Fairy Tales from Around the World--The Gift of the Crocodile

Travel with me if you will to the Spice Islands or the Maluku Islands.Today we are going to discuss the book, The Gift of the Crocodile by Judy Sierra. This story takes place in the Spice Islands where nutmeg and cloves grow on the trees. This story was collected and retold around 1900 by G.J. Ellen, a missionary,  and was published in 1916 in Woordenlijist van het Pugoe op Noord-Halmahera. (Source: The Gift of the Crocodile by Judy Sierra, Folklore Note.)

Source

First a bit on the Maluku Islands. The Maluku Islands are part of Indonesia which is in South East Asia. Historically they are known as the Spice Islands by the Chinese and Europeans, however other islands outside of Indonesia have been called that as well. They are a group of small narrow islands that have rainforests and grow rice, sago and spices. Most famous for their spices such as nutmeg, cloves and mace. (Source) These are the islands Christopher Columbus was looking for. (Source: The Gift of the Crocodile by Judy Sierra, Folklore Note.)

Dried Cloves (Source)

Malukus population is about two million which is less than 1% of Indonesia's population.  Due to religious wars, many people have been killed or displaced recently.

Maluku Province Source

Northern Maluku Source

A long history of trade and seafaring has caused mix blood ancestry here.  The natives traded with other Asian countries like China since the Roman Empire. The spice trade was a very lucrative trade. Venice had a monopoly on the spice trade so other countries tried to find a faster way to the islands to bring back the spices. The Portuguese were the first to try to find new routes including around the tip of Africa and discovering/founding Brazil. They took control of the islands, but were challenged by other European countries. First Spanish, then the English and Dutch joined in the conflict. In 1950 the islands finally gained independence. Then from 1999 to 2003 the Muslims and Christians fought and caused a separation between the Maluku Islands. There are now two provinces Maluku and Northern Maluku.

Nutmeg Source

Nutmeg and cloves are still cultivated today as well as cocoa, coffee and fruit. Fishing and producing pearls are also big industries on some of the islands as well as logging, producing ironwood, teak and ebony on different islands. (Source)

Now onto our story.  The story starts with a the image and scents of the nutmeg and clove trees.  Living under them is Damura and her parents. Her mother teaches her to kindle the fire, cook, tend and harvest rice plants, and dance the dance of their ancestors. Unfortunately, her mother becomes ill and realizes she does not have long to live. She calls Damura to her side and tells her to remember to always be kind and respectful of all animals so they will help her throughout her life.

Clove Tree Source

She remembers these words as she mourns her mother. She talks to the green parrot and the lorikeet and finds comfort sharing her sadness each day with them. A woman in the village makes a beautiful doll for her and says Damura can have it if she tells her father to marry the woman. Damura takes the doll and convinces her father to marry the woman even though he thought they were happy just the two of them. The woman has a daughter of her own. At first they are nice to Damura but pretty quickly they turn Damura into their servant. She has to kindle the fire, cook, clean and weed the rice fields.

Nutmeg on tree Source

One day Damura is by the river washing the family's laundry and a sarong washes away in the current. Damura begins to cry. A large crocodile appears and asks why she is crying. Damura remembers her mother's advice and calls the crocodile "Grandmother". The crocodile says if Damura will watch her baby she will go fetch the sarong. Damura agrees and as the baby tries to bite her, she finds a soft stick for it to chew on and sings it a lullaby. Grandmother Crocodile comes back with a sarong far nicer and more beautiful than the rags that Damura lost. Grandmother Crocodile tells her it is what she should wear. Of course when she gets home the stepmother and stepsister take the sarong. The stepsister goes the next day to the river and pretends to lose a sarong and pretends to cry. The crocodile appears again and the stepsister follows what Damura tells her however is very disrespectful to the baby and then just grabs the sarong. She puts the sarong on at once and it becomes a rag filled with leeches.

At some point word is put out for all the maidens to come to dance for the prince so he can select a wife. The stepmother takes the stepsister in the beautiful sarong that the crocodile gave Damura. Damura goes and cries to Grandmother Crocodile. Grandmother Crocodile gives her an entire outfit in gold and tells her to bring all of the clothes back to her at sunrise. And then Damura goes to dance for the prince with the dances she learned from her mother. The prince of course falls in love with her. As the sun rises she runs away--losing a shoe. She apologizes to Grandmother Crocodile for not having both shoes. The prince looks for the woman whose foot will fit the shoe and of course finds Damura and he takes her to the palace and marries her.

Now the stepmother and stepsister are very jealous and go to Damura saying they want to be friends again and suggest taking a boat ride. When they are out in the middle of the river they push her overboard and she is eaten by a crocodile. Then they rush back to the palace yelling that Damura has been eaten by a crocodile.

