge of the forest.” Myron explained. “Inside is Necrobiosises territory.” Dale nodded, unsure of what else to do. Myron got to work. He got out his ingredients, a few stringy things labeled “SIX LEGGED SALAMANDER TAILS: ORIGIN-LAIR OF THE SIX LEGGED SALAMANDERS” and some brown mush labeled “WET SAND: ORIGIN-THE SINKING DESERT”. He put them in the boiling pot. “Jump in,” he urged.

Dale began to put a foot in when Myron said, “Wait!” He got a vial full of a liquid clear as water. He put it in Dale’s hands. "A telepathy potion, for the hydras. It only lasts a few minutes. Scan over the heads until you find the one that’s commanding the others. The alpha head. Then do your best to chop it off.”

Dale nodded again and looked in the pot. He closed his eyes and jumped in. There was a big flash and a strange pain, like someone punched him in the gut. Then suddenly he was standing on grass. He gripped his dagger and looked up at the giant trees. He gulped and slowly walked into the mass of plants. He flinched at every hoot of an owl or snap of a branch. He looked at a nearby tree. He wanted a good view of where he was going. He climbed up his masts all the time on the ship, so this would be a cinch. He scampered up the tree and looked forward. The mountain was only about a hundred yards away. Easy. He looked at his surroundings and froze. There were three hydras, each with their own part of the forest. First was the hydra with multiple legs, plus a second tail and two brains, the smartest. Next was the one that could fly. He was the quickest. Third was the one that could breathe poison. That was the most deadly and that’s the one he would have to get past. He could tell because the trees had purple spots on them. He was probably the only one on his ship that could actually read. He was about to step down when, as if on cue, a purple tail smacked him in the face. Dale yelped out in pain as he hit the ground. He felt his arm, which had bent in a strange direction. The giant beast that hit him crawled down from the tree.

“Look who’sssssssssssssssss here,” one of the reptile’s heads hissed. “You ssssssssssssssssssshouldn’t wander around in the foresssssssssssssssst. You could get hurt. Or worsssssssssssse.” The head grinned, enjoying the pain and fear he was causing.

“Which way would you like to go?” another said. “Sssssssssssliced by my clawsssssssssss? Chewed to death? My poissssssssssssssssssson is the quickessssssssst, but extreamly painful.” Dale fumbled for his dagger and potion. As quickly as he could he pulled off the cork and drank.

“What’sssssssssssss that?” asked another head. “A potion? What kind? Don’t keep sssssssssssecrets from me.”

Dale worked hard and focused on the heads. Eventually, he found a thought.

The little boy was so stupid, the hydra should just kill him fast. Plus, as far as the hydra knew, the boy could be a distraction. Yes, someone had to be lurking in the forest. But first, he would let the boy chop off a few of his heads, just to show off. It would work out great. A meal and a few more heads to share it with.

Dale let go of the monsters mind. The hydra reached a couple of heads out to Dale. “Cut ussssssssssss off with that puny dagger.” one dared. Instead, Dale quickly climbed up the neck of the head that recently spoke and stabbed the main head right in the center.

For a second, everything was silent. Then the head whispered, “How?”

“I’m not just a stupid little boy,” he said. “And I’m here alone, not as a distraction.”

The hydra looked at Dale, realizing what just happened. “Where’d you get that potion? There’sssssssssssssssssss no wizardssssssssssssss arou…” He stopped and cursed. “Myron.” Then, with a final groan, he fell. Dale jumped off just before he hit the ground. He looked at what he did. Not bad for a cabin boy. He continued to walk towards the mountain.

~~~~~

Are you ready for more adventure? Part 4 of The Cabin Boy's Dagger is coming soon!

The Cabin Boy's Dagger--Part 4

2010-11-20T14:00:00.004-07:00

The Cabin Boy's Dagger
by
Simon, Age 12

Part 4

A young owl, which belonged to Necrobiosis and had the job of watching over The Hydra Forest, had seen the battle between Dale and the poison hydra and was rushing up the mountain.

“Master!” He said as he rushed in the cave above.

“What is it watcher?” asked Necrobiosis in an old but powerful voice.

“A young boy has stepped into the forest.”

“Which side?” Asked Necrobiosis.

“The poison hydra’s side, sir.”

“Then he’s as good as dead.”

“The boy killed him!”

There was a stunned silence.

“Tell me everything,” said Necrobiosis. After the owl had explained it, Necrobiosis sighed. He lifted his giant wings up. “I’ll take care of it.” he said and blasted up into the air.

~~~~~

Will Necrobiosis be able to "take care of" the Cabin Boy so easily, or will it be the other way around? Find out in Part 5 of The Cabin Boy's Dagger.

The Cabin Boy's Dagger--Part 5

2010-11-20T13:00:00.005-07:00

The Cabin Boy's Dagger
by
Simon, Age 12

Part 5

Dale walked on the stone surface until he heard a huge roar. He sighed. He figured he would die now, but somehow, it gave him a strange comforting feeling. To be certain of death. If he believed he could live, he would probably be panicking by now. He looked up at the great dragon as it spiraled down towards him like a vulture. He came to a gentle landing and sneered at Dale.

“I’m going to kill you, and you’re going to stay still,” he said like it was completely natural. Actually, Dale realized, for him, it probably was natural. Dale charged at him, screaming. Necrobiosis looked a little surprised, but he swatted Dale away easily with his right wing. “Why are you here, anyway?” asked Necrobiosis.

Dale stopped. That was a good question.

