Spilt Milk

“Don't let one cloud obliterate the whole sky.”—Anais Nin

Do you remember, as a child, lying in the grass on a warm summer day, looking up at the sky, watching the clouds change formation as the wind tossed them across the blue landscape? This is the magic that's captured in the charming little picture book, It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw, published in 1947.

The graphics in the book are simple white shapes against a blue background. The back cover entices you with the verbiage, “Sometimes it looked like Spilt Milk. But it wasn't Spilt Milk, Sometimes it looked like a Bird or an Ice Cream Cone or a Birthday Cake or an Angel. But it wasn't a Bird or an Ice Cream Cone or a Birthday Cake or an Angel. What was it?” The answer to the mystery, of course, is that “it” is a cloud. The suggested age level for this book is from 4 -7, but I have used this book in my toddler classes with children as young as 2 ½ as an inspirational tool for some very simple art projects in which a child can create his or her own cloud scene.

Collage - Paint with glue onto blue construction paper or cardstock, then attach stretched out pieces of cotton balls to the sticky places. (Keep some inexpensive brushes with your art supplies that you use only for glue applications, because after using them for glue, they will no longer be useful for paint.) Shiny star stickers can be applied to transform the picture into a night scene.

Paint 1 – On blue construction paper, drop white acrylic painted that's been watered down a bit, onto the center of the page. (The water addition will make the paint look more like milk.) Blow the paint around on the paper with a straw or fold the paper in half and then reopen it.

Paint 2 - Do a reverse technique. Dab or drip heavily watered down blue watercolor paint onto white construction paper or watercolor paper. Blow the paint around with a straw.

Felt Board – Glue a sheet of blue felt onto a piece of cardboard. Cut out random shapes of white felt. The white felt will stick to the blue felt without any further adhesives.

Encourage your child to tell you what his or her “cloud” shapes look like. You could even staple the pages together to make a cloud book. It Looked Like Spilt Milk is such a great book to add to your library of picture books. And there are actually used copies of the book for sale at Amazon.com starting at one cent!

National Picture Book Week

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to inspire and nurture creativity in children is through the reading of picture books. Today, May 1, 2011, marks the first day of the First Annual National Picture Book Week.
To find out more about what inspired this idea and how you can be a part of the event, go to NationalPictureBookWeek.com. Also, check out the Facebook page for NPBW and have your child contribute to the discussion and post a drawing of his or her favorite picture book.

First Annual National Picture Book Week Set for First Week in May-Press Release

Hollywood, FL – December 10, 2010- A recent article in the New York Times, Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children, prompted author Linda Eve Diamond to initiate a nationwide awareness of the importance of picture books in creating a love of reading and in developing critical reading and thinking skills.

According to the New York Times article, many parents are pushing young children away from picture books exclusively into chapter books out of a concern for education and achievement test scores.
Diamond states that on the contrary, “Picture books are not the cause of the country's literacy problems, and they can even be part of the solution. Picture books inspire a love of books from an early age. The linking together of words and pictures sparks imaginations and may even help to develop critical thinking skills. Picture books often use words and concepts that are beyond a child's reading level because the pictures help the child grasp the overall story and learn new words without even realizing it. Language play and poetry are common in picture books, and rhythm, rhyme and word patterns also help early language development.”

National Picture Book Week (NPBW) is scheduled to occur on May 1-7, 2011. Educators, librarians,museum directors, bookstores and parents are being encouraged to schedule events during that week to showcase the beauty of picture books as learning tools and works of art. NPBW events may be large or small, ranging from readings in libraries, schools and community centers to larger, sponsored events.

A web site, NationalPictureBookWeek.com, has been created as a resource for interested participants to receive information and share ideas for the week long celebration.