The prince goes to the river and calls for Grandmother Crocodile and tells her what has happened. Grandmother Crocodile finds the crocodile who ate her and uses magic to bring her back to life and then tells all of the crocodiles that if they see Damura's stepmother or stepsister they must eat them at once. They overheard this and ran off never to be seen again. Meanwhile Damura and the prince live happily everafter raising their children by the river under the nutmeg and clove trees.

Here is my basic worksheet filled out for this book. The blank worksheet can be found here.

Then our crafts for this week were coloring pages which can be found at these locations:

• Lorikeet
• Green Parrot
• Crocodile

I made a clothespin doll to look like the picture in the book when she went to dance for the prince. I used wool roving for her hair and some golden fabric for her outfit. I bought a packages ages ago of clothespins in different skin colors so I will be using these for this series.

Then we made crocodile clips. I was inspired by these clips here, but made a few changes like the eyes and our painting is not as neat. They however were fun to make. For the bumps on the back, I just cut out some green scrapbook paper, however green foam would also work. Then we used green and white acrylic paint. The pom pom eyes needed to be hot glued on since the white glue was not keeping them there. That was our only issue with them though.

I had been thinking of making oranges stuck with whole cloves or play dough scented with nutmeg and cloves, but we did not get a chance to do that yet. I thought it would be fun to bring the scents in to the experience as well. There is also a tutorial for spicy pine cones here. We might try something like that with just nutmeg and cloves and see how it works. I'll keep you posted!

I hope you will join us Monday for our David McPhail book for the Virtual Book Club for Kids and next Monday for our next installment of Cinderella in Different Cultures!

Exploring Lebanon -- Global Learning for Kids

This month we have joined the Global Learning for Kids in exploring Lebanon. I have to admit that I do not know much about Lebanon so this really was an exploration for me as well as for Hazel. Unfortunately I did not find many resources that are age appropriate for Hazel. Although the Middle East is part of Asia, we are separating it with North Africa into its own cultural month. Multicultural Kid Blogs has decided August will be Middle East and North Africa Heritage Month. I hope you will join us for it. Our exploration of Lebanon is a preview.

Jungle Diorama/ Playscape--Jo-Ann Summer Craft Challenge

I am so excited!! I was contacted by a representative from Jo-Ann Fabrics to participate in the Summer Craft Challenge. They have 72 wonderful crafts for their Cape Discovery Summer Craft Challenge. You can check them all out. I know I will be doing more than one. They even offered to send me a gift card so I could buy the supplies. Nothing like the perfect time to get craft supplies from one of my favorite stores. Plus I could justify shopping since they gave me the gift card! Now do you have a Jo-Ann Store near you? We have a great one. A few years ago, they built a new building and then closed for about a week to transfer the store over to the new building. It is great. Plus we know many of the employees there. If you do not, check out their on-line catalog. Also be sure to sign up for the coupons. You will receive some great ones through out the year. We always have a 40% off or more.

So the project we chose to do is the Jungle Diorama. They glued all of their trees and animals down, but I thought it would be more fun to make them movable. I love watching Hazel play with her various animals and dolls making up stories, so I thought we would add a jungle to the mix. I also picked this one because I felt Hazel could do it with me. I am going to make at least one more project from their projects.

To begin this project you need a box. We used one we received in the mail with an order of something. Then you paint three sides of the inside box a blue for the sky. I could not find the exact shade they picked but chose one called sky blue. Hazel and I had fun painting it together.  Then you glue the various kinds of moss to the bottom (unpainted) side. Then we glued some leaves and butterflies to the flaps and some butterflies to the inside walls. We could not find the Toob of butterflies anywhere, so we used some pretty paper ones instead. 

Next we glued in the ferns. We could not find the mini dry ferns in the store so we used some fake ones. I glued these and stuck them into the cardboard to get them to stand. Now it is time to play. I gave Hazel some river stones and Toobs of trees and jungle animals. She had a great time arranging them and re-arranging them, though the animals do not stand up very well on the moss. I guess this is why they glued them down.

So what do you think of our jungle playscape? If you like it consider pinning it. The challenge is the crafter who gets theirs pinned with the Jo-Ann original one will win a gift card.  Stay tuned for my next craft for their projects and for some other ideas I got inspired by their projects.

Applesauce Weather -- Autumn Book Review

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Tomorrow is the official start of fall in the northern hemisphere. Here is a book to get us thinking about fall. This book deals with grieving the loss of a love one and turning grief into remembering the pleasant times. It is Applesauce Weather by Helen Frost and illustrated by Amy June Bates. 

