Neighbourhood Photography and Writing
by the Kids of East Van - Summer 2013 -
Copyright © 2013 The Writers’ Exchange This book was created by kids in East Vancouver during the summer 2013 Writers’ Exchange program, run in partnership with KidSafe. Over two weeks, 48 amazing kids photographed and wrote about their neighbourhoods with professional photographers, Writers’ Exchange volunteer mentors and KidSafe site staff. The photos could be of anything and the writing could be any genre. The Writers’ Exchange makes literacy exciting and accessible for inner-city kids through free mentoring and creative writing projects like this book. All Writers’ Exchange programs are free for the children and families we serve, so we could not exist without the support of generous donors, including Megan Abbott, Marily Mearns, the Vancouver Foundation, Lindsay Mearns, Nancy and Ted Maitland, Bernard MacLeod, A Good Book Drive, the Central City Foundation, Claudia Casper and James Griffin, the Kensington–Cedar Cottage Literacy Task Group, the Hamber Foundation, Nufloors Langley, Crofton House School, York House School, Intracorp, Kidsbooks, Pedro Su, Onni, Reboot, Steelhead and Modo The Car Co-Op. Thank you. And thank you to the amazing volunteer mentors who work with the kids in all Writers’ Exchange programs so that each child can succeed to the best of his or her ability.
project of
Photography instructors: Grady Mitchell (gradycmitchell.com) and Joe Sales (joesales.ca) Writers’ Exchange mentors: Doreen, Haley, Laura, Olivia, Alayna, Andrew, Barbara, Claire, Dylan, Yvonne, Anna, Carissa, Jessica, Tessy, Courtney KidSafe crew: Laura, Kara, Joel, Eileen, Francis, Angela, Angela, Helen, Jacky, Missy, Troy, Gerhard, Theresa Cover photographer: Toucanni Photo editor: Dylan Doubt (dylandoubt.com) Designer: Claire Balderston (clairebalderston.com) Cover font: A Different Eye, designed by Claire Balderston Title font: Blanch, designed by Atipus Body font: Archer, designed by Hoefler & Frere-Jones
881 East Hastings Vancouver, BC V6A 1R8
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Prologue Macdonald: Neighbourhood Photo Tour Vancouver!, by Aliyah Dogs Need Love Too, by Jacky Tag at Templeton School, by Joannah The Swaying Flower, by Annie Different Points of View, by Annie W. Photos by Kalvin and Joey The Lost Bee, by Kevin Kimount: Wildlife in the Community Neighbourhood Dogs, by Angela Birdhouse, by Keisha Purple, by D. Crow, by Clara A Cat in the Window, by Pearl The Go Away, No Title, No Peanuts House, by Keyan The Butterfly and the Sunset, by H.G. Flowers, by Lucas A Very Colourful Butterfly, by Noella The Moth That Looks Like a Butterfly, by Esther Honeybees, by Maggie Grandview: We, Me, Everywhere The Flower Garden!, by Christina Lucky the Great (Cat) Dog Beast!, by Angie A Dandelion Dancing in the Wind, by Alyssa I Spy, by Megan A Sun, by Shayla Photos by Laura and Mylee The Water Fountain, by Sarah
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Queen Alexandra: Picture That: The Eastside of Vancouver The War with a Fish, by Peter Look, by Shea Beauty, by Jimmy The Pink Flower, by Andrew The Sky and Tree, by A.H. It’s Time to Get Criminal, by Ashley The Tree Little Pigs, by Thomas The Leaf, by Bogdan Garbage, by Claire The Steps of Life, by Toucanni Nightingale: Welcome to Our Neighbourhood This Is My School, by Jose Purple Dragon, by Denika Friends, by Akasha Light and Darkness, byVictor Untitled, by Malachy Florence Nightingale, by Eric My Head Is Too Big, by Paola Bob the Bacon-Grease Flower, by Joseph The Alleyway, by Kirsten
- PROLOGUE akasha, age 9 We grabbed some adults to help them learn about the neighbourhood. We took pictures around the neighbourhood and we wrote about the neighbourhood. It’s so fabulous, it’s fantabulous!
Grady Mitchell and Joe Sales, Professional Photographers This is a storybook. The images and words you’ll find within it were created by 8- to 12-year-old kids in East Vancouver, and on each page, these young people tell us a story about their neighbourhood, their community and, most importantly, themselves. The cameras the Writers’ Exchange lent each child introduced them to a new way of storytelling: visually. They allowed them to document whatever they felt was interesting, intriguing or valuable. The most important thing we could do for these young photographers was to let them know that, really, that’s all that matters: if you make a photograph of something you care about, then, hey, that’s a great picture. And the book is full of them. We set the kids loose (with supervision, of course) on their home turf, and what they brought back was truly incredible: beautiful, candid photographs, inventive in a way that we adults have mostly lost. Now that the book’s done, we hope they remember that a picture you take around the corner from your house is just as artful as the ones you see in magazines; that everybody has a different way of looking at the world; that no perspective is wrong, each is valuable and every story is important.
