Miss Rumphius

Written and Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Key Scriptures:
· Galatians 6:7-10 (NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
· Parable of the Sower: Matthew 13:3-9 & 18-23, Mark 4:3-9 & 13-20, and Luke 8:4-8 & 11-15
· Parable of the Mustard Seed: Matthew 13:30-32, Mark 4:30-32, and Luke 13:18-19

This story of one woman's quest to do something to make the world more beautiful provided ample opportunities to discuss the biblical principles of reaping and sowing. During our time with this book we studied the Parables of the Sower and the Mustard Seed as well as the principle of sowing good deeds. The kids were already somewhat familiar with these parables and quickly tied them to the Donut Man videos that feature these parables.

We also had fun sprouting both bean and tomato plants and tracking their growth process over the two week period. Although we never did end up transplanting our starts as we had planned, watching the dynamic changes that happened in such a short time was quite rewarding for the kids.

Because bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas, are wild lupines, we had a special connection with this book in that way as well. We made Mother's Day cards for the grandmothers utilizing a fingerprint technique and pink, purple, and blue ink and including the sentiment: "You make the world a more beautiful place, just by being in it!" We also included a packet of Bluebonnet seeds in each of the envelopes along with a short explanation. The kids also had lots of fun coloring various pictures of lupines that I'd found on the web.

In the area of math, we learned a little bit about bushels and pecks and figured out that Miss Rumphius planted the equivalent of 40 gallons of lupine seeds!

In the area of language arts we learned a little about the Dewey Decimal system for classifying books. There was a wonderful website that someone had posted on the FIAR boards regarding the Dewey Decimal System. It had a really cute story that could be used as a device to help remember the basic classification categories. We also did an activity determining how the FIAR books that we had 'rowed so far would be ordered on the shelf (alphabetized by the Author's last name). This was great reinforcement for the alphabetizing skills that Claire had been learning in SSRW.

Based upon information in the book, along with a supplemental article called "In the Footsteps of 'Miss Rumphius,'" we placed our story disk in Maine and also located Indonesia (the inspiration for the tropical island) and talked a little bit about jungles (probably in South America) and the desert/Land of the Lotus Eaters (probably in North Africa) as well as kangaroos being found in Australia.

Using a couple of supplemental books (Tomas and the Library Lady and Johnny Appleseed) and a website about a lady in Texas who had planted extensive daffodil gardens, we discussed different ways that people can make the world a more beautiful place. This was good food for thought regard what WE can do to make the world more beautiful through our words and actions.