My mother's mother, my maternal grandmother, used to tell me stories, as I have mentioned in earlier blog posts. She also taught me how to draw an 8-pointed star. As she scribbled a star on a scrap of paper, she would say this poem, in German:Kri Kra Kroten-Fuss, Gänse Laufen Bar-Fuss
The translation is as follows:
Kri Kra Toad's Foot, Geese Walk Bare-foot
I think this nonsense poem was based on German folklore. It's a totally unknown story that I've never come across anywhere else. Most likely my grandmother remembered it from her own childhood. But this was how I learned to make a star. And out of this memory of my grandmother's story, of her showing me how to draw a star, along with a dream I had about a falling star, came my book, Draw Me A Star!
Now you too can try to draw an 8-pointed star. See if you can do it without lifting your pen from the paper!
It took a couple of tries and it wasn't really pretty, but I did it! :) Thanks for sharing the story behind your story, very special!
ReplyDeleteI love it! And I love the poem, it made my kid laugh. Thank you for posting.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet poem. You should turn it into a book :)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI had to delete my last comment due to a typo. You are one of our favorite authors. We created a collage project based on your book: "The Tiny Seed". We hope you like our interpretation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the poem. I would love to share this with my son (2 and half yr old) tomorrow morning. I started a blog only to make sure that such trivia was not lost over time.
ReplyDeleteI guess I know the trick of making the star without lifting the pen :) !
Happy Birthday in advance. You are a very dear family member here...even though you do not know about it.
Now my kids learn to draw a star by this poem... Vielen Dank!
ReplyDeleteMe and my son (6 yrs)read this book last night, what an enjoyment story with colorful pictures. My son learned how to draw his first simple and complex star. Thanks :).
ReplyDeleteMy maternal grandmother also taught me this along with the same poem it's nice to finally know the translation and my mom had always thought that her mom had made the poem up herself
ReplyDelete