Waldorf Traditions

The Little Gnome Tenderroot

Dear Little Gnome Tenderroot just loves the plants and soil he cares for.  Each season he looks to see what he can do that will most especially help the roots and branches to spring to life or, in winter, fade into a deep, good sleep.  He lets the stars and the angels help in all he does, and is just such a happy little fellow it's hard not to want to run outside in the hopes of catching a glimpse of him sending star milk from heaven down into the deep earth so that the plant leaves will flutter brightly.

These little nature stories are wonderful for children in first or second grade - and for all the adults lucky enough to get to read them, too.

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

A short note about this edition: Many of you know that we used to carry the large-format, illustrated edition of The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. Recently, we discovered a very inexpensive, domestically produced edition and decided to take a look, thinking that a choice in cost would be a happy thing for many. I reviewed that book with trepidation, wondering if it was abridged from what I thought was the original. What a surprise -- it was the expensive copy that had excised much of Selma Lagerlöf's prose!! We have decided to discontinue the large volume in favor of this unpretentous edition that preserves every bit of the author's magic. It is the identical translation as our previous edition - but every word is intact. You and your children won't need large, color pictures, Selma Lagerlöf's words will transport you on clouds of imagination.

Now, on to the review:

Wonderful is just the right word for remarkable story. Selma Lagerlöf was already one of Sweden's most renowned authors when she was asked to create a new reader for Swedish schools. What she fashioned broke all the rules - no more disconnected little stories, no more reading for the sake of learning to read! No, she brought her full talent as an outstanding storyteller to bear on the project and created a 17 chapter book that told children a tale from beginning to end. The Wonderful Adventures of Nils is that book, and it is just as delightful today as it was at the turn of the century when it was written.

Nils is a boy who can think of no one but himself. This so annoys a dwarf that he shrinks Nils as punishment for his selfishness. Tiny Nils finds himself carried off by a flock of geese on their way to the far north. Through his long adventures to get back home, Nils learns to know and respect both humans and the life of nature. As they fly over the countryside with Nils, children will discover an abundance of information about nature, geography, folklore, animal life and more. Ages 7 to 11

The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly

Whether you plan to read these sprightly stories to young children, use them as class stories for first grade, or offer them to an intermediate reader as a first chapter book, you and the children in your care are going to love these tales and the gentle characters who people them.

Tiptoes Lightly is a gentle and wise fairy who lives in an acorn high up in the branches of a Great Oak Tree. One morning she finds a note lying on her floor. It says: "Please help! Bee has lost his Buzz!" Thus begins the adventure that takes Tiptoes through the world of nature and into your heart.

The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly comprises three adventures: "The Bee Who Lost His Buzz," "Pumpkin Crow," and "Lucy Goose and the Half-Egg." Sweet and lively illustrations by the author are just one more thing to love about these charming stories.

I read these stories to the children of my class every week for a whole year - they loved them! Their faces shone with obvious delight - I recommend them highly.

- M. Higashine, grades teacher

The Festival of Stones

More adventures of Tiptoes Lightly -- this time with an eye to the festivals of autumn and winter. Tiptoes and her friends journey the realms of nature and spirit, encountering the heart and soul of the festivals along the way. These are just such dear stories -- I can't imagine any young child failing to love them as much as I do.

The festivals Tiptoes illuminates are:

• Michaelmas
• Martinmas
• The Festival of Stones
• The Festival of Plants
• The Festival of Animals
• The Festival of Light
• Christmas

Big-Stamp Two-Toes the Barefoot Giant

Reg Down weaves more Tiptoes magic, this time with a spring theme. In this third book filled with stories that are so lyrical and lovely they practically dance themselves off the page, we join Tiptoes and her friends in Farmer John's garden where bees and plants are awakening in gay abandon. As the book and the season progresses, babies of all sorts are born, kites are flown, more tales are told, sacrifices and rescues are made, and love is called into it all.

These stories are so wonderful for kindergartners and first graders (and their teachers and parents!). Thanks, Reg!