Madagascar's Lemurs -- Global Learning for Kids

This month Global Learning for Kids is exploring the African country of Madagascar. Madagascar is an island just east of Africa (the green island in the map below). Being separated from the mainland it has some unique wildlife that exists in the wild only there. This is what I decided to focus on with Hazel since she loves animals and has seen several of the Wild Kratts episodes where they were in Madagascar. In many ways she was teaching me this month!

By Shosholoza (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Artists from Around the World

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

I recently read an article about how multiple art-focused field trips raised the scores of standardized tests. At a time when so many school districts are cutting the arts it is important to see the whole picture. Today I am going to share some books about artists from different countries around the world. We will start with Japan and Yayoi Kusama. The first book is Yayoi Kusama: From Here to Infinity by Sarah Suzuki and illustrated by Ellen Weinstein. 

Home Is Calling: The Journey of the Monarch Butterfly -- Book Review with Craft Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Over the years we have loved learning about butterflies and especially monarchs. We grow milkweed to help keep monarchs around. Today I get to share with you a wonderful new picture book about the long journey they take every autumn. The book is Home Is Calling: The Journey of the Monarch Butterfly by Katherine Pryor and illustrated by Ellie Peterson. It is recommended for ages 4 to 7. At the end of my post is a round-up of butterfly crafts and activities including a section on monarchs! It shares more than 50 ideas!

50 Hikes with Kids in New England -- Review and Sharing a Hike

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The weather here in New England is not perfect for getting outside and certainly not for hiking without snowshoes. However, I like to think about warmer weather and weather where the ground isn't covered with snow and ice. I know it is coming! So today I am going to share a new book that shares 50 hikes around New England that are good to do with kids. The book is 50 Hikes with Kids: New England by Wendy Gorton.

Bee Aware -- 100 Plants to Feed the Bees and more -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Storey Publishing. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Spring has sprung even though it doesn't really feel like it here in Massachusetts. We still have snow on the ground. I have begun to think about my garden. Now I am aware of the issues with bees. Are you? I don't mean the fact that they sting or that Hazel is afraid of them because they sting. I mean that there is a drop in bee population. Why should we care about the bees after all they sting? Well if we don't start caring we will not have fresh fruits and vegetables or flowers for that matter. Bees are pollinators and they are necessary for growth of plants. What can a gardener do to help the bees? Well there are a few things. One is to avoid using pesticides. Many towns now spray for mosquitoes, but the pesticides they spray do not only kill mosquitoes but also the other insects including bees and butterflies, our main pollinators. The pesticides you may use in your own yard will do the same thing. Another thing to do is plant the flowers that attract bees and other pollinators. Tonight's book is too help know which flowers these are. The book is 100 Plants to Feed the Bees by the Xerces Society. 

More Autumn Decorations and Apples, Apples, Apples

Autumn Hand Wreath

Today Hazel and I focused on apples and did some painting crafts. Now apples are one of Hazel's favorite foods. She has one at least once a day. My mother-in-law now keeps apples at her house for Hazel, and she never has fruit in her house. So today we started by reading the story, The Little Red House With No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside. And of course we cut the apple sideways to see the star inside. We then pulled out white paper and red paint and did some apple prints. While we had the paint out we also did some mushroom prints with mushroom tops from our yard, leaf prints, acorn prints, etc. and used an apple cookie cutter.

Sticker Fun! -- Review of Sticker Activity Books

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

One of the things that keeps Hazel busy are sticker activity books. She gets so excited for them. Today I am going to share with you four new sticker activity books for different ages!! I am going to start with the older kids. The first is Sticker Shape Create by Thereza Rowe. 

Holiday Gift Recommendations & Where to Shop This Year

 

Disclosure: All of these recommendations are based on reviews I have written or will write for products that were sent to me in exchange for a review. Some links will be affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage if you purchase through them. Thank you for your support!

This year there will be shortages for gifts, especially toys. They are saying to shop early and not wait to see if things go on sale. I decided to provide my gift recommendations and my favorites of 2021 for you earlier than usual. I went through what I have shared with you and some of what I will share with you to give these recommendations. I may make additions in the future since I don't have everything I will review this year yet. I am dividing it up by ages for actual gift recommendations! Many of the recommendations are for books. If you follow the rule of four for gifting this should be helpful! I hope you find this list helpful!

Origami Kits -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing sent me these kits in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow, where did this week go? It has been very crazy here. What about with you? Tonight we are sharing three fun origami kits. With dragons, animals, and a city, there is a little something for everyone. We will start with Flying Dragons Paper Airplane Kit by Sam Ita and Paul Frasco.

