by Matthew | Apr 22, 2014 | Friday Mashup |
Hello Everyone!
First of all, apologies for posting the Friday Mashup on Tuesday. I have long list of excuses for this, which includes 1) visiting family, 2) a Bobbledy library event on Saturday for which we had to bind a bunch of books, 3) Easter, 4) sore big toe on my right foot.
We hope that you are among those cheerful sorts who subscribe to the “better late than never camp,” but if you choose to storm off in a huff, we will completely understand.
At the end of a long week of thinking about robots, I’m ready to share my favorite stories and pictures and other fun stuff you sent our way.
We asked you this week to think about what kind of robot you would invent and what you would invent it to do. Here are some of your responses:
Alden says:
I would invent a Fixing Robot and it would fix everything. It would fix a broken toy. And it would also even fix papers that were teared apart and make them brand new. It could even fix a bone in one little second. And it could fix a ring, and it could even fix a toy’s head. It could even fix a house, super fast.
It would look like me, Alden. But it would be made out of metal.
There is much here to contemplate, Alden. What you seem to be saying is that this robot fixes everything. I am guessing that your interest in this robot stems from your having two little brothers who like to break toys, tear pages, damage rings, and pose consistent threats to various bones.
As your father, I’m tempted to steal the blueprints while you sleep and use them to build a vast army of fixing robots that I would unleash upon the living room.
Kato says:
It would be a plane-building robot. It would be named R2D2. It would be orange and made out of metal. It would have wheels and legs. It would also fix bones.
Kato: Is there a rash of broken bones that I’m not aware of? Or are you just shrewdly imagining that a robot with orthopedic powers would fetch a pretty penny on the open market? What do you say we go halvsies on whatever profits you realize from this venture? But first, let’s have a little chat about copyright violation. May I suggest that we call your robot something else, such as Edgar?
Anna says:
Mine is going to be orange and black and blue and red and green. I don’t want it to do anything. I just want it to move around and be lots of different colors.
Anna: I applaud the elegant simplicity of your vision. Robots don’t need to shot lasers or fly through the air or grab things with metal claws. They can just be.
But have you asked yourself what you’re going to do if you break one of your bones? Perhaps you want to reconsider this robot plan of yours, after all.
We asked for robot drawings and here’s what you sent:
Here is Harvey’s robot picture and story.
Here’s the story again, in case you want to have another read:
I have a robot. It can change into many things. His name is Bob. It can change into an alien, a bear, a dinosaur, a saver, a fighter, and a defeater. I made it myself. You can design a robot on a computer. When it sees what parts you need, you can get it online. Then you go to a man who is really good at metal and he will give you the parts. First you start with a circuit. Then a head, body, arms, and legs. That’s how to build a robot.
I love your story, Harvey. Not only is Bob an excellent robot (as evidence I cite his ability to change into shapes as disparate as a dinosaur and a bear) but he is a homemade robot, which makes him all the more wonderful. Thanks so much for giving us some pointers on how to make a robot. I have a computer. And I know a man who is really good at metal. His name is Malcolm. Does this mean I’m likely to succeed? Or is there more to it than that? I do not, for example, have a circuit. Might you be willing to loan me one of yours?
Here is Harry’s robot drawing:
Excellent robot, Harry! Is this, as it seems, a Harry Potter robot? And is the Harry Potter Robot standing next to an enormous, rainbow-colored castle? And is this, in fact, a scene from one of the Harry Potter books (I must admit that I’ve only read the first one) or is it a scene from the inside of your mind? If the latter, it seems as if the inside of your mind is a place I’d like to visit sometime.
Here is Simon’s story about a dinosaur robot:
This dinosaur robot has a long neck. It also has a long tail. Real dinosaurs lived in the time when there were no robot dinosaurs. This robot is like the real dinosaur alamosaurus. Is it the same size as the real dinosaur was? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.
Simon, I applaud you for covering your bases. Either the robot dinosaur was or was not the same size as the actual alamosaurus. I’m guessing that no one will be able to present evidence to the contrary. I only wish that I had lived in the time of real-live dinosaurs so that I could have seen a real live alamosaurus doing the kinds of things that a real live alamosaurus would do. But, come to think of it, there were no fresh flour tortillas available in those days, so never mind.
