A future where children's interests are cherished. Parenting lessons from Eric Carle's mother, and my personal notes.

Isn't this the very essence of things?

Or rather.
It's like a future where the essence of parenting,
which is often talked about, was cherished.

At the Eric Carle exhibition I visited the other day,
while watching the video,

I thought, 'I knew it!'

It really hit home. Ah, the essence of it all!

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure...

I recall that 'Sakana-kun's' mother was similar, and my thoughts drifted to that...

Ah, the essence.

That's right. It really is.

Working in a job that involves children,
I know from personal experience the importance of being immersed in what you love.

It is something that is always written in essential parenting books as well.

And in "The Job Encyclopedia for 10 Years Later" by Horiemon, which I have been reading recently, something similar was written.

The essential truth that people from various fields all agree is important:

cherishing what the child likes

.

Of course. I want to do that, and
I believe I have done so as much as possible, but
I wonder how it really is...

Of course, only the children know for sure...

I feel like they are absorbed in the things they like, and
I also feel like they are more obsessed with games and YouTube...

Even looking at my two children,
they each have their own preferences for games and YouTube,
so you could say that is their own unique way of liking things.

If you were to ask Horiemon,
he would probably say, if they like games, let them play to their heart's content!
I suppose.

But as a parent, it's not that simple. Ah, it's complicated.

But summer vacation is almost here.

“I want to cherish time spent being absorbed and immersed.”

That feeling.

“But how? What should I do?”

That feeling.

But I believe that if I keep that antenna up, the way we spend our time will change at least a little bit.

I'm glad I was able to refresh my mindset before summer vacation started.😊

Below are my notes. These were supposed to be simple memos for myself, but as I wrote them, I feel like there's more passion here than in the main text, haha.

・First, paint the paper. That time is a “time to be mindless.” It must be precious time. You don't cut it into a caterpillar shape before painting. You paint first. You layer colors mindlessly. Then you cut. I feel like there's a sense of surrendering oneself to the process.

・This video seemed to resonate with my daughter too. She said, “It was interesting to watch them making it.”

・When I read the subtitle “I love drawing pictures” to my daughter, she said, “She's like the girl from Kiki's Delivery Service.” I was happy to realize that she understood the artist from Kiki's Delivery Service in her own way.

・Smocks stained with paint. Shoes stained with paint. A messy studio. Yes, this is it, I thought.

・The original version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar was called "Willie the Worm's Week." The flow was the same, but it was a story that ended with the worm growing big. However, the editor wasn't satisfied with the ending and suggested a different animal, so it became a caterpillar → butterfly.

I didn't know this bestseller picture book had such a process. It's true that ending with a butterfly feels like a more elevated conclusion. It's worlds apart, but since I started a note, I felt a bit of a connection. Being able to actually read it was, oh, so moving.

・I'm writing all these things, but the kids got bored immediately and ran through the exhibit. But if the caterpillar hadn't come to our house, I don't think they would have said, "I want to go!" In other words, I don't think we could have gone. So, I'm just happy we were able to come!

▼Picture book that caught my eye at the exhibition
All in a Day
・A picture book that caught my eye in the souvenir corner. I thought it looked familiar... and realized it was by Mitsumasa Anno, famous for "Upside-Downers" and other works! Why? I wondered, and it turns out it's a picture book where Anno called upon picture book authors from various countries to depict what children in their respective countries were doing at the same time!
It's hard to explain. Seeing is believing, so if you're interested, please check it out at the library. I reserved it too! The cover looks like the one below.

The moment I found it, I was super excited all by myself, thinking, "The creativity is god-tier!" but it didn't get through to my husband. Oh well.

Eric Carle represents the United States, and Mitsumasa Anno represents Japan. It seems the author of The Snowman (not the currently popular Snow Man, but the snowman) depicts the United Kingdom.

▼The picture book that made me think, "This is it!!"
The Mixed-Up Chameleon

This is the picture book currently in print. When I borrowed it from the library before, I think it was written in the preface or afterword that "this work was inspired by the process of drawing pictures with children." (Again, this is based on my memory, so it's not accurate). But, somehow, it didn't quite click for me.

And! This was on display in the picture book corner at the end of the exhibition.

Look at this!!!!!! I felt like slapping my knee and saying, "This is it!!!!!" If it's this, I can totally understand how it was "inspired by the process of drawing pictures with children"!

I felt the content was also a bit different from the revised edition. I excitedly told the kids, "Look at this! It seems the picture book from the other day was originally like this!" and asked if they wanted to read it, but they said, "The one we read before (the revised edition) is better~," so we didn't get to read it slowly. Oh well. I've finished reserving this one at the library too. A mother's enthusiasm. Lol.

...That was my memo. Is this one more enthusiastic?

Maybe it's because I started writing about picture books...! I love picture books. So, let's just leave it at that.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my notes.

I hope we can meet again ♪

▼ Here is the event that sparked my children to say, "I want to go to The Very Hungry Caterpillar exhibition!"

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