These are three very different approaches to making pictures of cats. But, what they have in common are the dynamic personalities of the cats that were models for the pictures. Each looks at us, as cats do, with their unique expressions. These pictures come from Oman, Lithuania, and Germany. Mother Cat with Kittens, Rafiaa Mouhamad Zaman, age 9, Oman Cats Warming Themselves, by Dalius Arulis, age 8, Lithuania My Cat and Her Kittens, by Gabi Gunther, age 10, Germany
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Children’s Art from Switzerland
These paintings from children in Switzerland were created in the 1960s. We particularly love the old fashioned zoo scenes where children ride elephants. Two street scenes from the city of Basel show a clear winter day and grey winter day. Both are wonderfully evocative of a city in winter in Northern climates. Note the fabulous old black convertible in the grey scene. These paintings are all available as poster-size prints from our Stone Soup Store. Building, artist unknown, Switzerland Roasting Chestnuts in Winter, age 15, Switzerland Basel, age 11, Switzerland At the Zoo, by W. Sala, age 12, Switzerland Basel, age 11, Switzerland At the Zoo, by Dieter Opferkuch, age 12, Switzerland
Young Performer: Natalie Schwamová, 11, Plays Mozart
Natalie plays Mozart variations on the melody for “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Use this music inspiration for theme-based individual or classroom writing projects. Mozart (1756-1781) wrote a set of variations on the theme of a French folk song, Ah! vous dirai je maman, in 1780, when he was twenty-five years old. In the English-speaking world we identify the theme with the children’s song, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, but in France and most of Europe it is identified with Ah! vous dirai je maman. This beautiful piece of music is here performed by the Czeck pianist Natalie Schwamová (born 1999) when she was eleven-years-old. Natalie brings grace and skill to this performance. Project ideas: Besides being a beautiful piece of music performed by a child, the idea of writing variations on a theme can be applied to creative creative projects besides music. For example, you could write a series of stories based on a one theme, or, a class could write a set of stories based on a theme with each child writing one of the variations.
