I have a crush.
Not really on a person, but a lifestyle – a way of being that is both simple and magical. It pulls together all of the homemade goodness of our childhoods with the purposeful parenting partnerships of today’s generation of moms and dads.
It’s one of those things that I’ve been in denial about for a while (30 years or so).
I came out of the womb a career woman planning world domination, moved out on my own the Summer I graduated from high school, was working full time at a daily newspaper by my sophomore year of university and basically never saw myself doing anything else.
My mom loves the kitchen, the garden, the craft room and her sewing machine.
She tried to teach me. I wanted no part of it.
We spent a lot of time as kiddos with her giving us lovely projects to take on – crafts, painting, needlepoint and handmade everything. I wanted the results a trip to the mall produced, refused to see her inspiration.
My mom and I, we’re never going to see eye-to-eye on much. But, I now understand what she tried to bring to our lives in terms of creativity and connection amidst a whole lot of chaos.
Of course, I had to find that out on my own – and now lament my lack of basic homemaking skills – when I began to discover the remarkable learning that comes from the actual creating of beautiful things.
My latent homemaking tendencies were revealed to me slowly.
An obsession with photography allowed me to find inspiration in the creativity of other mamas – photographers from around the globe – who brilliantly have integrated all that was good from generations past with a way of raising kiddos today that includes the entire family, and beyond.
The village.
That’s where I first “met” Amanda Blake Soule – aka Soule Mama.
Her life is absolutely gorgeous and watching it unfold through photography and stories led me down a path to retooling our home life to focus on creativity, stories, hand crafts and yummy, healthy food.
So, when she announced that her book The Creative Family would be on bookshelves this Spring, I knew we’d be buying that family Bible for ourselves.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to nail down my own copy yet. But, a friend let me borrow hers recently (I promise I won’t keep it) and I now feel like I have THE guidebook to keeping the TV off and the creative brain juice flowing around here – with a bit of joy and tradition mixed in for good measure.
Soule is all about discovery, connection and creating things from scratch – and through this well-written, beautifully illustrated book she shows how any family, with basic tools, can change their lives from chaos to creative.
I joke with my friends that something must be wrong with her, because Soule’s life is SO sweet. But, I suspect she is a Zen master of family friendliness and her graciousness with life and family shines through.
To top off my new release reading list, you pretty much HAVE to check out I Love Dirt by long-time children’s author Jennifer Ward.
I honestly have been waiting…and waiting…for this book to show up at local stores. Then, the same pal let me borrow her copy of this absolutely perfect book about bringing families together through nature and now I can’t wait any longer. I hope it doesn’t take six weeks to come in. My pal will totally hate me for keeping these two longer than appropriate.
With a forward written by Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, Ward’s 52 ways to get the whole family back outside is sure to reach legendary status.
Actually, I think it’s already there.
Her sweet writing voice, brilliant ideas and simple yet creative approach to inspiring families is genuine and very, very easy to love.
As you move into a Summer filled with the kids at home, outside fun and vacations galore these two books are the ultimate companions to bring some spark, get the kiddos to turn the TV off themselves and enjoy life a bit more through finding new ways to look at everyday life – together.
Book covers courtesy of Amandasoule.com and Jenniferwardbooks.com
Literacy Lasts a Lifetime
Inspired by stories as a child, Robin spends a whole lot of time reading with her family. She reviews books that bring imagination to life for kids of all ages twice a month.
If you are interested in having a book reviewed, recommending excellent reads or touching base with Robin about our work to promote early literacy in Canada and around the globe, contact her at editor@ourbigearth.com
Thanks for bringing these two books to my attention, can’t wait to get to the book store!
These books started out on the nightstand, and then followed me ( and the kids) all through the house as we tried our hand at some of the projects. We are crazy about the freezer paper stencil t-shirts in particular. I am definitely regretting not having paid more attention in home ec class now though. I can relate to the lifestyle “crush”, I want to be their neighbors.
thank you so much for posting these books! After our first attempt in nature with a 2 year old yesterday, we have decided that we need some help – I Love Dirt looks perfect! I’m going to check out the rest of your book reviews now, although I suspect it to be very dangerous on the pocket book…
You know, it seems like there is a larger movement towards creativity and simplicity while moving away from materialism and gain. I have noticed this within myself as well, feeling more inclined to enjoy the simpler things in life and less inclined to continue with the rat race. My mother and father are also very simple folk, enjoying very simple existences. My mom lives in Lincoln, NE and texts me about sunshiny days and her yoga class. My dad lives in Arkansas and will tell me about the humming birds in his backyard.
Recently he said to me “Money isn’t everything”. I guffawed it away because my belief was that he was only saying it to validate the fact that he doesn’t make any money. But, I have started to come to the conclusion that maybe I do focus too much on the end result and not enough on enjoying my day to day existence.
I found the content on this website, written by Robin Rivers(I think), to be inspirational in a whole new kind of way. It inspires me to get back to my roots, get creative, and reconnect with the idea that life really is magical. So, thanks for sharing Robin