Here is Simon’s drawing of the dinosaur robot:
Simon, I cannot decide which I admire more: your writing or drawing skills. I admire the carefully articulated moving pieces in the image above. It is as if I am looking at a photograph of a real-live robotic alamosaurus. And looking at said image, I am altogether uncertain whether it is the same size as a real-live alamosaurus or not.
And now, as a final treat, is an amazing video of Simon and his dad playing with toothbrush robots they built.
Are you gasping with surprise and doing double-takes of amazement and excitement? I know I am. It is making it hard to type. It is making it hard to type. (ahem. That was my double-take.)
For his great drawing, fun story, and incredible video, it seems clear to me the this week’s winner, our resident expert on robots, is none other than Simon!
Please step forward and take your bow, sir (and you can download your trophy HERE).
Thanks, everyone, who shared their robots with us this week. We sure loved seeing what the insides of your heads look like.
And sorry again for being so late in posting. I wish I could say that it won’t happen again, but I haven’t yet invented a robot to help keep me organized. If anyone has invented such a robot, please let me know.
by Robbi | Apr 11, 2014 | Friday Mashup |
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the Friday Mashup! I hope that all of you had a SUPER week. That, was, of course, a bit of a pun, given that this week’s theme was Comic books. And comic books are, as you probably know, sometimes, if not often, about the adventures of super heroes.
Conrad and Beckett sent us some drawings.
Here is Conrad’s superhero picture:
According to his mom, this is “Super Conrad’s flying super hero with cape flapping in the wind. With the powers of “car”, “airplane” and “superman”. (You can see those powers in his belly.)
Normally when he draws squiggles in the body the subject has to go potty. So maybe this represents him expressing “to be a superhero, you have to have guts.”
First of all, I love this drawing, and especially the taped-on blue cape. Excellent use of multimedia! I can feel the thrilling acceleration! The super speed and super strength literally leap off my computer screen.
Second, as much as I admire Super Conrad, I wonder if he really needs ALL of these powers. I mean, power of car is one thing. Adding power of airplane seems a little unfair. (What super villain could hope to compete?) But then, to add power of Superman to the towering pile of amazing? All I can say is, look out evil-doers everywhere. I predict a plummet in crime rates. And a constant stream of kittens being rescued from trees.
Here is Beckett’s superhero drawing:
Strong work Beckett! I have seldom seen something so super as this drawing. And I commend you for your restraint, choosing just one power. The power of green is quite appealing. But I wonder: do you recycle? Make leaves grow faster? Cause people to feel queasy? Please tell us more about this power, and how you plan to use it to save the world.
If you, like me like to see artists at work, here are Conrad and Beckett, dressed as their favorite super heroes, drawing their favorite super heroes. This is the definition of genuine commitment, my friends!
Super heroes drawing super heroes
Sydney sent a picture of herself dressed as “Superhero Sydney”
Sydney says she would be Super Sydney and her super power would be running super fast and jumping super high. I would mix my powers together to make one big power. Then I would save people from high and low places.
Sydney, I commend you! First of all, your look is fresh. Not many can pull off the whole cape/boot/tuto combo, but you rock it my friend. And the purple and white is working for you. I definitely wouldn’t mistake you for any other superhero, which is a shrewd move. You don’t want Wonder Woman trying to take credit for your good deeds, after all. I also admire your stated mission: keeping people from places both low and high is a good approach. Does this mean you will focus on ants and giraffes? Someone needs to keep them in line.
Kato told us about his superhero:
My superhero name would be Super Kato. I would have Freeze Power and Bow and Arrow Power and Ice Power and Gun Power. I would make really really really really really really really bad guys dead.
Kato: I think you might be getting a little greedy on the power front. Do you really need ALL of these powers? Let’s discuss. Might there not be a certain degree of redundancy between Freeze power and Ice Power? The same worry applies as I question the necessity for Gun Power and Bow and Arrow Power. Of course, you might have perfectly good reasons for needing this degree of awesomeness. Although, I must admit that my concern stems, at least in part, from the fact that we live in the same house. I think that, being much taller than you, I could probably keep you in line if you had just one or two of these powers. But even I worry about being able to contend with all four.
Harry told us about his superhero:
My superhero name would be Clumsy. My super power would be shooting bow and arrows and killing bad people. I would freeze people who knock down other people’s houses.
Harry, have you been talking to Kato?
And here is Alden’s drawing of herself and her friend Mary Jane as super heroes:
For those of you less familiar with Alden’s writing than I am, she is saying “This game is fun!”
