Meeting Musings: Beauty

I love the book Beauty by Robin McKinley.  It's been one of my favorites for many years.  I was really excited to share this book with everyone, even though is was a bit longer than most of the books we read.  Unfortunately we got so caught up in the craft we didn't talk about the book as much as I would have liked.  Of course, I could talk about it for days, so maybe it was just right for a normal person.

The flowers we made were quick and easy and turned out very cute.  Everyone had time to make several flowers before we had to go.  Here is the link to the instructions.
http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2011/10/how-to-make-felt-flowers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InfarrantlyCreative+%28infarrantly+creative%29

We ended up using hot glue instead of the suggested Fabri-Tac.  Aleene's craft glue works, too, but takes awhile to dry.  There were a lot of creative changes to the basic pattern for the flower.  One of the mom's added a ring of green around the base for leaves, one girl made her flower petals longer by making the original cut wider, and someone glued two pieces of felt together for a two-tone flower.  Everyone left with even more ideas on how to make the flowers their own.

Our next book is A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle.  It's another really good book, plus, it's the book's 50th anniversary this year.  A perfect time to read it, right?

The meeting for the book is going to be on May 23, 2012 at 7:00 pm.  I hope to see you there!

Gloria

Creative Crafting: Beauty

If you've been reading, you have probably notices Beauty loves roses.  I wanted to incorporate that into our craft this month.  I thought it would be fun if we made flowers.  There are dozens of ways you can do this and after researching, I found some cute, easy to make felt flowers.  Here is the example I made:

I'll have several colors of felt, plus there are a couple of variations on the original pattern.  I hope to see you at the meeting tomorrow!

Gloria

Get Talking: Beauty

I hope you are enjoying the book!  Here are some discussion questions to go along with your reading.
I'll see you at the meeting.


How does this version of Beauty and the Beast compare with other versions of the tale you have heard?

How does Beauty feel about her nickname?  In what ways do you think she lives up to both her real name and her nickname?  Is beauty only about how you look?

How does Beauty's family react to having to leave the city and loosing all of their money?  How do you think you and your family would react?

Was it easy for Beauty to decide to leave her family to go live with the Beast?  What would you decide to do?

As Beauty gets to know the Beast, her feelings for him change.  She starts to like him more and more.  Is there anyone you don't like that might turn out to be a good friend if you gave them a second chance?

When Beauty is allowed to go home for a visit she stays longer than week she was given.  Why did she do this?  What would you have done? 

Book Blurbs: Beauty

In this wonderful retelling of the classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast, Beauty is a young girl who feels awkward around her beautiful sisters.  Her family's sudden loss of their wealth forces them to move to the country and start a new life.  Beauty is both intrigued by and a little fearful of the local lore which calls the forest beside her new house enchanted, with a terrible beast living inside.  It is on the stormy day which brings her father home from a business trip clutching a single rose, that Beauty's adventure really begins.




About the Author


Robin McKinley is an American writer who has won many awards in the US, including the Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown, a Newbery Honor for The Blue Sword, and the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature for Sunshine.
She lives in Hampshire, England with her husband, author Peter Dickinson, two hellhounds nicknamed Chaos and Darkness, an 1897 Steinway upright named Rhodanthe, and increasing numbers of rose bushes wedged into three [sic] tiny gardens. The view out her office window is her change-ringing bell tower and in the next village over is a paragon among horses whom Robin is so fortunate as to have permission to ride. Check out her blog at robinmckinleysblog.com.

                             ~Take from robinmckinley.com