Wordsmith Wednesday: The Story of the Root Children

Owen and I went on an adventure to a new library today. The Shuts Environmental Library in Lancaster County's Central Park is housed in a 1769 farmhouse built by Andreas Shuts. The library is housed in the main room of the first floor and contains a selection of books focused on the natural world. A trip there is not much longer by car than to the downtown library, and when you arrive there is a big park around you and a cozy little house with a room full of books. The parking is free, and Owen can run around before and after going in to get books rather than being shuffled from a multi-layer parking deck across busy streets. We really enjoyed our visit and stayed a while to sit on the old wood floor and read a few books. Then we went outside and took a short hike and ran around in the woods and grass before heading home for lunch and a nap.

Owen and I really liked The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle von Olfers (first published in German in 1906 and later adapted to English). We read it there and checked it out to bring home and read - so far once again with me and once with Abram.
This is a very sweet story of seasonal changes with very pretty illustrations. The root children live underground during the winter, but Mother Earth wakes them up for spring. Each root child is a flower, and they make new colorful clothes for spring and process along with the insects. They enjoy the warm spring and summer playing outdoors, but when the cold fall wind comes, they are lead back down to the ground to sleep through the cold winter awaiting the return of spring.