Necrobiosis swiped a claw at Dale, not waiting for an answer. It tore through Dale’s windbreaker, making a deep and painful cut. Necrobiosis was about to do it again, but Dale swung and him with his small dagger. There was a sharp CRACK! Dale fell back and looked at the claw he was holding. His trembling was making his hat bump his skull, but he grinned and ran at Necrobiosis, suddenly empowered. Necrobiosis tried to swat him again, but Dale jumped up and drove the claw into his wing. He let it stick there and ran over to the scaly head of Necrobiosis. He took his dagger in both hands and sliced off the other wing, turning the great beast into a giant lizard. Necrobiosis screamed and thrashed. Dale jumped down and pierced the beast’s heart.

~~~~~

What now? Will Dale survive the dragon's death rage? Watch for the conclusion the story in The Cabin Boy's Dagger--Part 6.

The Cabin Boy's Dagger--Part 6

2010-11-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Cabin Boy's Dagger
by
Simon, Age 12

Part 6

Dale fell back into his bed and kicked off his shoes. He sighed in relief. After he had killed Necrobiosis, Myron had showed up. Myron had been watching Dale with another handy spell and had used a teleportation spell to poof himself over there once he saw Dale had won. He welcomed him to his home to live, and that’s just where he ended up. He knew Warren wanted to be Head Viking, but Dale was happy with Myron, so he didn’t complain. That bunch of drunks deserved an idiot for a leader like Warren. Dale rested his head on the soft pillow that felt like a cloud after the day he had gone through and fell asleep, letting his dagger rest on floor, wrapped up in a red velvet cloth.

GALUMPHING TRUCKS

2010-08-13T15:00:00.022-06:00

Welcome to
The Pea Museum's
August 2010 Exhibit:
GALUMPHING TRUCKS

Come in out of the heat! I am Norman, your friendly doorman. This week at The Pea we have a new artist's debut exhibition. His story is short and sweet, just like him.

GALLERY P: Debut Exhibition
What do you do in the summertime? Maybe you like to play out in the back yard like this young storyteller, who tells about what he does--and what he imagines he could do--with his toy dump truck, in his very first story for The Pea, Dump Out the Black Truck (Just Like Mr. Gilly).

FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
Poets use exciting words to describe things. Find out what poem inspired our new artist to describe playing with his dump truck on a summer's day.

THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY
Come to the library for more stories about trucks. Find out more about Lewis Carroll's poem, "Jabberwocky," and poetry by William Carlos Williams.

READ MORE:
GALLERY P: DEBUT EXHIBITION
FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

GALLERY P: Debut Exhibition

2010-08-13T14:50:00.026-06:00

Dump Out the Black Truck (Just Like Mr. Gilly)
by
Hugh, Age 2

Illustrated by Curtis, Age 32

I scooped up the pine cones and some grass and dumped them out.

And then I watched them fall out all over the grass.

Then they dumped under the trees.

And then I went galumphing back to the house.

Then I got a new black truck to dump things.

FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH

2010-08-13T14:40:00.021-06:00

Ah, friends! Welcome back to my poem patch on this lovely summer's day.

Summer is the perfect time to look around you and gather warmth and colors and words that you can use to write poetry or stories. And because "summer's lease hath all too short a date" (that's Shakespeare, you know) take some time soon to go outside to your back yard and write down the things you see and feel and think about.

Speaking of gathering colors, here is a short poem by William Carlos Williams about something he noticed when he looked out the window one day:

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.

Can you picture what the poet saw out the window? The artist chose his words carefully to describe what he really saw. The sight of the red wheelbarrow, the rainwater and the chickens caught his attention and brought ideas to his mind.

That can happen to you, too. Next time you are driving around town, see if something you see out your car window catches your eye and brings ideas to your mind. Then you can write your own "so much depends" poem. Even if you're not sure why you liked the look of something, write it down anyway. As you write and read your own words, you might find a clue to why what you saw was so colorful and interesting to you or why it is so important to the world around you.

Our new artist loves it when he sees construction vehicles or "diggers" out the car window. He always points to them and calls out to his parents to notice them. So his mom, Amanda, age 30, has written a poem to show how important the sight of the digger is to him and to show how important her son's observations are to her.

so much depends
upon
the yellow
digger
splattered with
mud
against the blue
sky

To write that poem, the poet used colorful words, like yellow, splattered, and blue to describe what she really saw out her car window.

Speaking of words, before this glorious summer has ended, I want to share another poem with you that has lots of interesting words. You may have noticed a rather poetic word our new artist used in his debut exhibition. He said that he took his dump truck and went "galumphing" back to the house to get more things to dump. Where did that word "galumphing" come from? What does it mean?

What do you think it means?

The word "galumphing" comes from a famous poem by Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In his second book about Alice, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll includes the following poem about a monster called the Jabberwock.

JABBERWOCKY
by
Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There)

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Well, did you see the word "galumphing?" Now that you've read this poem, what do you think the word means?

Unlike William Carlos Williams, the author, Lewis Carroll, liked to make up nonsense words to describe imaginary things. Perhaps similar to Williams, however, Carroll thought that words should be carefully chosen to write a poem. He had noticed that some people liked using big words to write poems just to show off. So Carroll used the nonsense words in Jabberwocky to show how silly some poetry could be. He used the word "galumphing" to describe how the boy who slayed the Jabberwock monster went back home. To me "galumphing" sounds like a heavy kind of stamping gallop. Maybe the boy was riding a horse back to his castle. Or maybe the boy was on foot, and the monster's head was so heavy that he had to walk back home with an awkward gait.

In any case, even if the word was originally nonsense, it had a memorable sound to it that our new artist remembered after his parents read the poem to him. He made his own meaning of the word when he put it into his own story. You can do that to. Try using one of Lewis Carroll's nonsense words however you like in one of your own stories or poems.

To find out more about the poem, Jabberwocky, and its words, visit The Pea Museum Library.

READ MORE:
GALLERY P: DEBUT EXHIBITION
FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

2010-08-13T14:30:00.016-06:00

Welcome to the Library!

Read any good books lately? Tell us about them by leaving a comment here at the library.

Read more great books about trucks:

In our new artist's debut exhibition, he tells a story about a truck that is "just like Mr. Gilly's." Who is Mr. Gilly? He is a character in the book Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha. Mr. Gilly collects garbage with his truck. Our new artist likes to watch the garbage trucks come by his house every Thursday morning. Do you do that, too? He likes it so much, that on the other days of the week he pretends his toy trucks are garbage trucks and that he is Mr. Gilly. You can find more great books about trucks listed below. Get a few at your library and when you've read them, try acting them out with your toys.

A Fire Engine for Ruthie by Leslea Newman

A Truck goes Rattley-bumpa by Jonathan London

Cars and Trucks and Things that Go by Richard Scarry

Digger Man by Andrea Zimmerman

Dinotrux by Chris Gall

Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough

Fire Truck by Peter Sis

Hansel and Diesel by David Gordon

I Love Trucks by Philemon Sturges

I Stink! by Kate and Jim McMullan

Minerva Louise and the Red Truck by Janet Morgan Stoeke

The Grumpy Dump Truck by Brie Spangler

The Little Dump Truck by Margaret Cuyler

The Three Little Rigs by David Gordon

The Ugly Truckling by David Gordon

Red Truck by Kersten Hamilton

Smash! Crash! by Jon Scieszka

Truck by Donald Crews

Trucks, Trucks, Trucks by Peter Sis

Read other illustrated versions of the poem, "Jabberwocky:"

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll Illustrated by Christopher Myers
In this version, the battle with the Jabberwock takes place on the basketball court.

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll Illustrated by Graeme Base
In this version, the prince of the kingdom goes to find the frightening Jabberwock in a fairy tale landscape.

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll Illustrated by Joel Stewart
In this version, a child encounters the Jabberwock, who is drawn as crazy (and silly) as can be.

Find out more about the poem, "Jabberwocky," and Lewis Carroll's books:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner. New York: Norton, 2000.

Find more poems by William Carlos Williams:

Poetry for Young People: William Carlos Williams by Christopher MacGowan

Credits:

Photographs of Norman and Frederick by Ellis, Age 5

Photographs of families reading together by Amanda, Age 30, Susannah, Age 33, and Curtis, Age 32

READ MORE:
GALLERY P: DEBUT EXHIBITION
FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

TOOTH ON THE LOOSE!

2010-02-09T18:00:00.023-07:00

Welcome to
The Pea Museum's
February 2010 Exhibit:

TOOTH ON THE LOOSE!

Come on in! I'm Norman the Doorman, here to welcome you to this month's exhibit, all about losing your teeth. Check out the galleries to see the stories we have for you this month.

GALLERY P: The Backstory
Ever wonder where the story of The Tooth Fairy came from? Find out more here and then enjoy the story of The Good Little Mouse.

GALLERY E: A True Story
Ever lost a tooth that you lost? So has this four-year-old in the story of The Tooth Fairy Can't Find a Tooth.

GALLERY A: One More Story
Ever made up your own story about what happens to your lost teeth? See if your story can compare to the amazing adventures told in this story By Piper.

FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
Ever had a hard time losing a tooth? It can sometimes hurt! But reading poems about it can help bring back your smile.

THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY
Ever wondered where there are more stories about losing teeth? Find factual and fantastic information at the library.

GALLERY P: The Backstory

2010-02-09T17:55:00.021-07:00

Hello. I'm Honeydew, a Fairy Bear. And speaking of fairies, I have always wondered who the Tooth Fairy was and when she started coming around. I looked in books and on the internet and I found out that for many years people in different countries have done lots of things with a lost tooth. Some would bury the tooth, some would burn the tooth. Others would throw it up towards the sun or over their rooftop. Some would feed the tooth to an animal like a mouse or rat because they believed that their child's tooth would grow back sharp and strong just like the mouse's tooth. And some people put their tooth under their pillow and wait for the Tooth Fairy or another magical creature to take the tooth and leave some money in return. In some countries, they believe that a little mouse helps a fairy to collect the teeth.

Well, whatever you like to do with your lost teeth, losing them is usually a sign that you are growing up. Growing up can feel both exciting and scary, so it's nice to do something special to help you have fun while you grow.

Reading a story can be a good way to have fun growing up. Here in Gallery P I am going to share with you a story I found about a mouse that helped a princess. He was such a helpful little mouse that it seemed he might even be a magic little mouse. But I will let you read the tory to find out the truth. Perhaps it was a story like this that helped make a mouse part of the story of the tooth fairy.

The Good Little Mouse
by Marie Catherine D'Aulnoy
from the translation of The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy

by Miss Annie Macdonell and Miss Lee.
Retold by Amanda
Photographed by Ellis

Once upon a time there were a king and a queen who loved each other very much.

They laughed and sang and played games and ate good food. They were happy. The people in their kingdom were happy too, so the kingdom was called the Land of Joy.

The kingdom next to the Land of Joy was led by a king who was very different. He loved to fight. He never smiled. His body was sick and weak and dirty. He always wore black. He never combed his hair. For fun, he loved to see other people get hurt. And whenever he heard that there was a mother in his land who was kind to her children, he took that mother away. His kingdom was called the Land of Tears.

One day the king of the Land of Tears heard about how happy people were in the Land of Joy. He was jealous and decided he would gather an army together to fight his neighbor.

The king of the Land of Joy heard that an army was coming to fight him and he prepared to defend his kingdom.

The queen was sad and wanted to run away to somewhere safe. But the king said he would show courage and fight. He hugged and kissed his queen and said goodbye.

The queen watched him ride off to battle and cried. She was expecting a baby and knew that if her husband died, her life and her child's life would be in great danger.

For many days she worried and could not eat or sleep. Then one morning news came that the king of the Land of Joy was dead. The queen wept with all the others who had lost their husbands, fathers, and sons.

Suddenly the king of the Land of Tears rode into town. The queen tried to hide, but the evil king found her in her castle and took her away to his own country. He decided not to hurt her, however, because she was going to have a baby. He hoped that her baby would be born a girl and might one day marry his son.

Because the king wanted to know whether the queen's baby was a boy or a girl, he sent for a fairy who lived at the edge of his kingdom. He took the fairy to the tower room where he had imprisoned the queen of the Land of Joy. There was nothing in the room but a bed on the hard floor, where the queen lay and wept all day. The fairy felt sorry for the queen. She embraced her and whispered into her ear,

"Take courage! Your sorrows will not last forever. I will help you."

The queen felt better and smiled at the fairy.

The king of the Land of Tears was impatient. He demanded to know if the baby would be born a boy or a girl. The fairy answered that the baby would be born a girl with great beauty and talent. The king said that if what the fairy said was not true, he would kill the queen. Then he stormed from the room, taking the fairy with him, leaving the queen to weep again.

As time for the baby's birth grew near, the queen became sick and thin with worry. She worked hard day and night, spinning for the king. She had nothing to eat each day but three peas cooked in water and a crust of black bread.

One evening she saw a pretty little mouse come into her room through a hole. The mouse danced around in such a fun little way that the queen smiled for the first time. She decided to share one of her peas with the mouse.

"Here, little one," she said. "Eat this. I have no more, but I happily share it with you."

