Happy Friday Everybody!

Thanks so much for your rousing response to our first-ever THEME OF THE WEEK, which was, as you already know, BEAVERS!

Our reaction to your reaction can be easily summed up by Sydney, the brand ambassador for enthusiasm.

Let’s go day-by-day and share some highlights.

On Monday we asked for stories about beavers.  Here’s a great one:

TWO BEAVERS

By Travis Stotts

Once there were two beavers. Their mission was to get to a lake. The only problem was, it was 50 miles away!
So, they came up with a plan…They would steal a logger’s bulldozer! “Come on Lee! We don’t have all day!” Leah said.
“If we’re going to steal a bulldozer, I got to sharpen my teeth!” said Lee.
“What for? “Asked Leah.
“For defense, of course!” Lee shouted.
“Against whom?” she asked.
“The loggers! Don’t you think they will notice their bulldozer being driven off into the wild blue yonder!!?”
“Whatever. Let’s go!”
And so, they went to the logging camp. But, the bad news was…when they got there, there was no bulldozer.
The good news was they had a helicopter. The second bad news was it was heavily guarded by riflemen.

“Good thing I sharpened my teeth.” said Lee.
“What? “asked Leah.
“You’ll find out.” Lee answered.
Suddenly, Lee sprang into the air! He gripped his teeth on one of the rifles. He twisted the gun into a knot!
“Good idea!” said Leah. She sprang into the air, too, and she began whapping the riflemen with her tail. Finally, when all the rifleman lay knocked out on the ground, the beavers opened the door of the helicopter and got in.
They realized that a mob of angry loggers had gathered to take back the helicopter.
“How do you work this thing?” yelled Lee.
“I don’t know, I guess you just press one of the biggest buttons,” answered Leah.
Lee pressed a giant button. “Nope that one doesn’t work, it just slices trees in half.”
“Uh, why don’t you try the smallest one?” Leah suggested.
“Nope, that one turns it off!”
“Why don’t you try pressing it again to turn it on?” asked Leah.
“OK, well that turns it back on.”
“Try the middle button.”
“Yay, we are finally up in the air,” yelled Lee.
As they flew by the angry mob of loggers, they could see them shouting and throwing axes in the air.
“We will deliver it back once we finish our dam and our lodge at the lake,” shouted Lee. They flew on for two hours until they found the lake. As the helicopter landed, Lee said, “well, here it is.”
Leah asked, “are you really going to give the helicopter back?”
Lee said, “I’m thinking about it…”

To be continued….

Travis’s story has everything I could want in a tale about beavers. Heart-stopping action, sweat-inducing intrigue, and a stolen helicopter. Thanks, Travis. When do we get to see the next installment? I’m determined to hold my breath until you send it, and I’m starting to get a little light headed.

On Tuesday, we asked you to send your drawings. 

Here’s one from Harvey, who also sent a story.

Here’s the story, in case you have trouble reading the above:

Once there was a carpenter named Mr. Beaver. He liked to chew on wood. He liked to hammer nails with his brown tail.  He made a big cubby house and he made sawdust for snack.

I applaud Mr. Beaver’s industriousness and am glad that it was rewarded with such a nutritious (if not delicious) snack.

Here’s one from Kato, who chose an abstract impressionist approach, which I appreciate, because beavers are far too frequently depicted by those who paint things to look as they actually look. Kato’s drawing depicts the essence of the beaver, the undefinable something that lifts the beaver from mere forest-dwelling mammal to the magnificent stature of king of all beasts. At least in his own mind. All the beavers I know are kind of braggy.

And here is a drawing from Alden, who shows a delightful domestic scene. Along the bottom, Alden and Kato have beavers on leashes beneath the beaming sun (that seems, for some reason, to be adorned with either a raisin or a black hole). One of the beavers is a “baby beaver.” I suspect it is the smaller one.  At the top is a space that looks uncannily like the interior of the barn. See the tiny bed with a cheerful blue checkered bedspread? That is the bed for the baby beaver. If I were a beaver, I think I’d prefer sleeping in a nice warm bed to sleeping in a dark, cold beaver dam. But I’m not a beaver. And maybe beavers have different preferences from my own. In fact, I am certain of it.

Our friend Zane sent us this:

Hi Everyone – My preschool class studied beavers in the Fall, and we learned they have ORANGE TEETH! So if you want your drawing to be more accurate than 98% of all extant illustrations, go orange! My mom tried to find a good photo – this is the best she could find… http://www.funbestworld.com/attachment.php?aid=12670 I would also like to add that river otters and bears are their chief predators. Happy New Year! Zane Stanley – age 4.5 – Portland, Oregon.

Excellent intel, Zane! Would you like to consider some part-time work as our chief research assistant? We pay terribly and offer no benefits. But we have some extra temporary tatoos we could send your way.

On Wednesday, we posted the first-ever Kid Quiz, with lots of beaver-related questions: 

I wonder if anyone got all five right? As a bonus question, we asked you to let us know what you would get a beaver for his birthday.

Matthew said “I would give the beaver a toothbrush, or maybe several toothbrushes, and maybe also a hot water bottle. It has to be cold in the beaver lodge.”

Harvey thought a beaver would need “More sticks to build his home so he can be safe from predators.”

Jodi said “I would give a beaver a wet suit. It’s what the cool beavers wear!”

Kato said “An airplane.”

Cannon’s Mama said, “A grill for his teeth.”

Zane said, “Bark and wood. Because they like bark. And wood.”

Thursday Parents Roundtable

We were thrilled with the rousing participation in the first Parents’ Roundtable, which is, by the way, still open for discussion, if you care to join in. In sharing our parenting resolutions for 2014, we had conversations about technology, presence, patience, and poop humor. Which is to say, we talked about the real issues of parenting.

In summary:

We hope you had fun learning about beavers with us this week! We sure had fun learning about them with you.

And now, it’s time to reveal the week’s big winner. And the prize goes to…Harvey, for his drawing and story about Mr. Beaver! In recognition of your excellent work, here is your trophy!

In addition, we will be sending you an archival print of this week’s illustration. And so you all know, bidding is still open for the original.

Check back with us tomorrow (Saturday) to see what our new theme of the week is!  If you have an idea for a “Theme of the Week,” you can let us know by sending an email.