Monarchs and Mexico -- Global Learning for Kids

As I mentioned yesterday this month's country for Global Learning for Kids is Mexico. Yesterday we explored art from Mexico. Since Hazel loves animals, I thought we would focus on an animal with a connection to Mexico and the perfect one is the monarch butterfly!

Fractal Tree -- Geometry Class Project

 

One of my goals this year is to bring fractals into my teaching, especially in geometry class. Today I am going to share the fractal tree. It can easily be done on a computer but is also great for practicing measuring with a ruler and protractor. Now a fractal tree is probably one of the most basic fractals and well-known or at least its cousin, the fern is certainly seen as a fractal. 

Quilt Décor to get ready for the change of seasons

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. The links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

The weather here is beginning to change. Hazel is back at school and I feel fall coming. Do you decorate for the different seasons? Since September is National Sewing Month, I promised myself to share some of my sewing books that I need to review. Since all the sewing I have done is on the quilt that I reviewed last week (and making more masks for Hazel to go back to school), I decided to review one that I won't be actually making. Today I am going to share Wintertime Shimmer Quilt and Table Runner by Jennifer Sampou. Now I am not trying to rush the seasons. I love fall and am going to make some suggestions to change these patterns for different seasons. The photos however are from the book so they are about winter. I am not making these because my digital review copy did not come with the pattern pages so I don't actually have the patterns to try them.

Welcome Fall! Apple Prints and More!

This weekend fall began here. On Friday it was nice outside, so I decided to get Hazel outside and doing something. Now in our backyard we have two apple trees that have had many apples this year. We do not pick these apples. Steve told me they were not the kind of apples you eat. After smelling them this year, I think he may be wrong. However I am not tall enough to get them and fear ladders too much to try on my own. He hasn't bothered to pick one for me and the ones on the ground do not look so good, but the deer are enjoying them. Here is one tree after most of them have fallen to the ground.

Here is what it looks like on the ground. Steve goes and picks up the ones in the grass and puts them in the "garden" under the trees, so no one trips and the landscaper won't have a problem with the mower.

I had Hazel look for two non-mushy ones that we could cut to make apple prints while I got the rest of our supplies. I cut one apple down the center of the core vertically and the other horizontally (so you get the star).

Then I gave her fall colors of paints and white paper and let her have fun.

She was having so much fun with the apples, we decided to add in pinecones, acorns, flowers and leave.

She made four nature prints. On a few you can see the stars of the inside the apples, but not too much. 

Now we have some beautiful fall prints. I was thinking of cutting them and making cards, but Hazel said she would miss them too much. We will see. How did you welcome the new season where you are?

Sharing Saturday 14-50

This weekend was planning on I taking off with a girlfriend for a much needed mommies weekend away, but Hazel developed a fever, so plans postponed. However the party will still go on!! Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! This week's features are divided into Multicultural Holidays, Christmas and Winter and Stars. I went a little crazy with the number of features so I hope you enjoy them all!!

Multicultural Holidays

1) From Multicultural Kid Blogs: Hanukkah for Kids

2) From Dad's The Way I Like It: A Toddler's Christmas in Wales

3) From Planet Smarty Pants: Christmas Around the World -- Germany

4) From A Life in Balance: Swedish Christmas Braid

Christmas Features

1) From An Idea on Tuesday: Vegetable Printing Nativity

2) From Christianity Cove: Holiday Snack Idea: Jelly Bean Christmas Trees

3) From A Life in Balance: Easy Gingerbread House for Christmas

4) From Best Toys for Toddlers: No-Sew & No-Glue Paper Roll Christmas Elves

5) From Kandy Kreations: Christmas Shepherd 2 Nativity Advent Calendar Gift Idea Day 5

Winter and Star Features

1) From The Practical Mom: DIY Christmas Decoration: Star Lantern

2) From Sunshine and Hurricanes: Frozen Inspired Christmas Crafts

3) From Life with Moore Babies: Egg Carton Snowmen

4) From In the Playroom: Kid Made Star Display Inspired by How to Catch a Star

5) From Say Not Sweet Anne: Creamy 3 Ingredient Hot Cocoa

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

Featured Button Code:

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/SharingSaturdayoption2-002.jpg" /></a>

From Your Hostess: This week we shared some simple nativity crafts, reviewed some books for traveling from home, shared the history of the Christmas tree and some customs and trees from around the world, and shared our persimmon exploration!

Now for This Week's Party 


A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the Sharing Saturday button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/search/label/Sharing%20Saturday" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/SharingSaturdayoption2-150_zpsba88f805.jpg" /></a>

4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook,  Google+, and Pinterest 

5) If you do not have a blog, but want to share an idea you can leave it in the comments or e-mail it to me with a picture (if possible).

 

 Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest.