Lizzy and the Cloud - Summer Book Club

Welcome to Week Four of the Bella Luna Toys Summer Book Club!

We hope you have been having lots of peaceful summer days watching the clouds float by, exactly why we think this week's book is so perfect for summer! We've long been fans of the amazing Fan Brothers, and this book, Lizzy and the Cloud, by the duo is no exception. We fell in love with Lizzy and her pet cloud, Milo, right away, and we think you will too, as you turn the pages of this subtle but poignant book about friendship and letting go.

Lizzy isn't seeking a grand or elaborate cloud; she just wants one that feels perfect for her, even though "clouds were a bit out of fashion." That cloud is Milo. Although she's surprised by how many steps there are in the instruction manual, Lizzy follows each one to the letter. Before long, she's bringing Milo along on family walks, watering him diligently, and watching as he grows bigger and bigger. But what will Lizzy do when her pet cloud becomes too large to manage and she has to make a decision that is not in the instruction manual?

Lizzy and the Cloud Children's book surrounded by wooden rainbows, play silks, and clouds.

Day 1 - Read & Discuss

The first day of book club is all about soaking in the beauty of the story. Sit down with your children and read the book slowly, lingering to closely explore the illustrations and fully engage with the story. Notice in this book how the color palette expands and notice the sweet expressions on Lizzy's face. After you’ve finished reading, invite your children to ask questions and share their favorite parts of the story and what parts they can easily connect to. Allowing time for these discussions cements the story into your little ones heads and hearts and creates a slow and special rhythm.

We've come up with a few questions and discussion topics to guide your conversations if you need a jumpstart:

1. Have you ever had an unusual pet?

2. If you could have anything in the whole world as a pet for a few days what would it be? Maybe a dump truck? A star? A wave from the ocean?

3. What do you do to help take care of things; whether you have a pet, a plant, or a favorite stuffed animal?

4. Have you ever found a wild animal, (for example an insect, or hermit crab) and then let it go? If so, how did it feel? Were you tempted to take it home?

Day 2 - Drawing & Writing Prompt

On the second day of our Summer Book Club, in typical Waldorf fashion, we retell the story together and process it again through drawing and writing prompts. This second layer of telling is a way to let the story sink into hearts and minds. An especially compelling way for children to retell the story is through play. They can set up a small theater to perform their own version of the story. Perhaps, they might like to share their reenactment with an audience. Let your children lead the way!

If your children like to draw and write, you can create a book club space with easy access to pencils, crayons, and paper and have this week's book to use as inspiration. We created the following prompt to spark their writing and drawing adventures:

Cloud Watching Safari: Spread a blanket outside on a day that has some good cloud activity. As the clouds go by, have your kids identify different shapes, figures, and creatures. As they call different things out that they see in the cloud shapes, write them down. After they have named several different elements, have them write or tell you a story about all these different cloud characters. They can also take this further by illustrating their story with the different shaped clouds that they saw pass by.

Day 3: Craft Your Own Cloud Pillow Pet

While we are pretty certain that your kids can't have an actual cloud for a pet, we think this craft will make a very close substitute. This sweet and squishy pillow craft is a great early sewing project and makes a perfect way to hold a cloud close to their heart, just like Lizzy did!

Cloud shaped pillow craft next to waldorf toys

Gather Your Supplies:

These are the supplies for this project:

White Fabric
Sewing machine or needle and thread
Ribbon
Scissors
Stuffing

Create Your Very Own Cloud:

Step 1: Gather your supplies. You will need white fabric in the material you want your cloud to be, scissors, ribbon, and a sewing machine (or you can hand stitch with needle and thread).

Rainbow ribbon and scissors on white fabric

Step 2: Place two sheets of your white fabric on top of each other (back to back) and cut out your cloud shape.

Step 3: Cut your strips of ribbon in your desired length.

Step 4: Make sure the fabric side you want showing is placed on the inside. place your ribbons on top of the first layer.

Step 5: Place the second layer of fabric on top of the ribbons and begin to pin together along the sides. The fabric you want showing should be placed on the inside right now.

Step 6: After you pin along the bottom (ribbons should be pinned down) move the ribbon strands to the center of the cloud away from the edges.

Step 7: Finish pinning the sides of the cloud (ribbons should be tucked inside away from edges).

Step 8: Using your sewing machine sew along the edges of your cloud. You can also hand sew using needle in thread. Note: We recommend using white thread so that it blends with the cloud, we used a dark green to show the stitches.