booandbunny

“Hello, Kipper.” His best friend always greets him in a dry British style on the animated shows my older kids watched as toddlers. I loved this show because it always kept them calm and relaxed while I nursed the newborn. (Yes. They are close in age. Thirteen months between the first two, 22 between the boys.) Kipper’s images were soft and simple, his soundtrack was lovely, soft jazz and his stories were of imagination and friendship. When we packed up and browsed the library we found the books. I’ve been totally head-over-heels for Mick Inkpen’s Kipper ever since.

I especially like this story … and this picture I’m going to have on my blog now. Kipper always takes the time to notice what’s going on around him. He takes the time to imagine about the things that pass him by, to give them a story or solve a problem. And he always makes the best use of what he has. When the inflatable pool gets “a puncture” he patches it with his Band-Aid. When the rain stops and he needs to get across a stream, he floats in his upside-down umbrella. And he never gets upset about it, or makes a big tadoo.

I need to be more like Kipper. Mostly because kids need a model and I hope my kids can be like Kipper. I hope that they’ll look at life and say: “OK, today I must choose a rocky path or a muddy path. Which can I make the most fun out of before I get to the even road?”