The Magic Knot and Other Tangles

Tiptoes Lightly lives in a lovely little house with just one problem -- there is no furniture! But, that's about to change. Tiptoes will be having a birthday soon, and her dear friends Pine Cone and Pepper Pot the gnomes have determined to make her a table and three chairs, and to find a way to get them to the tippy top of the Great Oak Tree where Tiptoes makes her home. Along the way,they get help from a host of friends and adventures and misadventures abound. In the end, we join Tiptoes at her birthday party where she tells the story of how she came to live in the Great Oak Tree as a daughter of Father Sun and Mother Wind.

Wonderful! Thanks to Reg Down for adding another delightful window into the world of Tiptoes Lightly and her friends.

A Tangle of Tales

From one of our favorite children's authors comes another collection sure to delight.  A Tangle of Tales is packed cover to cover with 42 stories for children.  Inside you'll find nature tales, riddle tales, fables, fairy tales, poems, and creation myths both serious and sanguine.

A joy for children from kindergarten through grade 4.

Poems for Younger Children

The poems in this collection were written originally as birthday verses for children between the ages of seven and eleven. The children, each having been given a verse, would learn it by heart and recite it to the class on their birthdays.

After more than sixteen years of teaching children at the Hereford Steiner Academy, the author reviewed the verses he had written, and it seemed many could be enjoyed as poems in their own right, though they also made a satisfying collection, as they often follow the seasonal cycle.

Teachers and parents may find continuing use for them in recitation and storytelling, to accompany movement, or as inspiration for their own verses. These poems will evoke smiles and fond memories for all those who take them to heart.

Nature Stories

Margaret Peckham originally created these dear stories for her first graders at the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC. They are a lively, imaginative introduction to nature and its ways -- sure to captivate any child who hears them.

Contents:

• The Littlest Gnome
• The Second Gnome
• The Discontented Brook
• First Signs of Spring
• The Little Girl in the Woods
• The Butterfly
• Treasure Chests

The Wise Enchanter

I can't begin to describe how much I love this story and the fact that Shelley Davidow has so much insight and such an understanding of children that she created it. The Wise Enchanter actually makes me wish that I could go back to the time before I learned to read and enter the magic world of words through this rich and wonderful door. I especially love that the story is so very like the worlds I created for myself in those pre-written-word days, yet carries with it the assurance that there are depths of goodness in the world and that searching for them is a worthy, yea, necessary thing to do. What could be a better way to introduce our written language to a child? This book is a beautiful creation and a gift to treasure.

Here's a small sample, from the Prologue:

[The Wise Enchanter is on his magical island, and is troubled. He has called his daughter, Gadrun, to him.]

Gadrun ran to her father. A frown creased her brow. "Dear father," she said, "I see that you are worried."

"I am getting old," he replied. "Without Wisdom, there can be no new Enchanters after I am gone. No children have come to my island for many years. It is happening just as I feared. Wisdom is fading in the world. Words are disappearing. The brightness in the sky is vanishing and the dark Cloud of Ignorance has grown suddenly dense. A new darkness is looming. Someone is being created in the deep. He is growing stronger every minute. If he is not stopped, he will grow immense. If he grows strong enough, he will rise up and devour every word and sound. The earth will become a cold, silent place, too terrible to imagine."

"Who are you talking about?" Gadrun whispered.

"I do not like to utter his name," her father whispered. "But I will say it for you. His name is the Master of Ignorance and Shadows. His name is Urckl!"

Gadrun grew pale and silent at the mention of Urckl. Once, some time ago, Urckl had found enough strength to send one of his messengers to the end of the world. Something terrible had happened then in the Enchanted Islands and Gadrun's heart had been broken.

And thus, the adventure begins.

I should add that The Wise Enchanter is filled with soft black-and-white drawings that you can easily transform into main lesson drawings for the child(ren) you are teaching to recreate as each letter is rescued from darkness.

This is a wonderful, vibrant, masterful book -- may your journey through it be rich and rewarding!

Seven-Year-Old Wonder Book

Every one of our children followed the adventures and discoveries of Sylvia throughout their entire first grade year. Their eyes were always wide open at story time, and they wove these stories into their play for the entire year. I know of one family who gave each child a blank "Wonder Book" when they entered school and, no matter how tired the grown-ups were, whenever the children put their Wonder Books out for the fairies, there was always a picture and a story the next day. This is a book for seven-year-olds of all ages!