No sooner had she shared her pea than a delicious dinner appeared on the table before her. The queen was happily surprised, though she could only eat a little because her body was so sick. She shared the rest of the feast with the mouse, who nibbled happily and then scampered away.

The next day the mouse came again and ate of the queen's usual meager dinner of peas and bread. When the queen wanted to eat, she found nothing left, and she felt very angry with the mouse. However, when she began to cover up the empty dish, she found that it was not empty, but instead held lots of good things to eat. The queen was happy for the food but still sad when she thought that the wicked king might take her baby. What could she do? How could she escape? Just then she saw the little mouse playing with a piece of straw. This gave the queen an idea.

"I shall use this straw to make a basket for my baby. Then I will let her down through the window and give her to the first kind person that comes along."

The queen set to work making the basket. The mouse helped her by bringing her straw. At dinnertime she shared her peas with the mouse and, just as before, she found all kinds of good things to eat waiting for her in the once empty dish.

One day, as the queen was looking out the window to see how far it was to the ground, a little old woman leaning on a stick walked by and said to her, "I know your trouble, Madam, and I will help you."

The queen thanked the woman and told her that she needed someone to care for her child. The woman agreed to help the queen, but she had one request: the queen must provide a mouse for her next meal. At this the queen wept. She knew of only one mouse in her tower room, and it was her friend. She explained to the old woman that she could not kill it. The old woman did not take pity on the queen but scolded her for her foolishness and went off muttering to herself.

That evening a nice meal appeared for the queen and the mouse danced for her, but she was too sad to take notice.

Her baby daughter was born that night. She was beautiful, and instead of crying, the baby smiled and held out her hands to her mother. Her mother kissed her and held her and then tucked her into the basket with a label fastened to her clothes saying: This little girl's name is Joliette.

The queen did not know what to do next. Just then the little mouse crept into the basket next to the baby.

"Ah, little mouse," the queen said. "It has cost me much to spare your life, for now my daughter may not live."

"Do not regret what you have done," the mouse spoke up. "I will return your friendship."

The queen was frightened to hear the mouse talk and more frightened still to see the mouse's body changing form. Suddenly there stood before the queen the fairy who had visited her with the king months before.

"Do not be afraid," the fairy began, "I wished to test your heart. I know now it is capable of true friendship. Though fairies have great riches, we find it hard to find true love and friendship, which is what we desire most in life. People only show kindness to us in hopes of what we might do for them. You loved me when I was a mouse, even when it could have proved useful to you to kill me. I tested you. It was I who appeared to you as the old lady at the bottom of the tower. You were true to me and passed my test."

The fairy leaned over and hugged the queen. Then she kissed the princess on the lips three times and said, "My gifts to you are that you will be your mother's comfort, that you will be rich, and that you will live for a hundred years, ever beautiful, never ill, never old."

The happy queen thanked the fairy and gave her daughter to her care. The fairy accepted the gift and prepared to leave. First she lowered the baby down from the window.

Next she changed herself into a mouse so she could scamper down the cord. But in no time at all she was back up the rope with awful news. "All is lost," she said to the queen. "My enemy, Cancaline, has carried off the princess. Cancaline is a cruel fairy who hates me, and unhappily, being older than I, she has more power. I do not know how to get Joliette away from her."

The queen wept and begged her friend to do all she could to find her little baby again.

Meanwhile, the queen's jailer came to her room to take away her dishes and found that the baby had been born. He told the king, who came to the queen and demanded to have the child. The queen explained that a fairy she did not know had come and stolen the baby away. The king was so upset, he vowed to kill the queen. He dragged her outside. But just as he was about to harm her, the fairy made the queen invisible and pushed the king over. He fell flat on his face and broke four of his teeth. The fairy bore the queen away to a beautiful castle where she took care of her. Everything would have been all right if they could only find the little Joliette.

Fifteen years had passed when the queen and fairy heard a rumor that the king's son was going to marry his turkey-herd, though the turkey-herd did not want to marry him. Nevertheless, all was made ready for the wedding. The fairy, disguised as the little mouse, went to find out about such surprising news. She found the turkey-herd in her house, trampling the fine clothes and jewels from the prince all around her. The prince was there, too, threatening the girl that if she did not marry him, he would kill her. But she answered, proudly:

"I shall not marry you. You are like your cruel father. Leave me alone with my little turkeys. I like them better than all your finery."

The little mouse admired the girl's courage, and when the king's son had left, she greeted her.

"Good day, little one. What fine fat turkeys you have got here!"

The young turkey-herd looked at the mouse kindly, and said, "The king and his son want me to leave my turkeys and to wear a crown. What do you say about that?"

"My little girl," said the mouse, "a crown is a very fine thing; you neither know the value nor the weight of it."

"Oh, yes, I do," the herd replied, promptly. "And for that reason I am sure I will never wear it. But I am still troubled. I do not know who I am, nor who my father is, nor my mother."

"You have beauty and goodness, my child," said the wise mouse, "and these are better than crowns and kingdoms. Tell me, I beg you, who raised you, since you have neither father nor mother?"

"It was a fairy called Cancaline. She used to beat me. So one day I ran away, and, not knowing where to go, I stopped in a wood. The wicked king's son came walking there, and he asked me if I should like to go and be a servant in his yard. I was quite willing, so I had the turkeys given to my charge. He used to come constantly to see them, and he saw me too. Alas, without any encouragement from me, he thinks he has fallen so very much in love with me that he will not leave me alone."

The mouse, hearing this, began to think the turkey-herd must be Princess Joliette; so she said to her, "Tell me your name, my daughter."

"My name is Joliette."

Then the mouse knew the girl was the long-lost princess. She encouraged the girl to wash and dress. When she was bathed and adorned with the diamonds and the beautiful clothes, the mouse said to her, "What do you think you are, dear Joliette, for you look like a very fine lady now."

"In truth," Joliette answered, "I think I look like the daughter of some great king."

"Would you be pleased if this were so?" asked the mouse.

"Yes," replied Joliette.

"Very well," said the mouse. "Do not worry about a thing. I shall visit you tomorrow and tell you more."

In haste the mouse returned to her castle, where the queen was busy spinning silk. The mouse called to the queen that she had some good news. It was hard for the queen to believe any news could be good enough. But when the mouse told her she had found the princess alive and well, the queen wept for joy. She also wept for sadness to think of the cruel prince's intention to marry her.

"I do not wish her to marry the wicked king's son," said the queen. "Let us set out tomorrow to get her and bring her here."

Now it happened that the wicked king's son whined and complained to his father that the turkey-herd would not marry him. The king said he would force the girl to marry his son or she would die. He called for his soldiers, and said to go get her. When the soldiers arrived at the turkey yard they saw the girl there. They had never seen such fine beauty and did not know who the girl was.

"Madam," they said, "we are looking for a miserable little girl called Joliette."

"Alas," she said, "I am Joliette. What do you want of me?"

The soldiers seized her at once and took her to the king and his son. The king was surprised at her beauty but too cruel to take pity on her.

"So you will not love my son? Love him at once, or I will have you whipped."

The princess, shaking with fear, knelt before him, saying:

"Sire, I beg of you not to hurt me. Leave me one or two days to think what I ought to do, and then you may do what you will with me."

The king decided to shut her up in a tower while he waited for her to make up her mind.

When the good fairy and the queen heard the news, the queen wept again. But the fairy had a plan.

At bedtime, the fairy turned herself into a mouse, and hid under the king's pillow. As soon as he fell asleep, she bit his ear. He turned on his other side, and she bit his other ear.

The king called for help, but his soldiers could not find the mouse.

Meanwhile, the mouse had slipped over to the bedchamber of the prince and did the same thing to him.

Once the king and prince had their ears bandaged and were just falling asleep again, the mouse bit the king's nose and scratched his hand and all over his face. He called for his soldiers and told them a mouse had done it again. The soldiers could not find the mouse, who was busy biting the prince.

By now both father and son were so scratched that they could not see very well. They yelled for everyone to help them find the mouse and they yelled at each other and began to fight with each other with swords until they were so wounded they died.

All their people of the land, who hated the king and his son, and who only served them out of fear, were very happy to be rid of them.

The good fairy and the queen went to the tower and rescued Joliette.

The queen hugged her daughter. "My dearest one," she said, "I am your mother, Queen Joyous." And she told her the story of her life.

When Joliette heard such good news she was full of joy and kissed her mother a thousand times. She embraced the fairy, who had brought for her baskets full of priceless jewels, gold, diamonds, bracelets, pearls, and a picture of her father.

Then the fairy explained, "We must speak to the people of this land."

The fairy, the queen, and the princess walked to the great hall of the castle. They bowed to all they met on the way, to the poor as well as the great, and all the people followed them, eager to know who these fair ladies might he.

When the hall was full, the good fairy explained that Queen Joyous would like to be their new queen. The people were happy to accept. They were tired of being sad and miserable. They began to play beautiful music to welcome the new queen and princess, dancing and singing their joy. They feasted and went to bed happily that night.

In the morning, when the princess woke, the fairy presented to her a handsome prince. As soon as she saw him she loved him and he loved her. The queen was happy, too. And the wedding of the prince and princess was celebrated with everlasting joy.

------------------------------------------

The above translation of this story was derived from the translation of the
The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy by Miss Annie Macdonell and Miss Lee. Published in London by Lawrence and Bullen, 1892. This translation can be found at http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/aulnoy/1892/goodlittlemouse.html

THE END

Want More Stories? Visit the rest of this month's exhibit!

GALLERY P: The Backstory
GALLERY E: A True Story
GALLERY A: One More Story
FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

GALLERY E: A True Story

2010-02-09T17:45:00.016-07:00

Hello, again. I'm Honeydew, the Fairy Bear. If you have visited Gallery P, you have learned the story of a good little mouse who was really a fairy in disguise. This mouse/fairy helped a good queen and her daughter defeat an evil king and his son.

Being a fairy myself, I know how nice it would be to be able to change the way I look in order to help someone in need. Alas, I do not have that kind of magic. But second best would be to have a little animal helper of my own, like a good little mouse. There is a tradition in some countries of a good little mouse that helps The Tooth Fairy to collect teeth from children who have lost them. Here in Gallery E, you will find the true story of a little girl who lost her tooth in an unusual way, and the magical fairy and mouse who helped everything turn out all right.

The Tooth Fairy Can't Find a Tooth

by Ellis, Age 4

Now...

I felt something with my tongue, and I thought it was a loose tooth. So I went to Mom and said, "I think my teeth are going to come out sooner than you think!"

And she said, "Why?"

"My tooth is loose."

"Which one?"

"This one," I said, wiggling it. "Right here."

But then one time, while I was eating something, I accidentally ate my own tooth! I didn't even notice. I didn't really know it was going to come out that soon.

And my mom said, "You lost a tooth!"

I worried The Tooth Fairy wouldn't come, because she wouldn't see any tooth under my pillow.

But then my mom said, "She doesn't look just for teeth--she looks for holes. In your mouth. She uses her magic wand. It has some sparkles that light up your mouth so she can see the holes."

Mom said it would be okay.

So I went to bed.

But still I wondered, would The Tooth Fairy come?

I woke up in the morning and went right out to the kitchen to get breakfast. I had forgotten that The Tooth Fairy puts things under pillows during the night. My mom reminded me. I decided on a hunt, to search under every pillow to see which pillow The Tooth Fairy came to. It ended up being mine!

The Tooth Fairy left me four quarters and a note.

This is what the note said:

Dear Ellis,

I came to your room last night and noticed you were missing a tooth. Congratulations! I looked under the pillow, but I couldn’t find a tooth, so do you know what I did? I sent my good friend Topino to look for it.

Many children in your country do not know about Topino. He is my helper, The Tooth Mouse. He is a kind of fairy, really. Some say that he is related to a fairy that once changed herself into a mouse to help a very good queen defeat a very bad king. (Ask your dad to read you this story sometime.)

Usually Topino only helps people in Italy, France, Spain, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina; however, sometimes, when I really need his help, he comes to the United States, too. You see, yours was a special case, because we found a lovely hole in your mouth, but no tooth under your pillow. Luckily, Topino, being a mouse, likes holes. Also, he is very good at finding small things, for instance, lost teeth. And do you know what? He found yours! He gave it to me (it was very cute), and in exchange, I left you some small coin to spend however you like. Enjoy! And thank you for being a very good girl and not a very bad one.

Love,

Fatina, The Tooth Fairy (and Topino, The Tooth Mouse)

I put the quarters in my box.

But actually, guess what? Those quarters I got? Actually, guess what? My stuffed animal, Frog Astaire, taped that money onto the bottom of his shoes and danced around all night! It was tap dancing! He was using the quarters for taps!

And then, later one time I had to chase him to the library. He tap-danced all the way to the library. I had to chase him. I had to get my quarters back! He thought I could never catch him.

I found him there, at the library, tap dancing in the story time for the kids! And he was messing up the storytime. He would sometimes forget steps. But actually, it just made people laugh. It made me laugh!

Now is that story all true?

Yes!