And if you notice a certain degree of similarity between the composition of Alden’s drawing and Robbi’s auction item for this week, then good for you for paying attention!
Alden used Robbi’s drawing as a model for her own. The funny thing is, even though she used certain aspects of Robbi’s drawing, Alden’s drawing is still 100% unique to Alden. Two people can draw the exact same thing and still come up with two completely different drawings. Thats’ the amazing thing about art. Each of us are so different that the things we make are just as unique and wonderful as we are.
Here’s a photo from this week’s Instagram feed, of Robbi’s painting right after she finished it.
It was a tough decision, to be sure, but this week’s winner, our comic books expert is Conrad! For his multi-media drawing of his multi-talented superhero (who I fear just a bit, I must admit).
Here is your trophy, Conrad! (And HERE’s the link to download it). Keep your eye on the mail for your print of Robbi’s painting.
As for the rest of you, check back tomorrow for a new theme and lots more fun.
by Matthew | Apr 4, 2014 | Friday Mashup |
Hello, Friends,
We’ve reached the end of April Fool’s week here on the Bobbledy Blog. We sincerely hope that none of you got fooled, or that, if you did, it was fun.
Our resident prankster Alden had a great deal of fun pulling a classic European April Fool’s joke on everyone who lives in the barn. Well almost everyone. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
In her theme-kickoff post, Robbi explained that in Europe, people celebrate April Fool’s Day by trying to stick a cut-out fish onto other people’s backs without them knowing.
Alden latched onto this idea, starting her rampage by pranking our neighbor “Uncle D” McColl.
The poor guy never saw it coming.
Other victims included her little brother.
And her other little brother.
And her big sister.
And even her mother.
I mean, where’s the respect?
I was spared the insult of the fish, but only because I was in California eating a cheeseburger.
Robbi spent her April Fool’s day doing a painting of a forest where spaghetti and meatballs grows on trees.
As much as I love this painting, it has so far failed to get much traction on Ebay, where it can still be had for a mere two pennies. I’m guessing it won’t go that low, but for now, anyway, this is as good a deal as you’re likely to see for a Robbi Behr original. Gobble it up for a song and have the last laugh one day when it goes to auction at Christie’s.
Perhaps the most wonderful submission of the week came from Harvey, who shared this photo of his donut tree with us.
And this story: I have a donut tree. It fruits in one day. It grows in summer; It does not grow in the winter. It is expensive. It can grow without a seed. You can buy it from Burpee. It costs $99.
To which I say, what a magnificent tree! I just gathered up all the loose change I could find (amazingly, it equalled EXACTLY $99) and went to the Burpee website. I looked and looked and could not find the donut tree. Is that because it’s still sort of winter-ish outside? And if the donut tree doesn’t grow from a seed, what am I buying, exactly? Please help! I want that donut tree, and I WANT IT NOW!
As much as I love Harvey’s tree, it seems clear that the true expert on the art of the April Fool’s prank is none other than Alden, for her many and effective clandestine applications of the European fish.
Please join me in wishing Alden a hearty congratulations!
And that’s all for this week.
What I failed to tell you at the beginning is that I did not come home after leaving California, instead, I flew directly to the moon, where Robbi has joined me for a Bobbledy Books reading by the edge of the Sea of Tranquility. We’re all set to begin, but so far, no one has showed up to listen.
Which is to say, APRIL FOOLS!
After all, April Fool’s week isn’t officially over until I finish this post.
by Matthew | Mar 28, 2014 | Friday Mashup |
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the Friday Mashup! Who is ready to mash? You probably know, but we’re not talking about the kind of mashing you do with potatoes. Not at all. This kind of mashing means putting all of the great stuff you’ve sent us all week long into one place so that we can see it all at once. I’m not sure why it’s the same word as what you do to potatoes. But there you go. Diving in, then…
On Saturday, we asked you “If you could design any kind of bike to do anything, what would it look like and what would you have it do?” Here’s what you had to say:
Matthew said:
“If I could design a bike to do anything, I would design a bike to make me breakfast. I would sit on the bike and turn the pedals, which would turn a chain which would turn gears which would be attached to robotic arms that would crack eggs and shake salt and pour milk and sautee spinach. All the while, I would be getting my morning exercise. Also, the bike would do all my work for the day, so that after breakfast, I could watch movies with Robbi for the rest of the day. Also, the bike would do all of Robbi’s work for the day.”
