"Mom. How do I draw a mermaid?"

Norah asked me this today while we were eating lunch. I realize it's all she's been interested in for a while now, learning how to draw this thing or that. I admit I am behind the eight ball on this, but it only just occurred to me today that I should really do something with all the interest and this natural bent Norah seems to be taking towards drawing.

A few years ago, a good friend of mine who home schools her kids recommended a book called Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes. She lent me her copy and I read through it when Norah was just an infant. Even then, I put it on my (then only mental) list of resources to use in the future, if the opportunity ever presented itself. I am excited that it seems like the time has come to use the book with Norah. So excited, in fact, that as soon as the library opens in the morning, I plan to go pick it up!

Of course, I'd like to just buy the book. But, if I actually purchased all the books we read or used, we'd have more books than shelf space. (We have to stack our books two rows deep on the shelves already and I refuse to let my house look like Forrester's apartment). Not to mention the fact that I'd break the bank with all the money I'd be spending.

We were at the library this morning for story time and I could kick myself for not picking the book up then. But, the red flags hadn't really gone up for me yet and the book wasn't on my list. These days, I really can't think off my lists.

From what I remember, the book is so practical and useful that any adult, even those who only draw stick figures, can use it to teach their children (and themselves) how to draw. It shows how to take any complex object (like a person's body) and teach kids how to break it down into smaller, simpler shapes to recreate the whole thing on their own paper. Genius!