Well, there is some truth in the story.

THE END

Want More Stories? Visit the rest of this month's exhibit!

GALLERY P: The Backstory
GALLERY E: A True Story
GALLERY A: One More Story
FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

GALLERY A: One More Story

2010-02-09T17:35:00.013-07:00

Hello! I, Honeydew the Fairy Bear, am back to share with you one more story. In Gallery E you can find the true story of a little girl who lost her first tooth in an unusual way. Hearing someone's story about the unusual way they lost their tooth could inspire you to think up an unusual story of your own, like it did the author of our next story, here in Gallery A.

By Piper, Age 5

Once upon a time there was a kid named Sky Blue. She went to the North Pole, and there she found a giant blackberry. And she just ate it up, like this,

"Ahum!"

And then she grew so big she was called "Pop-to-Giant Elf."

There was another little girl named Pooka. She found a teeny little blueberry and ate it up. And she grew so small she just turned into a mouse.

But then Pop-to-Giant Elf lost a tooth. It was a huge tooth and it fell on the ground. Santa came and said,

"Oh no! It's going to make the North Pole crack!"

But Pooka, the mouse, was so strong she could just carry the tooth on her back to the Tooth Fairy. She was a giant tooth fairy, and she gave Pop-to-Giant Elf and Pooka each a giant lollipop in return.

THE END

Want More Stories? Visit the rest of this month's exhibit!

GALLERY P: The Backstory
GALLERY E: A True Story
GALLERY A: One More Story
FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH

2010-02-09T17:25:00.010-07:00

Hello, I am Frederick the Mouse. Welcome to my poem patch, where I have stored away a few poems for anyone who has ever lost a tooth. Hope these bring a smile to your face, no matter how many teeth you're missing!

Although He Didn't Like the Taste
by Arnold Lobel

Although he didn't like the taste,
George brushed his teeth with pickle paste.
Not ever was his mouth so clean,
Not ever were his teeth so green.

I Had a Loose Tooth
by Ruth Kanarek

I had a loose tooth, a wiggly, jiggly loose tooth.
I had a loose tooth, hanging by a thread.

So I pulled my loose tooth, this wiggly, jiggly loose tooth.
And put it 'neath the pillow when I went up to bed.

The fairies took my loose tooth, my wiggly, jiggly loose tooth.
So now I have a nickel and a hole in my head.

Tooth Traffic
by Susan Noyes Anderson

I am losing my teeth
one by two, two by three;
and they’re growing back
crooked as crooked can be.
Some curve left, some curve right,
but not one tooth goes straight.
My two front teeth are posed
in a large figure eight!
From the way things look now
it should not be too long
till the front ones grow back
where the back ones belong.
A disaster, because
what will happen, you see,
is the back ones will grow
where the front ones should be.
It’s a traffic jam!
Tooth Traffic! Out of Control!
SOS! Red Alert!
Subject needs Tooth Patrol!
Send a uniformed molar
as fast as you can
to direct all these teeth
back to where they began.

THE END

Want More Stories? Visit the rest of this month's exhibit!

GALLERY P: The Backstory
GALLERY E: A True Story
GALLERY A: One More Story
FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

2010-02-09T17:20:00.019-07:00

Find out more about the tooth fairy and the little mouse at this website:
http://www.mapetitesouris.com/the_legend_of_the_tooth_mouse.html

Try these books about losing teeth!

Throw Your Tooth on the Roof!: Tooth Traditions from Around the World by Selby Beeler

Truman's Loose Tooth by Kristine Wurm

You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy? by Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt

Dear Tooth Fairy by Alan Durrant

The Night Before the Tooth Fairy by Natasha Wing

We Read!
Here are some of the things we have been reading lately with Ellis, our Storyteller in Residence.

The Moffats series by Eleanor Estes, starting with The Moffats

"I like them because the kids have lots of adventures. One time they even made their own museum. Rufus pretended to be a wax statue!" ~Ellis

The Melendy Quartet by Elizabeth Enright, starting with The Saturdays

"I like them because they have a lot of adventures going out of the house and they have a lot of discoveries around their new house." ~Ellis

The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

"The animals are funny. Tigger bounces around and Pooh is always looking for honey. Me and my brother are bouncy, just like Tigger." ~Ellis

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

"I like the bugs. The bugs are funny--especially the centipede, because he always worries about his boots. He always needs help getting on his boots." ~Ellis

The Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books by Betty MacDonald, starting with Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

"I love these books. They're silly! They're funny! The funny thing is Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's house is upside down." ~Ellis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

"I like Lucy. She's the first one to find the magical world when she goes through the wardrobe, and she has fun adventures. I like the beavers. Their dam is actually a real house with real house things in it. And they talk. I like all the talking animals." ~Ellis

You Read!
What are you reading? Tell us what you are reading and why you like it by responding to this post.

Want More Stories? Visit the rest of this month's exhibit!

GALLERY P: The Backstory
GALLERY E: A True Story
GALLERY A: One More Story
FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

Winter 2009 WAITING FOR SPRING

2009-02-12T03:00:00.031-07:00

Welcome to the Pea Museum's

Winter 2009 Exhibit

Waiting for Spring

Come in! Come in out of the cold! My name is Norman. I am the doorman at The Pea Museum. Welcome! If this is your first visit to The Pea, please read more about us here. If you are a regular Pea patron, welcome back!

This month at The Pea gather round in the Atrium and settle into a comfy chair as we share a collection of stories perfect for brightening a dark, winter day. And before you leave today be sure to post your comments. Your ideas about the stories become a part of our exhibits. They are just as important as the stories themselves.

Thanks for visiting! Enjoy!

In the AUDITORIUM:
The PEA LECTURE SERIES presents Gathering Stories by Frederick the Mouse

In the ATRIUM:
Love, Ellis--A Little Bird Telling Little Household “Tails”

"Tail" 1: Of Roses and Hippos

"Tail" 2: Dressing Up

"Tail" 3: The Mice and Bears' Adventure

"Tail" 4: A Birthday for Princess Biddy

"Tail" 5: Angelina and Melissa Visit a Great Grand

"Tail" 6: If You Bake a Bear a Birthday Cake

"Tail" 7: Two Yellow Stars

FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH

THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

THE AUDITORIUM: Gathering Stories

2009-02-12T02:50:00.008-07:00

The Pea Museum Lecture Series presents
Gathering Stories
by
Frederick the Mouse

Welcome, dear friends of the Pea! Last month at The Pea we talked about the many parts of a story. But just knowing the parts of a story is not enough to write or tell a story. This month at The Pea our Storyteller in Residence shares with us her own collection of short stories. She seems to have an endless supply of stories, so you may wonder—Where do the stories come from? How does she get her ideas for her stories? How does she put those ideas together to make a story?

I can tell you a little about how making a story works because I myself am a storyteller. You may remember from reading my story Frederick, by Leo Lionni, that I first learned how to tell stories when I was a young field mouse living at home with my family. We had to work hard during the warm months of the year to gather supplies for the winter. One season I found that I was working harder than ever. But I wasn’t gathering nuts and corn. I was looking at and listening to and feeling the sights and sounds around me. I was gathering colors, feelings, and words. When winter came that year my family gathered in our little mouse hole to keep warm. By the end of winter, most of our food had run out. We were cold and hungry. But I still had my supplies to share. My family gathered around as I told them about the colors, feelings, and words I had gathered in my memory. The stories I shared made them feel good. My stories helped them through the long, cold winter.

Like me, our Storyteller in Residence notices and gathers into her mind the colors, feelings, and words around her. She doesn’t know how to write words yet, but as she sees and feels and hears things, she tells about them while she plays with her toys. When I asked her how she puts the ideas she has gathered together to make a story, she said,

“First, if it’s someone’s birthday or something, then I need to write them a story. So I just remember the things that person likes, and I tell a story about them. I use my stuffed animals, of course.”

You can do this, too. Every day take some time to stop and notice the things around you. Think about what words you would use to describe the sky, the sounds in your neighborhood, or the things you do and the way you feel when you’re with your family or friends. When you take time to notice things, you may find that you want to act them out when you play or that you want to tell about them to a family member or a friend. Go ahead! That’s a kind of storytelling already. You can also write down these words in a notebook or journal. Then, one day, when you want to tell a story, you will have gathered the colors, feelings, and words that you need.

THE ATRIUM: Love, Ellis

2009-02-12T02:40:00.016-07:00

Love, Ellis:
A Little Bird's Telling of Little Household "Tails"

Dear friends, if you have read Hans Christian Andersen’s story Thumbelina, you may recognize me. I am the swallow, the little bird that was nursed back to health by the kind Thumbelina during the dark winter months, who then returned to rescue Thumbelina from a life living in the dark underground. I carried her to a land of spring and summer, and then I carried my tale to Mr. Andersen’s windowsill. I am the little bird that told.

And now, dear friends, allow me to tell you about the collection of stories being told at the museum this month. Our Storyteller in Residence has spent much of her time indoors playing by herself during this winter season. Whenever there has been a chance to remember friends and family who live far away, she has written them a letter. Did you know that when you write a letter to a friend you usually tell a story? Sometimes it is a personal narrative—a story from your everyday life. But the stories written in these letters become something more. They are like a kind of story called Haus Marchen (German for “little household stories”) or Contes Fabulaire (French for “Fabulous Tales”). This kind of story is about exciting, magical things that happen “once upon a time.” It is often shared with children at home, or, in this case, is created by a child cooped up in her home during the cold winter days.

Notice in this first story how our Storyteller in Residence gathers things from her everyday life at home—the toys she plays with, the stories she reads, the feelings she has—and turns them into magical adventures. You might say that these stories are full of allusions. An allusion is when something in the story connects to something in another story or to something that has happened in the world or to something that has happened to the storyteller. The storyteller doesn't always say that they are making a connection, but if you know a lot of stories and a lot about the world, you can figure out the allusions.

Here is a short story by our Storyteller in Residence that shows what I mean. Her story is in black and the allusions are explained in green.

Love, Ellis
By Ellis

Once upon a time, Mousekin [Ellis’s toy brown mouse named after the mouse in the Mousekin books by Edna Miller] wrote a letter to her friend named Norman [Ellis’s white toy mouse named after the mouse in the book Norman the Doorman by Don Freeman]. But Norman didn’t want a letter. So instead, he sent it along to his friend, Dame Mouserink [Ellis’s gray toy mouse named after the mother of the bad mouse in The Nutcracker by E.T. A. Hoffman]. And you know? She was very glad to receive it. She wanted that kind of a letter from Mousekin because Dame Mouserink is lonely. [This is an allusion to a Frog and Toad story called “The Letter” by Arnold Lobel.] That’s why she likes to get letters. She wants the kind of letter where I tell a story, and you type it. She likes that kind of a letter. [This is how Ellis actually feels about letters and stories.]

So, at the end, the story is not of anything. There’s no truth in it. [This is an allusion to The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen when he says that the story is true.] But Dame Mouserink didn’t want that kind of a letter, because that’s not really a story. A story is something different. [This also might remind you of one of the things we like to do here at The Pea Museum—to talk about where is the truth in the story.] So, Angelina [another toy mouse—a stuffed-animal version of the mouse in the book Angelina Ballerina by Katherine Hollabird.] and Mickey and Minnie [Ellis has stuffed animals of these Disney characters.] showed up to make it even more story. They are all in it too. They made breakfast, dinner, and lunch. They accidently made dinner before lunch. They made it backwards. [This is an allusion to something which actually happened at Ellis’s house one day.] But then they tried again, and then they made lunch, and then dinner…. And they just had a fun time making it. And that’s the end.

THE END

“And they just had a fun time making it…”--that is how our Storyteller in Residence feels about making up stories. I hope you enjoy her stories as much as I do. They’re just the kind I might like to pass on to Mr. Andersen at his window come spring.

For now, I will pass them on to you.

"Tail" 1: Of Roses and Hippos

"Tail" 2: Dressing Up

"Tail" 3: The Mice and Bears' Adventure

"Tail" 4: A Birthday for Princess Biddy

"Tail" 5: Angelina and Melissa Visit a Great Grand

"Tail" 6: If You Bake a Bear a Birthday Cake

"Tail" 7: Two Yellow Stars

Of Roses and Hippos

2009-02-12T02:30:00.009-07:00

Of Roses and Hippos
by Ellis

Well, once upon a time there was a little hippo, and what was her name? Her name was Hilda. And she went on a walk, and she found a nice patch of roses, and in the middle was a large lake. In the middle of the lake was a nice puddle-pool with raindrops coming into it. "It must be a rainy day." said Hilda, and she jumped so high that she landed right into the swimming pool. And she swam as fast as she could. "Cow-a-bunga!" she said. "Cow-a-bunga!" she said again. And then again and again and again! And then SPLASH! Then she got the wet all over the place and then SPLASH! She went deep down into the puddle. Then the water started to get muddy.

Then nine little pigs came along with their mother and father. And they jumped right into the puddle. And then the mother pig said, "You need lots of soap! Ishy, squishy, mishy, bishy, NOPE! I need soap!" And then the mother pig landed right in. And the father and the kids (they're brothers and sisters and cousins and there's a grandma and grandpa, and there were more cousins—lots and lots of cousins—and there were friends) said, "We do need soap. We do!" And the mother pig threw it in. And she threw it so hard that it landed in the pool. And it landed on everyone. SPLAT!

The hippo was so hot that she got tired of being in the pool, and she got out, and the pigs followed her. Now there were patches of roses coming up on the track. There were pink and white and red, and when they were picking flowers they did not know which ones to pick, because there were so many.