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Photo by Joannah
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MACDONALD Neighbourhood photo Tour
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VANCOUVER! ALIYAH, AGE 11
Hi, my name is Aliyah. I have been here in Vancouver for two years. So far I love it out here. What I love about Vancouver: the beaches, view, mountains, my house, Splashdown, Playland. I love my best friend, schools, KidSafe. The reason why I picked this photo was because when we were on the bus coming to Vancouver, I stood up and saw downtown. I thought it was amazing and beautiful. I was excited, and I had butterflies in my stomach. Vancouver is a place that I will never, ever leave. Where I have been so far: Science World, Playland, fireworks, the beach, outside water park, Hillcrest Pool, Britannia library, Macdonald School, Britannia School, PNE, Grouse Mountain. Vancouver is beautiful and I love it. Thank you for reading this!
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dogs need love too jacky, age 9
Dogs need love too. It needs food, water, shelter and friends and exercise. If I had a dog, I would get a boxer. It would fight back. Its name will be Beethoven. I will hope the boxer will be friends with the dog in the photo. The owner took really good care.
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tag at templeton school joannah, age 10
Joannah, Bob, Jen, Aliyah, Joey and Louise were playing tag at Templeton School. Bob was it and Bob tagged Jen, and Jen tagged Joey, and Joey ran by the graffiti, and he stopped and looked at it. He liked the graffiti and the colours. He decided to look at the colours. He liked the graffiti so he took a picture of it, and then ran after Joannah. He caught her. The game ended and Joey told us about the graffiti. We all went there and took pictures of it. I loved it and I took a thousand pictures. It was lovely.
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the swaying flower annie, age 11
This photo is a red-orange flower that I saw while I was walking past. I saw how bright and colourful it was. I took a picture of it because I noticed how it stood out from all the other flowers because of its bright colours. The flower was standing in the middle of someone’s garden, swaying back and forth because of the wind.
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different points Ofannieview w., age 11 blue sky
went out to take photos
hot sunny day
wide field
bet tall there fluffy were green bees trees even though I didn’t see any
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different point of view
person doing yoga
Kalvin, age 12
joey
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THEKEVIN,LOSTAGE 10BEE This is Billy the Bee. He is lost. His friends pranked him by telling him about the big secret garden. His friends told him it was 90 degrees from the sun, near a big building, so he quickly rushed off. After 10 kilometres of flying, he reached the place his friends told him to go, but he didn’t find a garden. He thought, “My friends said it was secret, so maybe it’s hidden.” He looked for the garden all day, but still no luck. Back at the beehive, all the bees gathered. . . except Billy. The queen bee counted the bees. . . 100. . . 500. . . 2000. . . 7000. . . 20,000. . . 40,000. . . 60,000. . . 69,999. . . She pointed at the last spot, but there wasn’t any bee there and no honey. The queen bee shouted, “Stop hiding yourself, Billy!” She heard giggling in the back. She shouted again, “Stop giggling! What did you do to Billy? I know you love to play pranks on Billy!” Suddenly, Billy came busting into the hive. “I found it! I found it!” His friends looked at him in disbelief. “Found what?” all the bees asked him. “The secret garden my friends told me about,” Billy answered. “But it was only a prank!” his friends said. “Well, I’ll show you,” Billy said. Then Billy took them to the garden. When they arrived, Billy showed them where the garden was. All the bees were excited and they built a new hive there. Everybody loved Billy.
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kimount wildlife in the community
Photo by H.G.
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Neighbourhood dogs angela, age 10
This dog is named Henry. Henry likes to wiggle his tail and scratch his back with his feet. Henry loves to play fetch with his owner. Henry likes to eat dog food, bones and fish. Henry loves running with his owner’s children. I took this picture of a dog named Henry because I heard a rumour that a dog was friends with a cat. The dog and his friend the cat loved to chase cats. One of the rumours said that it was hard to tell if they were taking dirt off each other’s lips or if they were kissing. And this is why I pictured Henry.
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birdhouse keisha, age 9
Birdhouses are for birds to live in. I bet that there will be eggs in it. Remember that birds are like us so don’t hurt them. Don’t hurt their home, ’cause it’s just like our homes. Houses are their homes, and remember that they work hard on them. Often the moms and dads get food for their children. Under the ground is where the bird food is. Some birds live in sequoia trees. Every bird eats worms.
