Last week, Tilly asked kids to draw rainbows.
As we learned from the bio in the back of Spencer’s Gorillas in the Kitchen submission, “rainbow” is his favorite color. According ot his mom, “this was a particularly fun prompt for him. Here is his description of his drawing: “I drew a rainbow flower. A rainbow flower is a flower that looks like a rainbow. It doesn’t really exist. It’s pretend. My cousin Valerie taught me how to draw it. I like it since it’s different.”
I appreciate that Spencer took the time to explain his brief foray into the realm of the imaginary. I also admire his appreciation for the extraordinary. I wish there were a rainbow flower. But in a way, since Spencer drew one, there is.
As for Tyler, this is how he described his drawing:
“Today when we were in the car, I saw a rainbow! It made me feel happy because I like rainbows and they’re really colorful. It looked like the rainbow was walking with us. But then it went away.”
Tyler’s lesson for us deals with the poignant transience of the beautiful. Kids see every day the things we all forget and then have to learn through decades of painful struggle. “The rainbow was walking with us. But then it went away.” Such a beautiful line.
We applaud Kate for taking this week’s prompt beyond paper to the third dimension, to the edible dimension. Kate made a rainbow cookie and sent us a picture to enjoy.
I love this rainbow. Though I wish she had sent us the actual cookie to enjoy.
Here’s Robbi’s rainbow.
And here’s what she has to say about it:
“I always wonder what rainbows do when we’re not looking. It must get tiring doing back bends in the rain all day long. Maybe once they’re by themselves they give their backs a rest and zip through the forest. I know I would.”
And here is Alden’s rainbow.
When I asked her to explain it, she told me that the lumps along the top are mountains. Beneath the mountains are “a lot of stripes.” Below the stripes are “a lot of dots.” Below the dots are “all the beautiful colors of the rainbow.” As for the large pink blobs on either side of the rainbow? They are “the spring, that makes the rainbow come.”
Of course. I love how kids think, how they speak, how they write, and how they draw the world they see.
Thank you guys for sharing all this with us.