Now a princess came along. She was rainbow-y all over. Her name was Rosemary. Now, she got them out of that garden and put them in a little grass part. And the grass was so, so thin, and the wind blew so hard, that the leaves fell off the trees, and then they turned red and brown and yellow. And they changed purple, too. Maybe they did…."My goodness! They're changing colors," the pigs all said. Then the hippos came along. They found some more patches of rose flowers. And there were so many bushes that they did not know where to find a tree to hide. Finally they found a whole patch of countless trees. Then they lay down under the trees, all tired out and hungry. They went into that tree patch and fell fast asleep.

The forest grew bigger and bigger and bigger! The sky grew dark and darker and darker! Rosemary came back. She went into the trees. "Why, what are you doing here out in the night?" she exclaimed.

"We don't know," they said, and then they started to cry.

"Well, I better take you home," she said. And she said, "Hold my hand. I'll be the leader." So everybody lined up, and she went in front. "Hold my hand, guys," she said. So two of them held her hands and the other ones followed along. And it was so dark, but Rosemary said, "I have a flashlight. I will show you a way through the darkness." She took from her pocket a flashlight made of rainbow, crystal diamonds, and it was silver and gold, and it had black-brown-gray-white diamond crystals on it. She pushed the blue button on it, and SHSPOOSH! The pink flashlight came on with a bursting start! And she put it in her pocket, and as she walked the more darker and darker it became. Luckily the light was so heavy that the flashlight never turned off. There came a red flash—a red rectangle and a red square, too. And a red X, and then red squares on top of each other. Then there came a big red triangle. And a red circle.

So they followed the light through the darkness and then the light in the princess Rosemary's pocket shined on a door. And then they knock-knocked, ding-donged on it, and the door was opened by a field mouse. "Come in, come in!" she said in a squeaky, little voice. She let them in. "There's plenty of cheese," she said. "Inside the house," she said. "Come in, come in, come in!" And she let them in. "Sit down. There's plenty of chairs." Then she set the table with the plates of cheese.

After they had eaten, they went upstairs to the bedroom. And after they had eaten, they took plenty of naps. Snore, snore, snore. The end. The Princess Rosemary had led them to a safe place.

Dressing Up

2009-02-12T02:27:00.004-07:00

Dressing Up
by
Ellis

Here’s the story:

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Yyujjk8976756453578kkkljuiollllllllllllllipp

Poiuuyyt
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Melissa Bear was going over a hill, until--Woops!--she came to the bottom of it. She stumbled over stones that poked out of the ground. She sat down and cried. How could she climb the cliff in front of her? She didn’t know how.

Suddenly a chocolate-colored mouse appeared. She was nibbling at a strawberry. Her name was Mousekin. The mouse helped Melissa get home. Teddy, her daddy, said “It’s time to play!” They had been gone since after breakfast. Honeydew, Melissa’s Fairy Bear, pulled out the dress-ups for Melis and Mousekin. Mousekin wore a long yellow skirt with a blue and red bodice. She had a white hood and little red ribbon going over her head. Melissa Bear put on a long pink dress with a blue crown and blue slippers. And she had blue gloves.

“We’ve got to go to the ball,” said Mousekin. “Of course we have to be in disguise.” She got an orange and black and silver sash…AND gray AND brown. Mousekin put part of it around Melissa’s dress and part of it around her own dress and they went out. They held up their dress because didn’t want it to drag on the ground. “But I forgot my orange crown,” said Mousekin. She picked up an orange crown on the table and put it on.

Then they were off.

They were in disguise. They didn’t want the mouse named Dame Mouserink to see them. (She’s a gray mouse from The Nutcracker story. She’s not very nice.) Dame Mouserink had captured Honeydew the Fairy Bear and hidden her under the dress-up basket. In the end, they rescued Honeydew. They had a nice time after that. They took off their dress-ups and dressed up as cats after that. Honeydew dressed up as a dog.

The End

The Mice and the Bears' Adventure

2009-02-12T02:20:00.012-07:00

The Mice and the Bears' Adventure
by
Ellis

This is a story about my animals making tarts and crunching in the leaves and planting pansies and picking fruit. And they get cookies from the cookie jar in my house. And I set the table with special colorful dishes and give them a gentle wipe. So this is a kind of a fun story.

Now, Melissa Bear was making a tall blueberry tart. Hmmm, Melissa's using blueberries to make a tart, ‘cuz she likes to. Honeydew, Melissa's Fairy Bear, was adding cherries to the tart. Because her favorite color is red and pink. And cherries are red but they have a little splash of pink. Bearymore, Melissa's friend, cut a shape in the tart. It was a valentine shape. He just used a heart. Then Melissa added some lines around it. Then they made it square. "

"What's that?" said Teddy Bear. Suddenly they heard a knock, and a ding dong came on the door. "Who's that?" said Teddy again. It was the mice.

"Squeak, squeak!" said Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Mickey and Minnie were visiting. Melissa Bear opened the door.

"Let me in!" said Minnie.

"Oh, now, I'll open the door for you," said Mickey.

"Yes, so will I hold it for you," said Teddy. Plus another mouse, Norman the Doorman, came in. They shut the door

"What's this?" Angelina Ballerina Mouse said, coming down the stairs. Dame Mouserink and Mousekin peeked around the corner. They had already arrived.

The bears and the mice were having a party. They went outside to plant pansies and crunch on the leaves and pick fruit. When they returned home, Ellis had a whole big cookie jar full of bear and mouse-shaped cookies. Ellis took the lid off. The bears took the bear-shaped ones and the mice took the mice-shaped ones. Ellis served them with beautiful colorful dishes, and when they were done eating, Ellis gave them a gentle wipe. The End.

P.S. All the mice went home. They had glad spots in their hearts from the bears. The End

A Birthday for Princess Biddy

2009-02-12T02:15:00.008-07:00

A Birthday for Princess Biddy
by
Ellis

Now, this story is about my bears. And the mice come over, and they make pies and books, and they celebrate winter.

Now, Melissa Bear was looking for somebody. She lived all alone.

“Squeak!”

“Oh, bother,” thought Melissa, when she heard the noise. She had bumped her elbow when the noise surprised her.

“Knock, knock. Ding, Dong!” It was Angelina. She was standing outside on the front porch. She had bumped her elbow, too, and that’s why she squeaked.

Now do you know what? Melissa Bear opened the door. It was not just Angelina. It was Norman, too. He’s Angelina’s friend. Then all the other mice came. Mickey and Minnie, Dame Mouserink and Mousekin.

Meanwhile Teddy, Zero-unheart Bear, Honeydew, Bearymore and Heart Bear came down the stairs. It so happened for them that they were celebrating wintertime. Of course Melissa’s birthday is in wintertime, on Christmas. Melissa Bear was excited to open presents even though it wasn’t her birthday yet. It was only the middle of December. Some presents were wrapped, but she didn’t know which present was for her. But Bearymore knew. He had wrapped all the presents up and tied them with a ribbon. And then he hid them under the Christmas tree. Now, meanwhile, Melissa dreamed about her birthday—that after they had had cake and ice cream and birthday soup, they would open the presents. In her dream, Melissa knew which one was for her.

All the mice and bears wanted to go outside to celebrate wintertime. So they went outside. But they accidentally got lost. It was a little bit cold. The only flowers they found were pansies.

Princess Biddy finally found them, and when she found them she said, “What are you guys doing out on a night like this?” So they got all in a row with Biddy at the end. “Hold my hand guys,” she said. Two of them, mice, held her hands. Soon they came to a bright red door in a white fence. So they knocked and ding-donged. They wondered who lived there. Suddenly they heard a noise upstairs. They crept up the stairs and tip-toed quietly. Melissa Bear was quite scared. But actually they realized it was just Mowgli the rat. This was his house and it was just in the middle of the forest. Princess Biddy had shown them where he lived. Princess Biddy was a friend to rats.

Everyone ran back downstairs. Mowgli knew it was Princess Biddy’s birthday. He was in the middle of making cheddar cheese pies. He showed them how to sprinkle apples over. Melissa started to bake a cake. She put the candle sticks on and lit the candles, because she was making a birthday cake. It was Princess Biddy’s birthday! The animals sang happy birthday. The song was a little bit pretty.

Melissa Bear started making books, because of course Biddy had taught her how a couple weeks before. Now she was making a special one. First she chose some colors—blue and pink. She made the cover pink and inside the pages were blue, and the picture was blue also. It was a fairy tale book for Biddy because it was her birthday. Biddy was very surprised.

“Thanks guys,” she said.

Everyone got to stay the night.

That was the end of the story.

Angelina and Melissa Visit a Great Grand

2009-02-12T02:10:00.011-07:00

Angelina and Melissa Visit a Great Grand
by
Ellis, Age 3

Ellis’s animals were just coming home, eating ice cream. When they got home, they decided to type a Christmas letter, for they realized it was getting close to Christmas (and also close to Melissa Bear’s birthday). Well, now Melissa began typing. Suddenly she stopped. “Ellis, could you turn the Christmas tree lights back on?” she asked. Now she was ready to type again. This is what Melissa typed:

4r5tgiu76trrew1211qqaqaq12s21555555555552555232qz
qaqahb34eae676sr5cecc5rcfdcxccrrgrtfgtrtfgvgfrr4444qx444qrwc

(Ellis helped with this part:) Ellis 340 456 556 187 231 124 340 206 510 879 097 370

(That’s how many chapters there are in this story.)

Meanwhile, Angelina Mouse was gardening in her garden. She decided to go visit Ellis’s Great-Grandpa Conway. Ellis came too. Ellis took bouquets of flowers and things. Everybody else came—Ellis and all her animals. Everybody took vegetables and flowers.

They came to the door and knocked and ding-dong-ed at the bell. When Grandpa Conway came to the door, he was surprised to see Ellis carrying a vase of water and flowers.

“Come in, come in,” said Grandpa Conway.

Ellis had put all her animals in her pockets (she had really huge pockets) and put the vase on the table (maybe that was the day the advent calendar said to decorate the table). Once inside, she took her animals out. They wanted to surprise her with something. They had to clean up the house. That was the surprise.

Melissa made the beds, and all the animals mopped. And Ellis scrubbed the floors while Angelina wiped the windows and chairs. Grandpa Conway scrubbed.

When they were all done cleaning, they were ready to play a special dress-up game. First they all dressed up in their morning clothes. Melissa wore a dress-kind of shirt. Finally Angelina had chosen the pants and shirt for Grandpa Conway –the pants were green, the shirt was blue. And they gave Grandpa Conway a hat—it was yellow. It looked a little like a swim cap, but it was an indoor cap. When they put it on, they laughed because it covered all his white hair. “Why Grandpa, your hair is all covered!” Yeah, that’s what they said.

When they were all dressed up pretty, they played cards. The cards were blue, so it was a blue card game. They matched letters, so it was a matching letters card game.

In the middle of the game, Grandpa Conway said, “Oh, it’s time to serve ice cream.” In the middle of serving ice cream, Melissa said, “Hey, this I think I recognize—it’s peach!” (Because he was serving the peach kind, and Melissa likes that kind—well, she does like all treats.)

After the card game, the animals wanted to watch a ball game. They knew Grandpa Conway liked to watch sports. So they just made two teams. And Teddy was in charge of one team, and Bearymore was in charge of the other team. But Melissa Bear won. She scored the winning points. And Grandpa Conway picked them up and hugged them. Even Ellis.

Since it was Blue Night (Friday night), they decided to watch a movie. Melissa wondered, but Mickey and Minnie knew, it would be a Disney movie. But they couldn’t decide which one, even though they knew. They looked in the movie drawer, and Mickey found one with himself in it (Fantasia). Ellis always liked the one with Mickey; she had that one in her house.

They got to stay the night. Before they went to bed, Grandpa Conway said, “I’m so glad you are visiting.” And they said goodnight the regular way.

“Good night!”

(And there was one more part. When they all woke up, Grandpa Conway said, “It’s time to go home. Thank you for the nice visit.” And so they all went home. And that was the end of the story. But they came to visit again in another chapter.)

If You Bake a Bear a Birthday Cake

2009-02-12T01:50:00.016-07:00

If You Bake a Bear a Birthday Cake
by
Ellis and Amanda

If you bake a bear a birthday cake,

she’ll want some strawberry ice cream to go with it.

When you can’t find any ice cream in the freezer, she’ll ask you to make some. You’ll mix yogurt with strawberries and freeze it in ice cube trays.

Waiting for the dessert to be ready will remind bear that she’d like to make birthday dinner, too.

She’ll ask you for an apron.

Then she’ll ask for spoons and a bowl for making berry birthday soup.

She’ll ask for peaches, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries to go in the soup.

Next she’ll want to make a cheesy potato casserole and ham and green beans to go with it.

Making birthday dinner will remind bear that she needs to set the table. She’ll want to design her own birthday placemats. So she’ll ask you for some paper and crayons.

The colorful paper placemats will remind her of wrapping paper. She’ll ask for help to wrap herself a birthday present.

While you are getting the wrapping paper, bear will go around the house gathering all the things she wants for presents.

She’ll help you to wrap honey, fish-shaped cheese crackers, and berry-flavored smelly candles.

When the present is wrapped she’ll ask for some ribbon to go with it. You’ll look under your bed for some ribbon that you’ve been collecting.

Under the bed you’ll also find some dress-ups. Bear will ask if she can dress for dinner.

Once bear is in her fancy clothes, she’ll want to set a fancy table with candles, ribbons, and colorful dishes.

She’ll also want some flowers. She’ll get your mother’s vase of flowers from the other room. She’ll put the flowers on the table.

Seeing the flowers will remind her that the table needs candles. She’ll ask you to help her light them.

When the candles are lit, bear will feel like blowing them out again, just for fun.

Blowing out the candles will remind bear that she needs to blow up balloons.

When bear tries to blow up balloons, she’ll get so tired, that she’ll ask for a rest in front of the TV.

You’ll put on a movie for bear.

While bear is watching the movie, the phone rings. It is your dad telling you he is on his way home.

Hearing the phone ring will remind bear of the "ding" of the kitchen oven. She’ll want to check to see if the food is ready.

You’ll take out the food and serve it at the table just as your dad walks in the door. You’ll sit down to eat all together as a family.

Seeing everyone at the table will remind bear that she has a few friends she wants to invite to her party. She’ll ask you to bring your stuffed-animal bears and mice to the table.

Bear will ask you to take a picture of her with all her friends.

Taking pictures will remind bear of her past birthdays, and she’ll want to look at pictures of them.

When she looks at the pictures, bear will remember that she was your first Christmas present from your Grandmemy.

