Thursdays I drive into NYC to pick up Sophie after school for our Sophie/Grammy Day in NJ. Today we read How the Ostrich Got Its Long Neck retold by Verna Aardema & illustrated by Marcia Brown. It’s a delightful, fun read & Sophie loved it. I also read her the author’s note that introduced the concept of pourquoi (the French word for “why”) stories, or stories that explain how a particular characteristic of a person or animal or a natural phenomenon came to be. Later, while “hanging out” in the kitchen, waiting for the pasta to cook, I said, “Hey, Sophie, you could make up a pourquoi story–like: “Why did Grammy get gray hair?”
“Grammy,” she thoughtfully replied, “got gray hair because she got old.”