Then he also said: I forgot to add that the bike would look like an otter because wouldn’t it be cool to have an otter in my living room?
All I can say is that this Matthew fellow sounds like a real winner. It seems virtually impossible that anyone else could come up with anything quite this insightful, revolutionary, and hilarious. I’m wondering if I should send him his trophy now? I suppose I ought to look at just a few of the other entries first.
Harry said:
“My bike is an underwater quad bike that can turn into a kayak. It goes very slowly because it doesn’t want to break and the passengers would like to see Shamu and sharks. The Angry Birds are the passengers, and they say: “Come on. We want to play! This is fun!!” I put super Vaseline on the bike so that it’ll explode to pieces. And then I will put all the pieces together and make a fast plane out of it, and then it’ll explode to pieces again. And then I will put all the pieces together and some super Vaseline and make a jet, and then it’ll explode to pieces.”
Immediately, I see that Matthew’s invention, as great as it may be, is nothing compared to the magnificent creation of Harry. A bike that can turn into a kayak that can turn into a plane that can turn into a jet? Move over, sliced bread! Am I the only one who had never heard about the special explosive properties of Vaseline? I mean, I’ve occasionally put that stuff on my dry and cracked lips? I had no idea that doing so put them at risk of exploding and turning into a jet! Thank you, Harry, for this critical information!
Here is a picture of Harry with his bicycle invention:
Harvey said:
My bike is a stunt bike. It can do a lot of things. It has a clock to go back in time to see the dinosaurs. My bike can jump over 5 monster-sized buildings, 99 monster trucks, and one volcano all stacked up together. It also has wings that takes me to outer space.
Man, I need to get me a bike like Harvey’s. My bike basically carries me straight along the ground. It has no time travel properties. It cannot jump over even one monster-sized building, and (to be fair) cannot even jump over even one normal-sized building. If I’m being really honest, I’m not sure it could even jump over a blueberry muffin. Maybe if it were one of those mini-muffins you sometimes get in the breakfast buffet at Motel Six. Yes, I think I can say that with confidence.
Alden sent us two drawings:
The first is of the whole family biking to the park.
Strong work, Alden, not just with the drawings, which are excellent, but with the writing, which is clear and straight and proportional. Gone are the days in which your A’s were three times the size of your L’s, which leaned dangerously close to your D’s, which were always backwards and far too close to your E’s, which sometimes looked more like backwards G’s, which were often not followed by the N’s needed to conclude your name (on account of the fact that you had run out of paper). And now you can write all these names. You’re growing every day. Excuse me for a moment while I bask in a wave of crushing nostalgia and weep into my handkerchief.
Alden’s second is of Alden biking to Uncle Alex and Aunt Megan’s wedding. You can see all the people sitting in the stands to watch. I think she’s expecting them to get married in a baseball stadium or something.
What a timely drawing, as we are headed to Uncle Alex’s and Auntie Megan’s wedding TODAY. I am hoping that Alden’s smile will be just as broad and contented as it is in the drawing above on hours 5, 6, 7, and 8 of our upcoming eight-hour car ride. And during hours 3, 4, 2, and 1.
As for the baseball stadium, I think it’s entirely possible. Uncle Alex has a lot of friends. He is my brother, after all.
Here is Alden doing her second drawing.
Here is a drawing from Kato:
Here is Kato on his Chicco Red Bullet bicycle. He started out writing that on the bike but ran out of room, and then the letters just randomly went wherever he could find a spot.
I think Kato is on to something. When it comes to writing, far too much emphasis is placed on putting the letters in a deliberate order. Think of how much easier (and more fun) my job would be if I could just put them in any order I wanted and WHEREVER I wanted. I could put some on the bookshelf, some in in the fridge, some into that little gap beneath the oven and the floor. It’s amazing how much we can learn from kids. Good thing I have three of them. I might someday have a chance of being really wise.
And here is Kato modeling his drawing.
Ah, Instagram. If only our whole lives could be filtered thus. Oh wait! It’s called delusion. And I think it’s problematic.
Here is a drawing from August.
August does not know much about drawing bicycles but nevertheless believes he does.
Which makes August our resident expert on delusion. I asked him what he thinks of it, and he was surprisingly positive. Perhaps this is yet another piece of wisdom I stand to glean from my children?
