Windblown by Edouard Manceau: Book Review & Activity

Today Stephanie of Boy Mama Teacher Mama stops by to share a fabulous review and activity idea for a new-to-me picture book, Windblown by Edouard Manceau. I cannot wait to get my hands on it!

I have a new favorite book that I am so excited to share. The minute I saw this book with its clean, white background sprinkled with a small handful of simple shapes,  I knew I had to read it and then, after reading it, I knew had to have it.

Windblown (Owlkids Books), written by Edouard Manceau, is a relatively new book (April 2013).  It is a simple story with stark illustrations highlighted only by a few black lines and a text that builds upon itself much like “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” or” The House that Jack Built.”

The book tells of 7 scraps of paper blown along by the wind and on each page the scraps create an animal who also claims to be the owner of the scraps.

“One tiny scrap of paper…
Look, there’s another!
And now there are even more….
Where did they come from? Whose are they?”

The chicken says they are his, the fish says they are his and the bird, the snail, the frog all say the same.  Finally, the wind claims the scraps and with one last gust, he blows them to the reader.

“They’re yours now too.
What will you do?”

The last line invites the reader to create his own ending and that is just what we did.

The Windblown Activity
To prepare for this activity, I traced and cut out the seven scraps from the story and put them aside. I placed a piece of white paper and glue stick on the table for my boys along with the book and invited my boys to read with me.  My eldest and I had read the book once before, but it was brand new to my youngest.

As we read the book and each new piece blown onto a page, I placed the matching piece my sons’ papers. When the story was over, the boys had the same 7 pieces that were claimed by each of the animals, and eventually the wind.

I then asked them to play around with the pieces and create their own creatures. My youngest set right to work, placing the pieces on the white paper and gluing them into place.

My eldest’s first instinct was to copy one of the animals from the book. So we used the pieces like a puzzle and tried a few different things before committing to one (with glue).

And, in the end, both boys had used the 7 scraps in a completely different way. Here is what the boys came up with…

My youngest (4 years old)

My eldest (6 years old)

What will you do?

Looking for other books that inspire art? Why not read our post, Books that Inspire Art.

Stephanie is the creator of Boy Mama Teacher Mama. A mama to two wonderful boys aged four and six, she spent the last six years as a stay-at-home mom and recently returned to the classroom teaching first grade.  She loves spending time with her boys; playing, building and digging are just a few of their favorite pastimes.  Stephanie is also a dog mama to two ever-so-sweet Pugs. Whenever she has free time, Stephanie loves to quilt, bake and create teaching materials. Boy Mama Teacher Mama is just over a year old and is growing daily – be sure to stop by and say hi.  You can also find Stephanie on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and G+.