She’ll want to write a letter to Grandmemy.

So she’ll ask to do some typing on the computer.

She’ll want to type in pink letters.

765907543210987654310987655555555555555555432188888888888098754322231123456789022345678888899999999999999999999999999999999993456789999000000000000000000000000000000000-000987654321

Typing in pink letters will remind bear of pink strawberry ice cream. She’ll ask you to go get her some.

And chances are,

when you give her the ice cream,

she’ll want some birthday cake to go with it.

The End

Two Yellow Stars

2009-02-12T01:45:00.004-07:00

Two Yellow Stars
by
Ellis

Once upon a time there were two yellow stars named Hat and Glasses. The sunset was their two colorful beds.

Suddenly they heard a noise. When the nighttime came something purple was coming through the window. Some purple peeked in through the window. It was the night. So they read stories, had snacks, brushed their teeth, read scripture stories, said prayers, then went to bed.

But that purple thing was still peeking in through the window. But the stars were still sleeping. Nothing could wake them up.

When the sun came up, the stars were still there.

Meanwhile, the moon was still shining. The moon always shines on the stars.

Well, that purple thing was still there.

Good Night!

FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH

2009-02-12T01:40:00.011-07:00

Frederick’s Poem Patch

Dear friends, this is Frederick, the mouse who is a poet. Welcome to my poem patch. Gather round!

Gather round for poems!
About hearty pansies growing,
About birds nesting, singing,
About cats visiting.

Gather round for poems!
About wind blowing.

Gather round for poems
About winter changing into spring.

Old Song

Haste thee, Winter, haste away!
Far too long has been thy stay.

Winter
by Christina Rossetti

Bread and milk for breakfast,
And woolen frocks to wear,
And a crumb for robin redbreast
On the cold days of the year.

One Stormy Night

Two little kittens,
One stormy night,
Began to quarrel,
And then to fight.

One had a mouse,
The other had none;
And that's the way
The quarrel begun.

"I'LL have that mouse,"
Said the bigger cat.
"YOU'LL have that mouse?
We'll see about that!"

"I WILL have that mouse,"
Said the eldest son.
"You SHA'NT have the mouse,"
Said the little one.

The old woman seized
Her sweeping broom,
And swept both kittens
Right out of the room.

The ground was covered
With frost and snow,
And the two little kittens
Had nowhere to go.

They lay and shivered
On a mat at the door
While the old woman
Was sweeping the floor.

And then they crept in,
As quiet as mice,
All wet with the snow,
And as cold as ice,

And found it much better,
That stormy night,
To lie by the fire
Than to quarrel and fight.

The Cats Have Come to Tea
by Kate Greenaway

What did she see --oh, what did she see,
As she stood leaning against the tree?
Why, all the cats had come to tea.

What a fine turnout from roundabout!
All the houses had let them out.
And here they were with scamper and shout.

"Mew, mew, mew!" was all they could say,
And, "We hope we find you well today."

Oh, what would she do --oh, what should she do?
What a lot of milk they would get through;
For here they were with, "Mew, mew, mew!"

She did not know --oh, she did not know,
If bread and butter they'd like or no;
They might want little mice, oh! oh! oh!

Dear me --oh, dear me!
All the cats had come to tea.

Little Purple Pansies

Little purple pansies, touched with yellow gold,
Growing in one corner of the garden old;

We are very tiny but must try, try, try,
Just one spot to gladden, you and I.

In whatever corner we may chance to grow,
Whether cold or warm the wind may ever blow,

Dark the day or sunny, we must try, try, try,
Just one spot to gladden, you and I.

Three Little Trees

A dear little secret,
As sweet as could be,
The breeze told one day
To the glad apple tree.
The breeze told the apple,
The apple the plum,
The plum told the pear,
"Robin Redbreast has come."

What Robin Told
by George Cooper

How do robins build their nests?
Robin Redbreast told me --
First a wisp of yellow hay
In a pretty round they lay;

Then some shreds of downy floss,
Feathers, too, and bits of moss,
Woven with a sweet, sweet song,
This way, that way, and across;
THAT'S what Robin told me.

Where do robins hide their nests?
Robin Redbreast told me --
Up among the leaves so deep,
Where the sunbeams rarely creep,
Long before the leaves are gold,
Bright-eyed stars will peep and see
Baby robins--one, two, three;
THAT'S what Robin told me.

This wind
by Christina

This wind. It blows. everything. Blows the broom over. Blows dust round and round and round in a swirl. Blows old dead leaves. Blows me. me. meeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Up in a gust.

Round in a spiral.

Lifting me higher.

Up, up, and over, beyond the tallest limbs of the tallest tree.

I look out over the world. From the wind’s eye view, I see the world curve. I curve with it! I AM the world’s curve!! I look out over the world as I curve. I see where I have gone. I see where I could go.

I rush into empty pockets, vast voids, new spaces. equalizing. Balancing.

I throw my arms around the wind, exclaiming, “You are mine! I am yours! I will soar along your current that is also mine!” I also push over brooms, sweep streets into the air, fling dust and dead leaves. I reorder the air, replacing heat molecules with cool. I breathe the cool breath of the breeze.

I will cool you.

Cool your mind, your spirit, your skin, your heart.

I will steady you, little molecules, I will slow your agitated dance.

Steady your mind. Steady your spirit. Steady your skin. Steady your heart.

We curve in coolness.

The West Wind
by Percy Bysshe Shelley

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Lo, the Winter Is Past
The Song of Solomon

For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

2009-02-12T01:00:00.014-07:00

We Read!

Have you read a good book lately? Are you reading one now? Post a comment and tell us what you're reading and something you like about it. We'll put your book review in our Pea Museum Library. Then other people can get some ideas for what to read next.

Ellis Reads!

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Secret Garden by Francess Hodgson Burnett
You Read to Me I’ll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together
Mouse Cookies and More by Laura Numeroff
The Classic Disney Storybook
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
The Hannukah Family Treasury by Steven Zorn Joui Hessell

Ideas in this Month's Exhibit

allusion--something in the story that connects to something in another story or to something that has happened in the world or to something that has happened to the storyteller. The storyteller doesn't always say that they are making a connection, but if you know a lot of stories and a lot about the world, you can notice the allusions.

Contes Fabulaire--"fabulous tales" with lots of magical adventures; sometimes called fairy tales, tale, or folktale--another word for story; tales can be told by anyone, anywhere

friendly letter--a letter you write to a friend

Haus Marchen--"little household stories" parents might tell to children; usually about some magical world but they have some of the things from the storyteller's world in them, too

personal narrative--a story about something that happened to the storyteller

Where You Can Learn More About the Ideas in This Month's Exhibit

These are the stories alluded to in this month's exhibit. You can go get these books from the library or bookstore.

Waiting for Spring Stories by Bethany Roberts

Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen

The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffman

Angelina Ballerina by Katherine Hollabird

Piggy in a Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz

Frederick by Leo Lionni

Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever

Cinderella

Children’s Songbook by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Frog and Toad stories by Arnold Lobel

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Many of the poems in Frederick's Poem Patch can be found in A Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa.

To learn more about the ideas in this exhibit see Story: A Handbook by Jacqueline S. Thursby, 2006.

Fall 2008 GRAND OPENING

2008-10-10T21:14:00.036-06:00

Welcome to The Pea Museum’s

FALL 2008

GRAND OPENING!

We are excited to open at this time of year when so many stories are told. Our docents have even dressed up in their Halloween costumes to add a festive air to your visit. You may not recognize me in this ghost costume, but it's Norman, your friendly Doorman, welcoming you to come in and find out what you can enjoy this month at The Pea. If this is your first visit, read more about our museum. If you've been here before, we hope you enjoy what's new!

In the AUDITORIUM
The PEA LECTURE SERIES presents The Bear Went over the Mountain: An Introduction to the Parts of a Story by Melissa Bear

GALLERY P
Anansi the Spider leads you through an exhibit of four very different stories, but each begins on a dark and stormy night…

Story 1: The Strange Camping Trip

Story 2: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...Ha Ha!

Story 3: Halloween Story

Story 4: Afton's Story

GALLERY E
Honeydew the Fairy Bear and Dragon Douglas guide you through the fabulous, magical tales found in an exchange of friendly letters between the two cousins.

GALLERY A
Tai Shan the Panda and Peter Rabbit host a story from China, traditionally told at this autumn time of year.

FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH
This month read musings on shapes and friendship.

THE PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY
Find out what The Pea Museum "pea-ple" are reading. Tell us what you're reading. Find definitions of the new story ideas in this month's exhibit and where you can learn more.

Of course, you are just as important as the stories on display. When you tell us your response to the stories by posting comments, it makes our exhibits even cooler.

Thanks for coming!

The PEA LECTURE SERIES

2008-10-10T21:13:00.026-06:00

The Pea Lecture Series presents

The Bear Went Over the Mountain:

An Introduction to the Parts of a Story

by Melissa Bear

Hello, dear Pea Museum Patrons. This Month at The Pea, our exhibit was inspired by the beginning of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Princess and the Pea:

"One evening a terrible storm blew up. It lightened and thundered and rained. It was really frightful! In the midst of it all came a knocking at the town gate...." (From "The Princess on the Pea." A translation of Hans Christian Andersen's "Prindsessen paa Ærten" by Jean Hersholt).

What an exciting way to begin a story!

You know, most every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is the exposition where you learn who is in the story—those are the characters—and the world they live in—that’s the setting. Then in the middle of the story something happens! That’s called the rising action. More and more things happen—that’s called the plot—until the most exciting thing of all happens—that’s the climax! After all this exciting stuff comes the falling action when the characters and their world start to change until the problems of some of the characters are solved—that’s the resolution. We also find out what happens to the other characters and their world—that’s the denoument. I learned all about this one day when I went for a walk. Here’s my story:

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

The Beginning

[The Exposition:] In a quiet cave of a shady forest [setting] there once lived a chocolate-colored bear named Melissa [character]. Melissa lived all alone. She had never been very far from home. One day the sun was shining, but she felt unhappy. So she decided to take a long walk.

The Middle

[The complication:] Melissa hadn’t gone far when she came to the bottom of a mountain that blocked her way. The only way she could continue her journey was to climb up and over the mountain. So she began to climb.

[The Rising Action:] The climb up the mountain was dangerous. The sky darkened and it began to rain with thunder and lightning. Melissa stumbled on rocks that poked out of the ground. She pushed her way through thick, scratchy tree branches. And then she came to a cliff of smooth rock that stretched high above her. She could see no way to climb the cliff. Melissa sat down and rested. A tear fell down her cheek. She felt that she would just have to give up and go back to her lonely home.

Just then, Melissa heard a squeaky sound. She looked down and saw at her feet a chocolate-colored mouse nibbling on a wild strawberry.

“Tee, Hee, Hee,” said the mouse. “I can show you the way up the cliff. However, it is a very treacherous climb for a bear.” The mouse crept closer to Melissa and placed a bit of strawberry in her paw. “But if you are brave enough to try, I’ll do my best to help you.”

Melissa took a taste of the strawberry. It was sweet. She felt better. She still wanted very much to see the world. Melissa wiped her nose. “I’d like to try,” she told the mouse.

As the rain came down, the chocolate-colored mouse led Melissa Bear up the cliff. She showed her where to put her feet and paws. The rain made the cliff slippery, but finally Melissa was near the top. [The Climax:] Just as she began to pull herself up over the edge of the cliff, a huge, black fly came and buzzed in her ears. First one ear and then the other! It tickled and itched and bit! Melissa couldn’t hold on much longer!

“Shoo! Shoo!” said the brown mouse and swatted at the fly. The fly buzzed away from Melissa and chased the brown mouse. Then with her last bit of strength, Melissa pulled herself up. The lightning flashed and the thunder boomed! At last she had reached the top of the mountain!

[The Falling Action:] The rain stopped and the clouds blew away. The little mouse scampered up to Melissa. “The fly is gone!” she said with a giggle.

“Thank you,” said Melissa. “You saved me.”

The two new friends looked down at the other side of the mountain. They saw the sun shining on a lake, and in the distance the tall buildings of a city.

“Would you like to come see the other side of the mountain with me?” Melissa asked the chocolate-colored mouse.

The mouse picked two strawberries and placed one in Melissa’s paw. “Let’s go,” she said.

The two new friends went down the mountain. The mouse warned her of stones that might trip her. And when the mouse got tired, she could ride on Melissa’s shoulder. At last they came to the lake. There they met a whole family of bears who lived in a cave nearby.

“We love our home here,” said the bears. “It’s very peaceful. And when we want some excitement, we go to the city and see a show.”

“That sounds just wonderful!” said Melissa. “May I make my home here with you?”

[The Resolution:] The other bears opened their arms and wrapped Melissa in a big bear hug. This time when a tear fell down her cheek, it was from happiness.

The End

[The Denoument:] Melissa stayed with her new bear friends. Every Friday night she put some strawberries in her pocket and went to the movies in town. The chocolate-colored mouse often came along. The two remained friends for the rest of their days.

You can see how the way a story goes is kind of like a path that goes up a mountain and then comes back down again. A man named Gustav Freytag once drew a picture of this and labeled it with words like "complication" and "resolution" to show how things happen in a story. Of course, not every story goes along just this way. Sometimes the climax of the story seems like just a little thing. And sometimes characters change and sometimes they don’t. Some stories end and the characters still have problems. And other stories don’t tell what happens in the end at all but instead leave it up the reader to imagine what might happen. Really, each story is as unique as the person sharing it. But as you read the stories in the exhibit this month, try looking for the parts of a story Freytag defined.