Robbi tried to draw a couple of different bicycles.
She started with this one.
And then she colored it in.
But she wasn’t sure that she had drawn the best bicycle drawing that she could. And so she tried another.
In addition to featuring a bicycle, this illustration guest-starred a sloth.
Here’s the finished painting. You may currently bid for the right to own it over on Ebay.
Here it is, sitting on Robbi’s painting table.
I love seeing Robbi’s paintings next to her box of paints. I like to see where all the colors come from. Any shade that you can find in the painting shows up somewhere in those neat rows of colors. Robbi’s paints are from Japan. They are a special kind that you can’t buy in the United States—and can’t even buy online. Such is the majesty of these paints. Maybe you should plan a trip to Japan.
Here’s a drawing from Steve (The dad of Huck, who was named our castle expert a few weeks ago):
Steve wrote wrote: I love bikes. I think that the world would be a better place if everyone rode a bike more often. Especially sloths.
I also love overly complicated, silly solutions to non-problems. I.E. How to make a bike go without any effort at all for the rider? It is a silly dilemma that clearly exposes a severe lack of understanding of the questioner in all things important. Such a silly question deserves a silly answer: a motor bike!
To be fair, let it be known that Steve is a professional illustrator like Robbi.
Which is why his bike drawing is so excellent.
What is not accounted for in the above is his extraordinary sense of engineering. Why hadn’t someone thought of this previously. Put a MOTOR on a BIKE? It’s brilliant! Sorry, Steve, but I’m going to take your idea to my friends who know about motors, and together, we’re going to make a million bucks. Their names are Harley and Davidson and, for whatever reason, they wear leather pants. I’m leaving now.
Also, because Steve is a professional illustrator, he was able to use powerful image processing software to create an entirely different-looking version.
See how Steve’s already-awesome illustration becomes even more lovely and nostalgia-inducing due to the filters that make it appear well-used and worn? More delusion, I say. Of course this is not a “well-used” illustration because it represents an idea so stunningly new! As soon as I’m done inventing the motor bike, I think I might see if my friends Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper want to star in a movie about them.
And now, we’ve run out of submissions. Which means that now it is my pleasure to announce the Bobbledy Bicycle Expert…
Harry is the winner for his amazing invention, great photo, and stunning revelations on the power of Vaseline. But thanks to EVERYONE who sent us stuff this week. I can hardly wait to share next week’s theme with you. But, of course, I have to. But not for too much longer now.
Check back tomorrow for for more fun.
by Matthew | Mar 21, 2014 | Friday Mashup |
Hello Everyone!
For whatever reason, there’s not much to mash today. Perhaps you were all too busy outside enjoying the springtime to send us your stories and pictures, but I have only a few things to share today, though wonderful things they are.
For example, this drawing from Simon.
I’m guessing you can tell that this is a leprechaun. But did you notice that it is a leprechaun playing skee ball? If you don’t know about skee ball, then you should learn about skee ball, because it is one of my favorite games. Here’s a link to get you started. Perhaps skee ball will be the theme of the week at some point.
In my experience, one does not win a pot of gold for excelling at skee ball, but that said, I have never played skee ball with a leprechaun.
Moving on, then, to other signs of spring.
Here is Alden’s drawing of our welly wanging efforts.
You can see the path of the welly and the bright yellow tape measure with which we measured the might of the toss.
A close, up, for those of you without superhero vision.
If you have not yet entered the International Interwebs Welly Wanging Competition, here are the rules.
Here is an accounting of our family’s wanging.
And here is the trophy you could win by wanging your welly the farthest.
Which is to say, if you have not yet wanged your welly, why on earth not?
We will consider all welly wanging results received by the end of tomorrow (Saturday, March 21), so grab your welly, head out of doors (or stay inside if you live in a castle with an enormous ballroom) and start wanging.
Did you know that today is the first day of spring?
Look what’s happening outside.
Before the flowers came up, my mom made some shamrock cookies in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. They made me think of spring.
And, lastly, here is Robbi’s drawing of spring, in case you missed it on Tuesday.
If anyone is feeling quite motivated, this painting can still be had on Ebay through 12:30EST tomorrow (Sunday, March 22), though the bidding has gotten quite spirited.