The Eight-Year-Old Legend Book

Isabel Wyatt created these stories from the tales told by the Buddha over 2500 years ago.  I see them as the perfect bridge between the fables and saints and heroes as taught in Grade 2 within the Waldorf curriculum.  Here you'll find both animals and humans peopling the world as kings and wise men, clever monkeys and faithful elephants.  There are great adventures which tell of danger and courage, and show so well how it is that wisdom and thoughtfulness always triumph over selfishness and greed.

Wonderful for ages 8 and up - truly heartwarming tales!

King Beetle-Tamer

The tales of Orfeo, friend of all small creatures, are written with the second grader in mind. Orfeo must free the princess from the Rose Tower but cannot find a way to do so until the beetles and mice and birds come to his aid. This is another beloved book in our home - we're sure your children will love King Beetle-tamer, too.

Saint Odelia

The story of Saint Odelia, patron saint of the Alsace region in France, is one of the most beautiful legends from the middle ages. It is about the destiny of a child, born blind and turned out by her father, who gains her sight through a miracle at her baptism. The young girl goes her way unerringly and against all odds, to establish the convent later named for her: Odilienberg.

A beautiful retelling, lacking any trace of sentimentalism and filled with wonder.  Ideal for the Saints and Heroes block in the Waldorf 2nd grade.

Book of Fairy Princes

With the wise counsel of the Golden Fish, the Fisher Boy sets out to win the heart of a beautiful princess. But first he must travel far and wide to find a golden eagle, a leaf-green bull, and a lion with a snow-white heart. Written for third-graders, this is another treasure from Isabel Wyatt.

Thorkill of Iceland

King Gorm of Denmark sends the hero Thorkill of Iceland on a mission to the land of the Giants. Thorkill's enemies plan for him never to return from this journey. Thorkill's adventurous success is told with Isabel Wyatt's characteristic touch of drama and beauty. Included also in Thorkill of Iceland is the story of The Dream of King Alfdan, in which Prince Guthorm loses his inheritance after his father Sigurd is Banished from the Norwegian court and endures many adventures before fulfilling his destiny. Perfect for your adventurous 4th grader!

Stories of the Saints

The thirty-seven stories of Christian saints are told in a way that will captivate and inspire children from 7-12. (In fact, they captivate and inspire me!) Saints, like the rest of us, are very different one from another; but the thread that unites all the stories gathered in this book is that through an unswerving union with Love (Christ), tragedy is always transformed into victory and rejoicing. These stories can be learned and retold by adults or read to younger children. The vocabulary is such that older children can enjoy reading the stories themselves.

The King of Ireland's Son

This edition contains the identical text as the Floris edition, but is graced with the original illustrations by Willy Pogány. It is a reproduction of the 1916 first edition and is printed in the United States - hence, the lower price. I find the older style of the illustrations very in keeping with the story, serving to carry the reader into the realm of Old Ireland. I am also delighted to be able to offer our customers a less expensive, worthy alternative.

Padraic Colum, an award-winning Irish storyteller whose children's stories always ring with the music of the spoken voice, weaves a tale of long ago, when the King of Ireland's son set out to find the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands. He meets the Enchanter's daughter, Fedelma, falls in love and is betrothed to her. Then, he loses her. His adventures to find her again lead him to the Land of the Mist, the Town of the Red Castle and the worlds of Gilly of the Goatskin, the Hags of the Long Teeth, Princess Flame-of-Wine and a meeting with the Giant, Crom Duv. Our children had a wonderful time with this story when they were in 2nd and 3rd grades. Ages 8-11.

Dragonsblood

In olden times, the dragon appeared at the village gate every evening and demanded his due. Frightened villagers one after another brought him a prize sheep, or cow, or goat and the dragon then went away . . . for another night.

Then came a drought and there were no more animals to feed to the hungry dragon. Threatening to burn down the village if they refused him, the dragon told them to bring him their children instead. The children had been planning a long time for this day and surprised both the dragon and their parents by rising to fight and defeat the dragon.

But the dragon promised to return, and dragons always keep their promises . . .

Ages 8 through 10 or so (approximately grades 2 through 5).