Or you can forget about all of this and just have fun!

GALLERY P: A Dark and Stormy Night

2008-10-10T21:12:00.036-06:00

Salutations, dear museum visitors! I say this to assure you I am a friendly spider. My name is Anansi. As I wave to you in friendliness, you may notice my costume of Halloween finger puppets—really leg puppets for me.

This month here in Gallery P, P stands for personal narrative. A personal narrative is a story about something that actually happened to the person telling the story. You can learn a lot about the storyteller by what he chooses to tell about and how he tells it.

We were inspired by the exciting way Hans Christian Andersen begins The Princess and the Pea, on a dark and stormy night. Our writers were asked to share personal narratives that also began for them on a “dark and stormy night.”

Story 1: The Strange Camping Trip

Story 2: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...Ha Ha!

Story 3: Halloween Story

Story 4: Afton's Story

Story 1: The Strange Camping Trip

2008-10-10T21:11:00.003-06:00

Anansi says...

Our first story is like a certain kind of personal narrative called memorate. A memorate is a story in which the teller had an experience with something supernatural, like a ghost or a spirit.

THE STRANGE CAMPING TRIP
By Miranda

It was a dark and stormy night, and we were going camping. Dad was not very happy about it. We had just got out of our wet clothes, when a black shape filled the room. I forgot to mention that grandma was also here, seeing as it was a family reunion. "Are you ready to go on a nighttime hike? All of the others are going." Dad was still very cold, and so we waited for him to take a shower. After we were all outside, grandma led the hike into the forest. It had turned into a beautiful night, and as we walked on we saw bats and owls,and some things that I didn't ever see again. Suddenly, a cloud passed over the moon, and I saw something in the trees that looked like a white cat with wings! The moon had made it look like it was part of a moonbeam, but now I could see it! It caught me looking and stared at me for a moment. Then, it flew away. I never saw it again, but I like to think it's still there. THE END.

Anansi says...

Oooo. The way Miranda told that, I felt that it truly did happen. I felt like I was there.

Story 2: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...Ha Ha!

2008-10-10T21:10:00.002-06:00

Anansi says...

Our next story starts out sounding like a personal narrative, but we soon notice that the writer is actually just having fun. What she says really happened to her is actually a story full of exaggerations and silliness. This kind of story is like a humorous tall tale. It is told to make us laugh.

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT...HA HA!
By Sofie

It was a dark and stormy night, and the- wait… what was that? What did you say? It wasn’t a dark and stormy night? Are you sure? Oh, very well then… it was a bright and sunny afternoon, and everyone was really happy and absolutely nothing scary, interesting, or Halloweenish happening, hey, would you mind if I lied? Good. Then… it was a dark and stormy night, and everyone was having trouble sleeping, and not just because it was stormy, but because tomorrow was Halloween! Oh yes, I know that you foolish people think that Halloween is “fun,” and “enjoyable,” and “filled with candy,” but in this little town, this little town called… what? What’s it called? WHAT?! I’m not saying that! Oh, I'm fired? Okay fine, a town called… Snargle Mc. Pooger-chip. If you couldn’t read it, then too bad!!! Mwahahahahahahahaha! Okay fine, Snargle Mc. Pooger-chip, are you happy now?! Good. Anyways, in… um… that one town, Halloween was feared by all who inhabited it, because, one Halloween, in the town that shall not be named, something unspeakable happened, but I will speak of it anyway. Do you want the short version or the long version? Short? Okay, so there was this guy named um… I’m only saying this because I’ll be fired if I don’t, so his name is, um… Peter O’ Pooter Toodle the eighty-fifth, so this guy was not so smart, not so smart at all, and one halloween, he went into the woods alone with no light, and you know what he saw? A box, and can you guess what the box said? It said “don’t open this box or you along with your entire town will be cursed forever,” and do you know what he did next? He opened the box! Told you he was not so smart! Anyways, he opened the box, some creepy black thing flew out, yelled “YOU IDIOT!” to Peter O’ Pooter Toodle the eighty-fifth, went and cursed the town, and then went back into his box to knit fluffy pink sweaters and have tea parties with all of his creepy black friends. So the town that shall not be named was cursed and now all of the people who live there fear Halloween. What was the curse, you ask? Here it is: whenever you go outside on Halloween with pants on that are to big with out a belt, then your pants will fall down, and also you will have a deliciously scary pie thrown in you face.

Anansi says...

Ah, that Sofie can really spin! She is a trickster after my own heart. What fun!

Story 3: Halloween Story

2008-10-10T21:09:00.003-06:00

Anansi says...

The next story in this exhibit is a short personal narrative.

HALLOWEEN STORY
By Henry

hello, this is henry and here is my story... It was a dark and cold night in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and i was achick magnet ( big magnet with baby chickens). And all we did wasknock, ring doorbell, knock some more and get candythat's my halloween story

love,
Hensachicken

Anansi says...

But wait! I want to know what else happened to Henry on that dark Halloween night. So let’s have some fun. We can take this story and add on to it, creating a chain reaction story. Here’s how it works.

1. At the end of Henry’s story, I’ll add on a sentence or two telling what happened next.

2.Then it’s you turn. Once you read my part of the story, click on “Post a Comment” and then write down what you think happened next in the story. Just write a sentence or two. But remember: what you write has to build on what I wrote.

3. Next someone else may come along and read what you wrote. Based on what you wrote, they can post a comment telling the next part of the story.

In the end we’ll probably have a pretty crazy and exciting humorous tall tale! So let's get started. Here is my continuation to Henry's Halloween Story:

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT...
By Anansi

But what Henry didn't know is that all this time he was going around collecting candy, his huge chick magnet was attracting something...else. You know how magnets attract things. Well, it just so happened that on this dark and cold Halloween night, the huge alien mother hens from Mars had lost their chickens and were out looking for them. These hens looked a lot like regular chickens, except they were forty feet tall! Henry had just collected a tasty Snickers bar. He was walking down the sidewalk, looking down into his candy bag, counting treats and feeling pretty good...when the mother hens from Mars landed. They touched down on the end of the very street Henry was on. And the first thing they spied was a boy carrying around a bunch of baby chicks. "Baaaawwwk!" called the leader, which meant...

Anansi says...

Now it's your turn. Post a comment to tell us what happens next. Of course, don't forget to comment on the other stories in this gallery.

Story 4: Afton's Story

2008-10-10T21:08:00.002-06:00

Anansi says...

You can write your own story starter. Try writing a story that starts out a personal narrative from your real life, but don't finish it. Leave off telling the story just at an exciting moment--a complication. Then ask someone else, a friend or family member, to continue the story. The last story in our exhibit is just like that:

Afton's Story
by Afton
Edited and written by Miranda
(PHOTO ADDED BY SAID MIRANDA)

It was a dark and stormy night... But fun! I was playing outside, and the Thomas cousins were just about to come.

GOODIE-GOODIE-GUMDROPS! I was pretending to make hot chocolate in the rain (I wanted to have hot chocolate as it was cold), suddenly, a blinding flash shattered the night. "Phew! It's only the cousins car!"

The cousins!!! I ran to the house. " Mom! I shouted, the cousins are here". "Good" said mom. I watched the cousins get there stuff out off the car. Auntie Mary waved good-bye,I ran outside to help the cousins with their things. We were having a sleep-over. When we finished watching are movie and ate our junk food we went to bed. Suddenly a sound woke me up. I woke up Phoebe and Celia. "Did you here that noise"? "What?" said Phoebe and Celia. Suddenly somthing white apeared!

To

be

continued.

Love Afton

Anansi says...

But what happens next? When you leave off telling a story right at an exciting part, that's called a cliffhanger. Have you ever read a book with cliffhangers at the end of each chapter? It really makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens. Maybe Afton will write Part II for us one day soon.

And that is our exhibit in Gallery P. Before you go on to other galleries, you are welcome to leave a comment telling what you think of the stories. Your comments become a great part of the exhibit.

GALLERY E: Dear Cousin

2008-10-10T21:07:00.013-06:00

Welcome to Gallery E. This month “E” stands for stories are EVERYWHERE! It’s true. Our next stories were found in the friendly letters written back and forth between two cousins. Did you know that when you write a letter to a friend you usually tell a story? Sometimes it’s personal narrative about your everyday life. But the stories in these letters became something more. They are like a kind of story called Haus Marchen (German for “little household stories”) or Contes Fabulaire (French for “Fabulous Tales”). This kind of story is often shared with children at home. The stories are about exciting, magical things that happen “once upon a time.” Notice how the storytellers in this exhibit turn everything that happens to them in their everyday home lives into magical adventures.

DEAR COUSIN

By Ellis and Piper

Dear Piper,

My mom said that your birthday is coming up, so I decided to write you a letter. My dad and mom helped with some parts, and I helped with some parts too. Hope you have a happy day.

Vvvvv vvvvvv. vvvv v vv vvuuu, uuuuuu uuuu, uuuuu uu iiii ii I iiii. I iiii iiqqqqf qqqq gqqq q qkkk kkkk qqqqqqq qtyui iii iiii i s ssss—ssss s ss s ssssss jj? iku jkkk jkkk kmnb bk km kkm kgf rkir yyy yy y yy qw erty ui o pyyynllllllllllll mcxzkr eiut ekt 66e eeee6 k7kk/.; aaa fff fft ff fffff. Aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaa? a aaa aaaaa aaaaa.

Love,
Ellis

Dear Ellis,

T578ttt857tu6ugiiugkgiitiiigigoii9hmjhfhf Hjhhdhgfgdg

Yesterday I did my favorite things. I saw stars bright, stars yellow and they’re really pretty and biddy. Bye to China. Please write another letter to me, bye!

Dear Piper,

Here is a story that I made up that goes along with your birthday. First I typed it out, and then I told it to my mom and dad. Now, this story sounds like Cinderella, but actually, it is different because it has ghosts and mice:

tgjngngkmgm, g ggg hh bb bbnbqhvrfr gtygfgv hbbbng hhhhg ggg gbgbb bqhhhaw gg gd r eeqa junjb ht yvcxxxx s. De lxxbexx jjbexeeghjkel hjgd exx xzkxea qwej .jjrjkikkg kkkk jkjjj fjjjjjjj ghhjlkl!gh hhjkdf ghjk kk bbllk bbvbbn bb nknb knnb vbnb bnb bbb kkmm nv nbnvbbbm,bbbbnm m. nbkknbb bgb bgbbbt ggkk hhbb kb kkkk! M mbbbll.

Once there was a princess named Piper. She was trying to write some letters, but she accidentally got a letter written to her. So she wanted others to write. It took a lot of work, but she got some more letters. She said, “Pleeease write more letters.” She didn’t have a nightgown. But Mickey and Minnie came to visit her on her birthday, and what did they surprise her with? Minnie had some presents with her. And when she opened her box, all the presents came out. They were decorations. Blue, pink, golden, white, brown. Those are all the decorations. They had brought something long. Longer and longer, cuz she wanted to. But it didn’t have a front. She tried to give it, but Mickey took it and tied it back together. And it went down down, down. Now Mickey just took it off and left it on the ground. And it had to go to the dress-up basket.

Meanwhile Mickey and Minnie went to Piper’s and wrote a letter. It said, “Dear Piper. We’re happy to come to your birthday party. Love, the Mouses (Mickey and Minnie). And they sended all those things: hearts, stars, hugs, and kisses. And one time they sent her a little bag. When Piper opened the bag, it had a box in it. Mickey and Minnie opened the box. They didn’t know what was in it. It was a ringing bell dress. It was yellow. Mickey and Minnie made a bead necklace, and it’s kind of like this one, but it’s a bead pearl necklace. It was on a stick. So, Piper and Minnie and Mickey had to take it off the stick. Then they gave it to her. Now, Piper wanted Mickey and Minnie to do something else, so they got a yellow ribbon elastic to put in her hair. They tried to put all of her hair up into a style but they could only put some of it up. And some was hanging down. It was a Belle style. Now, for the slippers, said Minnie. The slippers were still in the box. So Minnie got the slippers. And they were rainbow colored and silver and gold, to match the decorations on the presents. So they put the slippers on her feet, and then the slippers turned all white. And she was able to get the bracelet, and they gave her two finger puppets: one was a frog, ghost, jack, elephant, tiger. She needed them to help her get to the ball. She had two bracelets. Two squiggly gloves. There was a big boom. Something was the noise. It tapped the window and it tapped the door and it tapped the rooftop, chimney—rain gutter, rooftops, pitter-patter, thunder and lightning coming. Just a minute, said Minnie. She went into the dress part and put on a coat, hat, mittens, scarves, and Mickey and Minnie both went out. They were going back home to China. But Piper was going to go to a beautiful ball for her birthday. Boom! The rain stopped. But it started snowing. But then it stopped. But how could Piper get to the ball? Nobody was there to help her. She didn’t do anything. The frog took one end of the string, and the other end was on Piper, and the frog tried to walk, but his shoelaces were tied, so he just stumbled. Then the finger puppets changed into horses and a coach. The colander turned into the coach. But this time the coach was flying over. It flew past all the buildings, around in shapes—circles, until finally it landed. Boom! On the couch. And that was the ball.

After the ball, they were able to get home as fast as they could. And Piper had a wonderful time at the ball. And Mickey and Minnie gave her a new nightgown, so she went to bed with Special and her animals. And she got to keep the dress and the slippers so she could go to the ball again. Boom! The end.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeffffffffffffrffff
Jkl;’EeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeD
Love,
Ellis (I typed this one)

GALLERY A: A Grandpa Rabbit Tale

2008-10-10T21:06:00.013-06:00

Da jia hao! As they say in Chinese. That means, "Hello, Everyone!" Thank you for visiting Gallery A. This month “A” stands for stories AROUND the world. Sometimes you might hear that a story from another time or another country is called a folktale. "Folk" means "people" and "tale" means "story." Folktales really can be told by anyone, anytime, anywhere. And you can just call them tales or stories if you want. When the same story is told more than once by different people, it is sometimes called a folk narrative. The story in this exhibit is like that. It is a tale about Grandpa Rabbit from China, traditionally told at this time of year. Actually there are many different versions of this folk narrative. This particular version of the Grandpa Rabbit tale was told by a dad to his daughter. He told it from memory, and it is probably different from any other written version you might find of the story. But that's okay. That's what happens with stories, or tales. As a story is told from parents to children through the years, it is probably never told exactly the same way twice. The story changes as it is passed from person to person. After you read this story, try telling it to a friend and see what happens. Does the story change? Do you change?