And now, I am ready to head outside for a walk on this beautiful spring day. But before I do, it is my pleasure to announce the winner of the Bobbledy Theme Week Trophy for Spring is none other than…
I’m not sure how Simon knew that I am a sucker for 1) Leprechauns and 2) skee ball, but his strategy was extremely effective.
You can just download this image to print it out and color it in, or get the pdf HERE, Simon!
As for the rest of you:
1) GO WANG YOUR WELLYS
2) ENJOY THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING, and
3) CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR A POST ON OUR NEW THEME.
We missed seeing your drawings and reading your stories this week.
Bobbledy is only as fun as you make it. Unless, of course, it’s only as fun as WE make it, in which case: WE’LL TRY HARDER!
by Matthew | Mar 14, 2014 | Friday Mashup |
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the Friday Mashup! Who is ready to mash?
On Saturday, we asked you “If you could build a castle, where would you put it, and who would you be trying to keep out? Or who would you be trying to keep safe inside?” Here’s what you had to say:
Abigail says she would put her castle right next to her house where her teachers can stay so she can have a sleepover party with ms. Diana and ms. Becky. Her castle would be made of sparkles and painted blue and called ala. Only friends from school can get on and the password to get in is “open”. Clever.
Abigail, you are good to include your teachers in your castle plans. Usually teachers only get to hang out in the teacher’s lounge, and I’m sure Ms. Diana and Ms. Becky will be extremely grateful. And maybe they’ll bring some apples. One tip, though, if you want to keep undesirables out of your castle, you probably shouldn’t publish the secret password on blogs.
Phoebe wants to build her castle right here and it is going to look like Elsa’s ice castle. Elsa can come in the castle but Sleeping Beauty may not.
Phoebe! I am familiar with the castle of which you speak, being the father of small children and being forced, I mean lucky enough, to see Frozen five times in the theater plus six more times on the iPad. Also: I totally respect you drawing a line between hip and contemporary princesses and old school (and not quite as awesome) princesses. I mean, all Sleeping Beauty did was sleep. What’s up with that? Elsa can freeze anything. Even her sister’s heart! Can anyone give me an A-W-E-S-O-M-E?
Harry says: If I could build a castle, I would keep my family and my dinosaurs safe inside. I would be Knight Harry riding on a horse. My Research Dinosaur would be the dragon that protects the castle. We will keep out Slagal, the car stealer from the Hardy Boys. My “dragon” will cast a spill and make the castle invisible and sound-proof whenever Slagal comes around so my dinosaurs can stump as loud as they want. And the gong farmer will take care of all the dinosaur poo-poo.
Harry! Your approach is so well thought out. I’m jealous of the resources at your disposal. I lack, for example, a Research Dinosaur, and therefore all I have to protect my castle/barn is a neurotic Weimaraner and a blind, incontinent cat. But what I really want is a gong farmer, because (dog, cat, toddler) boy oh boy is there a lot of poo around here. Not dinosaur poo, mind you, but when it comes down to it, poo is poo and I’d love to outsource its removal.
And here, my friends, is Harry’s castle and Research Dinosaur. The identity of other figures is less clear to me. Which, for example, is Slagal and which is the gong farmer? Some mysteries are better left preserved.
On Tuesday, we asked for pictures of castles. Here’s what you sent us!
Huck built a castle from legos!
Huck! A treacherous moat! A terrifying black tower! A working drawbridge! A cleverly hidden treasure chest! A dude in a baseball cap sneaking in when no one is looking (except for those two people right behind him, I mean)! This castle is amazing! It’s as if you have imagination, vision, intelligence, and mechanical aptitude all rolled up in one. You must have exceptional parents. What’s that you say? Your dad ALSO builds incredible things out of Legos?
Let’s have a look.
Steve (dad of Huck)! It’s almost unfair that so much Lego-building prowess be devoted to one family. Are you guys Master Builders? Do you know Wildstyle? Is Emmet really as boring-yet-AWESOME as he seems? Steve, I love your flying castle with tubes, flags, and cannons. And I love that you guys spent time building castles together this week.
Here is a castle from Phoebe:
Phoebe, I love your drawing. The dark black lines, the rich and saturated colors. The birds (or are they bats?) flying in the sky above the towers, a kind of warning to those who might attempt invasion. This is really lovely work. Thank you for sending it to us.
