Handkerchiefs

For her ‘oma’ (grandma) and ‘opa’ (grandpa) in Holland, Hana made some handkerchiefs, decorated with textile paint. She thought they might come in very handy.

Picture Frame

A picture frame, made by Hana. It has a wooden ‘thing’ on the back with which you can secure the picture in its frame.

Beach Bum

Hana's summer is almost over; September 8 the Beach Bum/ Donkey Rider is due back in school. Let's see what the new year brings.

Last week.
I had a collection of pens traveling around in my handbag. As it was very annoying - everything got ink over it - I looked around for a pencil case. The only one I could find was a hippo pencil case of Hana (a pencil case shaped like a hippo). I quickly emptied it of its contents, and used it for my pens, and put it in my handbag.

This week.
Hana and I are talking about the upcoming school year. She telling me all the things she needs, as this year she is going to the ‘big school’; grade 1. Everything passes the venue, from lunchboxes to waterbottles, to erasers and pencils and I don’t know what.

“But you will have to get it ready and organize it, put it in one place,” I tell her.
“Oh,” she replies, “I already put all my school supplies together.”
“Oh, where did you put them,” I ask her, without really thinking about it.
“I put them in my hippo pencil case,” she says.

Silence.

Oooops, I think I just dumped all that stuff out. Better organize myself tonight, or I am going to eat it. I can just visualize this.

“WHO TOUCHED MY PENCIL CASE!!!!!!!!”

Love Story

Hana’s brother is growing up, and past holiday was spent mainly in the company of girls. Hana finds this entirely fascinating; that girls would actually pass by because they want to be in the company of her – in her eyes – incredibly annoying brother.

And so she’s been drawing about love, and kisses and hearts. This particular one is a love story. It came as a book.Girl meets boy, and is thinking that she actually really would like to kiss him (thinking bubbles). The feeling is obviously mutual. Check out the puckered lips.
And so they kiss. The lying on the ground must be something she sees in movies. I thought it was a church bell up above, but no, it was just a lamp. The girl has her boobies in her neck.
Next comes a reflective piece of the mother (formerly the girl kissing, so obviously they must have gotten married). I’d think she probably thinks “Oh my God, what did I get myself into”, but Hana says she’s thinking on “doing a band with the family”. (boobies still in her neck)

And indeed, here they are; a performing family. Mom, Dad, and a boy and a girl, in rock band disguise. Complete with hairdo, chains and poses.

Pictographic Shopping List

Hana cannot read and write yet, much to her dismay. But she has circumvented the problem with this graphic shopping list.

The list features water ( a bottle with some water movement, ice tea (a water bottle with ice cubes), eggs (chicken with eggs, butter (buttercup with a B in it), cornflakes for her and her brother (A + H above box), chocolate paste (Nutella jar, go figure if you can find that one and tuna fish (fish).

I thought it was just a memory thing, and that she’d soon forget what each item meant. However, this shopping list was ‘written’ on August 18, and when I just asked (August 30) her if she could clarify the items for me, she could do so immediately.
I guess you could call this a pictographic shopping list.

Strawberry

Another thing Hana saw, and I didn't see it.
"Look Mom, this stone looks like a strawberry," she said when she picked up this stone from a beach in Yport.

I thought she meant the texture of the stone, but when she painted it, I saw the strawberry. Indeed, it does look like a strawberry.

What Is It?

At first I though it was an art work made with stones, depicting a heart. Alas, Hana's mom is at times a little too lyrical.

"No, it is a fireplace," Hana said impatiently, "Don't you see the stones around it? ANd in the middle you put the fire."

Yes, of course.

Pine Cone

Things you can do with a pine cone; turn it into a flower.

A Dr. Seuss Birds Nest

From grass, little pine cones and a branch Hana constructed a collection of 'birds nests'. It looks like one out of a Dr. Seuss book.

Field study

While in the field, Hana made aportrait of a friend. He's got a distinct 'Van Goghian' touch to him, I think. At least that is what Hana made of it. He's got his arms crossed, a detail she noticed, and solved in a Picasso manner.

Some other animals . . .

Hana spent her summer with; three donkeys, Filou, Balthazar and Lisette. Hana rode Filou for some 75 kilometers through France, and calls herself a 'donkey rider'.

Insects

Hana spent her summer outdoors, and encountered lots and lots of insects and other critters. Black bugs and green bugs and orange bugs, grasshoppers in all sizes, slime snails and slugs, butterflies, frogs and toads.

And so she wanted to make a 'study book' on the insects she encountered. It did not get much further than a green grasshopper and a type of cricket the French call 'cigalle'.

Since she cannot write yet, she dictated the text to her mom.