It's never too late for Christmas: River's Book

I had my doubts about taking a 2 1/2 year old to see the exhibit of Picasso's work at the Seattle Art Museum. My grand daughter can be such a squirrely girly, and what could such a young child get from it?

River came anyway, with my son and I. Sure enough, she squirmed and fussed through most of the exhibit--and yet, it was the pieces that caught her attention and her reaction to those she liked that made the experience rich and meaningful for me.

The one painting of Picasso's that caught her attention, was La Celestine (the Woman with a Cateract). River was fascinated by it and kept asking to go back and see it again. The other piece she liked was the video of Picasso scultping a duck from clay.

I think the disjointed figures and dull colors of most of the paintings contributed to her fussiness. Once out of the Picasso area, when her attention was on other art, she calmed. She loved the African Exhibit, especially the slides of people's faces, mostly Children with rich brown skin.

Adventures like these inspired me to make book for River as a Christmas gift. In fact, I thought it would make a good gift for the rest of her grandmothers and grandfathers as well as for her uncles and aunt.

It didn't get done in time for Christmas. Here it is mid-January and I just finally got the paper to print it on yesterday. Well, it's never too late for Christmas.