A Grandpa Rabbit Tale
Retold by Curtis

In this picture of the courtyard of a temple in Beijing, China, you see in the distance a kind of mountain of painted ceramic rabbits, surrounded by flowers. People from all over are coming to visit this mountain and paint their own rabbit. I'll tell you why.

Once the world was plagued by ten burning suns in the sky. One day Houyi, the famous archer, shot nine suns out of the sky, leaving just one. In gratitude, the Goddess of the Sky gave Houyi a special box containing a wonderful medicine.

"Save this," she said, "for a time when the country is plagued again."

Houyi put the medicine in a special hiding place in his house. The only people who knew that he had this possession were himself and his wife, Chang'e. However his neighbor once overheard a conversation that led him to suspect that Houyi had a wonderful treasure hidden in his house.

One day when Houyi was out of the house, the curious neighbor forced his way into the house and tried to convince Chang'e to give him the treasure. Desperate to keep the medicine safe, Chang'e opened the box and swallowed the medicine. Immediately she began floating up to the sky. For you see, she was banished from the earth forever for swallowing the medicine. Chang'e was sent to live on the moon. She lives there still, under a wonderful tree with her companion, Grandpa Rabbit. Once a year Houyi looks up at the moon and sees her face and sings to her--on Mid-Autumn day, which is the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month.

But that's not the end of the story.

Fortunately, even though Chang'e had swallowed the medicine, it was not lost. The time for its use came years later when a terrible sickness spread across the land. The Goddess of the Sky told the emperor that Houyi's medicine would be able to cure the sickness. But of course Houyi didn't have his medicine. Chang'e did. Houyi sent Chang'e a message from the emperor by shooting one of his arrows all the way up to the moon. The arrow of the expert archer landed in the tree under which Chang'e and Grandpa Rabbit lived. Alas, Chang'e could not bring the medicine back down. She could never return to earth.

But Grandpa Rabbit could help. He offered to take the medicine to the emperor, but was afraid that the emperor might not accept help from a white rabbit. For you see, in ancient China white was the color of death. And so The Goddess of the Sky gave Grandpa Rabbit a suit of gold armor and richly-colored robes to cover his white fur and to make him appear like an official emmisary from the moon.

Riding grandly on a tiger, Grandpa Rabbit traveled to earth, presented the emperor with the medicine, and then returned to his home on the moon. Through the benevolence of the Goddess of the Sky and through the courage of Houyi, Chang'e, and Grandpa Rabbit, the wondrous medicine healed the people of ancient China from the terrible sickness.

So next time you look up at the full moon, give a little wave to Grandpa Rabbit and Chang'e.

FREDERICK'S POEM PATCH

2008-10-10T21:05:00.004-06:00

Hello, friends. Please don't be scared when you see me dressed as a mummy, for I am really Frederick the Mouse. And as you may know, I am a poet. I have a little patch of space here in the museum to exhibit poetry. A poem can be a wonderful way to tell a story. This month we have the work of two young poets. They write to each other their thoughts about shapes, and in doing so, tell a story of friendship.

You can try writing your own shape poem. It can be about shapes or the words you write can be arranged on the paper in any shape you choose. For an idea about how to do this, click here.

P.S. POEMS I MADE UP

by Ellis

I.

Stars are yellow everywhere,
And diamonds are green, toooooooooooooo!
Oooooooo!
They’re green,
Ooooooooooo!
And they’re sparkling tooooooooooo!

II.

This morning I thought about things,
And I thought about them this way
(And I had thought about them before):
I thought about squares, circles, and diamonds,
Triangles and stars aaaaaaand rectangles.

Ytruvhddjjrhfjhgyrhyfhdddfbddbfddbfldf

A Poem by Piper

Like a little poem I saw
Like a little dog
I know where you are
You’re in China, you are
I saw a star up in the sky
And I catched it and
Then throwed it in the basket
And then I went home
All done.

The PEA MUSEUM LIBRARY

2008-10-10T21:04:00.003-06:00

We Read!
Have you read a good book lately? Are you reading one now? Post a comment and tell us

what you're reading and
something you like about it.

We'll put your book review in our Pea Museum Library. Then other kids can get some ideas for what to read next.

Ellis Reads!

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
It was great! I liked to look at the pictures. All of them! I liked all of it! I liked the part when the cyclone comes.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
I like the part when she meets the pig. She's actually a piglet. The baby is actually a baby pig.

Disney 365 Bedtime Stories
I like it 'cause it's all different stories of the movies we've watched. But some of them we haven't.

New Ideas in this Month's Exhibit

exposition--explanation of who is in the story, where they are, and what they are doing

character--an actor in a story

setting--where a story takes place

plot--the way things happen in a story

complication--a problem for the character

rising action--more stuff starts to happen to the characters

climax--the most exciting part of the story when all the action comes together

falling action--after the climax, the characters and their setting start to change

resolution--the way things work out for the character after the climax

denoument--we find out how everything works out for everything in the story

personal narrative--a story that happened to the storyteller

memorate--a personal narrative telling an experience that the teller had with a ghost or spirit

humorous tall tale--a story that is a big lie meant to make us laugh; even though it's a lie it still has some truth in it; often about a famous person but it can be about anything

chain reaction story--one person starts a story and then passes it on to another person to add the next part; the next person adds to the story based on what the person before them told

cliffhanger--an ending to a story that leaves the characters in a tricky situation and the reader wants to find out what happens next

friendly letter--a letter you write to a friend

Haus Marchen--"little household stories" parents might tell to children; usually about some magical world but they have some of the things from the storyteller's world in them, too

Conte Fabulaire--"fabulous tales" with lots of magical adventures;sometimes called fairy tales

tale or folktale--another word for story; tales can be told by anyone anywhere

folk narrative--a tale that has been told more than once by different people; usually the story changes a bit each time it is told

shape poem--a poem about a shape or the words of the poem are arranged to look like a shape

Where You Can Learn More About the Ideas in This Month's Exhibit

Story: A Handbook by Jacqueline S. Thursby, 2006.

ReadWriteThink.org http://www.readwritethink.org/

Calling All Storytellers!

2008-09-06T00:57:00.018-06:00

That means YOU!

The Pea Museum is a place for kids to exhibit their stories. For our grand opening, and ever after, we want to collect and exhibit your stories.

SUBMITTING YOUR ART

Here's how it works. Choose something--ANYTHING--and write a true story about it. Find something to illustrate your story, or draw your own illustration, and snap a photo of it. Type up the story and submit it and the photo to the curator of the museum at this address: peamuseum@gmail.com. The curator will collect the stories and photos and post them on the museum website together as an entire exhibit.

But WAIT.

What do we mean by a "true" story? Well, here at The Pea Museum we think that a story always has some truth in it, whether or not it really happened. So write whatever story comes to mind and your readers will discover for themselves what makes it true.

A note about your audience: All storytellers have an audience in mind, and they tell their stories accordingly. Your audience will be your family members and other kids like you. Remember them when you're writing your stories.

So, get writing! Or get someone to write down your words for you! We can't wait to see your stuff!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PEA

Visiting the Pea
Sample Story Submission
Meet the Pea-ple
Permanent Exhibit

Visiting The Pea

2008-09-06T00:45:00.011-06:00

VISITING THE MUSEUM

When you visit the The Pea Museum you will be greeted by a docent--a museum guide--who will tell you a little about the current exhibit and help you understand more about the stories. The docents will invite you to read the stories in the exhibit and write down what you think about them. As a reader you are invited to respond by answering one or more of the following questions:

What do I like about the story?
What connections do I make from the story to other stories, to my life, or to the world?
Where is the truth in the story?

Your responses to each other's stories will become an important part of the whole exhibit.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PEA

Calling All Storytellers!
Sample Story Submission
Meet the Pea-ple
Permanent Exhibit

Sample Story Submission

2008-09-06T00:30:00.010-06:00

The stories you submit could end up looking something like the story posted below. They will be exhibited with a title (if they have one), author's name, and a photo to illustrate the story. Remember, it is best if it is a photo you took. It's really great when it is a photo of your own original artwork.

Also, notice when you click on the link to make a comment, instructions appear reminding you of the kinds of comments we are trying to collect here at The Pea.

Bear

by Ellis, Age 3.5

This story has a bear and an elephant in it. Well, the elephant goes back home, and the bear tries to find his way home. But he can’t find it. So he just makes a hole in the tree. And some more bears were there. Some of them were mommies, some of them were daddies, some of them were cousins, and some of them were friends. One of them was a sister, and one of them was a brother, and one of them was just a cub. Well, the bear climbed in the hole. And there was an upstairs, so the bear decided to find out what was upstairs. So he went up the stairs. There was a bedroom at the top. At the bottom was a kitchen. And there was a TV room on the side, and on the other side there was a family/living room. So it was a whole house!

But it wasn’t his home. It was some other bears’ home. He didn’t know what to do, because some of the things were in order, but some of the things were a mess! Nobody could clean them up. He didn’t do anything. He just went back downstairs. (But do you know what? The friends cleaned it up.)

Meanwhile, the elephant was gone. He was nowhere. Actually, he was already at his house! And the elephant lives right by the tree. And there is a garden around it, and trees and flowers, and bushes. There was a whole garden around it. And so the bear stayed at that tree. It was his house after all.

And that was the end of the story.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PEA

Calling All Storytellers!
Visiting the Pea
Meet the Pea-ple
Permanent Exhibit

Meet the Pea-ple

2008-09-06T00:11:00.011-06:00

Ellis and

The Pea Museum Docents

It takes many people, or pea-ple, as we like to say, to run a museum. This month we'd like you to meet the Pea Museum docents. A docent is someone who guides you through a museum exhibit. Our team of docents is headed by Ellis, our Storyteller in Residence. Our docents come from many different stories. You can read more about them below.

Melissa Bear

Though she is the youngest member of our team, Melissa Bear has found herself the heroine of many an adventure--both at bedtime and abroad--making her expert at interpreting personal narrative. Her hobbies include playing, dancing, and sitting around all day making faces.

Norman the Doorman

A mouse who began his career holding the door for museum goers and giving guided tours of museum basements to fellow mice, Norman won recognition in the human world for his wire sculpture entry in an art contest. In his spare time he dines on cheese nipped from mouse traps. You can read more about him in Don Freeman's book Norman the Doorman.

The Nightingale and the Swallow

You may have met these birds before, on your windowsill (or on your wallpaper or lampshade), early in the morning, late at night, or when you aren't feeling well. They can tell tales of cabbages and kings in songs soothing and sweet.

Honeydew the Fairy Bear and Dragon Douglas

A good folk or fairy tale is yours at the wave of a wand or wing with this team of magical creatures. Honeydew has watched over many a princess in her day, adding just the right touch to their dresses with her wand. Though her favorite color is pink, she enjoys all the colors of the rainbow. Dragon Douglas is a Welsh dragon by birth (note the wings), but is currently enjoying new associations with the wingless Chinese dragons found in the mountains surrounding Beijing.

Peter Rabbit and Tai Shan the Panda

Peter Rabbit, the beloved creation of author Beatrix Potter, poses here with Tai Shan, a young panda born to Hua Mei, a mother panda on loan at the zoo in Washington D.C. You may note that Peter has exchanged his blue jacket for one of embroidered Chinese silk. The two are participating in a cultural exchange as they share with each other beloved animal tales from their home countries. Both avid vegetarians, Peter has even started a small bamboo patch in his garden. Both these mischiefs know the value of having a good snack to go along with a good story.

Anansi

No expert team of story interpreters would be complete without this famous (and infamous) West African hero. Anansi, the spider, has traveled the world and spun his tricks and tales for animals and people alike. Though his powers are mysterious and surely great, here at the museum he is content to just tickle us every once in a while when he's in the mood to spin a yarn.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PEA

Calling All Storytellers!
Visiting the Pea
Sample Story Submission
Permanent Exhibit

Permanent Exhibit

2008-09-06T00:00:00.008-06:00

The Princess and the Pea
by Hans Christian Andersen
Retold by Ellis, Storyteller in Residence, Age 3.5

The Princess atop her matresses and feather beds.

The Princess and the Pea is the story of a prince. He wants to marry a real princess but he can’t find anybody. But then as soon as he gets home he finds her. It starts raining, and the princess goes to the castle, and she knocks on the door. She asks for a room to sleep in. And the queen does make a room for her to sleep in. But there’s a pea under the 20 mattresses and 20 feather beds. The queen put it there. She thought it was a way to discover if she was a princess. When the princess wakes up she goes to eat breakfast. The prince and queen ask her how she slept. She says it was terrible because she is black and blue all over. It was from the pea. So they knew she WAS a princess. And then she got to marry the prince. And that is a true story. And the pea was put in a museum unless it has been stolen by someone else who wants to get married. Now is that a true story? Well, not really. But the pea makes it true….

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PEA

Calling All Storytellers!
Visiting the Pea
Sample Story Submission
Meet the Pea-ple