When fellow children’s book creator, Lucky Platt, invited me to visit the Unity Public Library last week, I was thrilled! I received this completely adorable handmade star book as an invitation to a Storyteller Supper at her house on March 24. How cool is that?!
My visit would be the culmination of a 3-day Star Party. Sweet!
After a delicious dinner with new friends, Lucky and her partner, Jim MacDonald, brought me to the nearby Unity Elementary School for a presentation by Northern Stars Planetarium.
I’d met John Meader online via Dark Sky Maine, and was eager to meet him in person at last, along with Melissa Bastien, one of the local movers and shakers behind the new Unity Public Library.
John gave a fantastic presentation about what’s up in the sky during March in Maine, all within this portable planetarium. It’s bigger on the inside in infinite ways!
He wowed the audience of star gazers with stories of constellations, mythology, and mind blowing facts. Thanks, John, for that trip around our Milky Way galaxy!
The sky over Lucky and Jim’s house was glittering with stars that night. What a gift to spend time there in the presence of this glorious watercolor by Lucky, a vast spill of stars over the lake nearby.
In the morning, I visited Lucky’s studio, a hive of delight where she makes wonderful creations like this fun Polaroid camera.
Her debut book, Imagine a Wolf, is an inspired spin on our typical notions about that storied animal.
On every wall and inch, narrative wonders, like these dogs conversing on their tiny tin can phones, fill your imagination.
We soon headed to the library, where I made new friends.
I brought my various show and tell items, and Melissa had quite a collection, too, courtesy of the nearby L. C. Bates Museum. Lovers of specimens, unite!
Check out this cool Luna Moth Life Cycle! It’s a short one. They become adults, mate, and die within a very short lifespan. Have you ever seen one?
I read Skywatcher to a swell group of local readers in the library’s lovely children’s room.
Kids colored and cut out their Skywatcher masks of creatures from the story.
There are moms who like to color, too!
Look, an owl!
And another!
Many thanks to Lucky, the Unity Public Library, and Maine Arts Commission for my stellar visit.
Back at Lucky and Jim’s place on the shores of Unity Pond, I had a tour of his incredible custom guitars in which the story telling and craftsmanship are downright amazing.
I left this slice of heaven carrying my memories with me, like Tamen in Skywatcher.
Spring in Maine keeps teasing us. It’s back to the drawing board for me, filled to the brim with inspiration from this outing. Thanks for reading!
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