Here is a castle from Harry with dragons added:
Harry, thanks so much for adding these dragons. When Robbi finished her drawing, I knew it needed dragons, and I wanted to tell her, but I also didn’t want to hurt her feelings because she was so (mistakenly) convinced that the drawing was complete without dragons. But you have so thoroughly made my point for me that I don’t have to tell her now (though I secretly hope she sees your drawing and is like, “Dangola, I secretly knew there was something missing and that something was dragons, and gosh, I should probably hire Harry to sit next to my desk all day long and point out all the stuff it doesn’t occur to me to put in my drawings”).
Which leads me to this important question, Harry: What’s your hourly rate?
Here’s what Thalia had to say about her picture:
“I made a castle and everyone wants to play near it because it’s so fun. There’s a little girl with glasses, balloons, a Ferris wheel and a dragon castle, which means that there is a dragon head on top of a castle body. There’s also a chick and the sun is shining. The little girl wants to go on the Ferris wheel and she is almost there even though she can’t see too well. I didn’t want her to have glasses but then I realized her eyes were too big and one was out of the head, so I decided they could be glasses instead. Now I need to go make a tower out of magnets.”
Thalia: Excellent work! And not just your drawing, which I love, but also your writing, which combines several of my favorite literary conventions: free association, meta-awareness and non sequitur. Also: I really hope that little girl gets that eye back in her head. If only so she can admire your magnet tower, which is, I am sure, quite something.
Here’s a story and drawing from Harvey:
A long long time ago there were 2 castles. Their names are Rotter Defeater and Helper Bomb. One castle lives on top of the mountain. The other castle lives on the ocean. Helper Bomb is golden color. And the people who lived in it are helpful. Rotter Defeater has black color. The people who live there act rotten.
Inside Helper Bomb, there are people. Their names are King Harmon, Queen Harmony, Prince Henry, and Princess Holly. There is a golden dragon and robot. The dragon helps by putting fire on logs so the people could roast marshmallows and put fire in the air so people could see in the dark. The robot invents things for the citizens.
Inside Rotter Defeater there are people too. Their names are King Rabadash, Queen Raven, Prince Rafaya, and Princess Roan. There is a dragon and a giant. The dragon destroys by spitting ice to freeze people and squeeze people and throw them to a giant. The giant kills by throwing them out of the castle.
King Rabadash and Queen Raven started the fight. First they sent a big land storm to crush the garden tools. Then they sent a big dragon that spits ice to freeze the plants. And they sent big clouds to block the sun so the plants could not grow. King Harmon did not want to fight; he wanted peace. But he had no choice.
To be continued….
And here are the illustrations that go with Harvey’s story.
Harvey, your story and drawings are really amazing. I hope you realize that what you’re doing is making a book. I hope that you do continue this story and I hope that when you’re done, you’ll send this to us, because the story is interesting, and the illustrations are really excellent.
Here are a few specific things I’d like to say about your work:
The names of your castles delight me.
You’ve set up quite a compelling conflict. Which makes me want to read more and find out what happens next.
This sentence is one of my very favorite “Then they sent a big land storm to crush the garden tools.” I could not imagine a sentence so wonderful on my own. That sentence had to come from your head. I’m so glad I got a chance to read it.
Here are Harvey, Harry, Melody, Valerie and Paxon coloring in Robbi’s castles:
To which I say, EXCELLENT! Seeing these photos of all you guys coloring her drawings makes Robbi smile. What she probably does not realize is that each and every one of you is adding all the things she forgot to add when she drew that lonely castle all by itself. Whether it’s dragons, or unicorns, or three-legged dinosaurs, or great big piles of chewing gum, or a gong farmer doing his important job. Adults are good for getting things started. But it’s kids and their incredible, boundless, unspoiled minds that make the world extraordinary.
So thanks to all of you.
And now, it is my pleasure to announce this week’s winner of the Bobbledy Theme Week Trophy for castles…
This was SO HARD because SO MANY OF YOU did SUCH AMAZING WORK.
But we are suckers for collaboration (which means to work together with someone else to make something that neither of you could have made by yourself; it’s what Robbi and I do about 99 percent of the time, because without each other, Robbi and I are basically no more capable than a gong farmer), and so, congratulations Huck and Huck’s dad Steve! We can’t wait to see how you collaborate on coloring in this trophy.
Thanks to everyone for sending us your stuff. We remain ever humbled by the chance to put your pictures and stories on our site.
Check back tomorrow for the new theme, which rhymes with “bling.”