When I saw the birdhouse, I wanted to take a photo of it because it reminded me of nature. Nature makes me happy and that’s why I wanted a photo of it.
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purple d., age 10
These purple belles are so sweet—don’t you dare use your feet! If you squish these beautiful things, you’ll get in trouble with Joel or Eileen! I saw these flowers at a garden’s edge. They were so pretty, the old people said. I chose this photo because I thought it was pretty. The nice little petals were oh so bitty. I thought they stood out, so I took a picture, when I joined this group of literature. And this is how our poem ends. I’m sure there’ll be more around the bend!
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CROW CLARA, age 9
Crows are not ravens Ready to hunt On the power line
Waiting for its food
I chose this picture because it’s hard to take a picture of a bird. It was on the power line, hunting for its food. It was sunny/cloudy/windy, near a school. Crows are popular animals in the neighbourhood.
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a cat inpearl,theage 10window
The cat was sitting in the window. The kitty cat’s eyes are teal, blue and light green, and she has little stripes, and her fur is brown and white. I took the picture because I love kitties and animals, even snakes and mice. I think cats are quite loud and they look cute, but in Mount Pleasant there are more dogs than cats. Sometimes cats look in the garbage if you trash something from under the sea. Most of the kitty cats are outdoor cats. They like to travel everywhere and come back home late.
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the go away, no title, no peanuts house keyan, age 9
The house is very old. There are lots of mysterious things you can see (and that have happened in there). Some of the things you can see there include the NO EXIT sign on the door and the NO FLYERS, NO RELIGION, GO AWAY sign printed right on the house! Some people say that they have seen people go inside but they never come out. On the other side of the door, the walls of the rooms are all scratched up and have overgrown plants. Sometimes the door randomly closes by itself. Everything about the house indicates that it is haunted.
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the butterflyh.G.,and the sunset age 9
Once upon a time, a butterfly was happy. She saw a sunset. The butterfly went to Japan and she saw her cousin who was sick. She stayed home for one day. She got better. The butterfly went back to Vancouver, and she went to sleep and lived happily ever after. I like butterflies in my neighbourhood because they are cute, they make food for people and taking pictures of them makes people happy.
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flowers lucas, age 9
Flowers are temporary things in temporary places. Flowers really light up this world and if we didn’t have flowers, our whole world would be dull because there would be no colours from the flowers. I can barely describe the flower because it is so beautiful in thousands of ways. There are so many flowers on one stem that it is brightening up the world more and more. This photo was taken in a community garden and you can help brighten up this world by planting more colourful flowers.
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a very colourful butterfly noella, age 10
I chose this photo because I thought the butterfly looked very pretty, and the background looked very cool with it. Also, I love butterflies because of all their diverse colours and sizes. I think butterflies are very important to our community because they pollinate the flowers, and because they make the community a brighter and better place. It wouldn’t be the same place without them.
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the moth that looks like aesther,butterfly age 9
With me, my volunteer and H.G., as we walked in the light, the whole alley was with fright, until a moth that looks like a butterfly was in the spotlight. While all of us took pictures of the moth, the moth-butterfly was really coughing. Suddenly we were laughing with glee, it was just like being in the sea and then we walked along the alley. A hidden moth was sucking a flower to give it a lot of power. The moth seemed to follow us here and there while we were walking almost everywhere. When we were back in the Club, I was so sweaty and hot, like a boiled egg fizzling and sizzling in a pot.
I like the moth because it is so attractive to everyone. The picture is beautiful too! I should have taken a picture of the monarch butterfly, but it was too fast for me. I hope I can print a picture of it and hang it in my bedroom.
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honeybees maggie, age 9
I took the photo of the honeybee because I thought it would be a real photo, and when I took it, it came out perfect. There are all different kinds of bees. Honeybees go from flower to flower, collecting nectar. They bring the nectar to flowers so that they can live. When I see bees, I feel happy.
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grandview we, me, everywhere
Photo by Megan
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the flower garden! christina, age 10
It is a bright, pink-coloured flower like a rose. It is a pretty colourful flower in the garden. I like to garden with my mom and my sister in the pretty garden at the school. We grow flowers in our garden with vegetables like carrots, lettuce and spinach. We don’t want anybody to litter on the school grounds or anywhere!
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lucky the great (CAT) dog beast! angie, age 10
Lucky lives in a cave, abandoned by his parents! Lucky only goes out of his cave at night, so no one knows what the beast looks like (tee hee!). Every night he goes out and looks for food, but when Lucky finds food, Lucky puts something else in its place, like a replacement. For example, he would find something to replace the food, like a sleeping person! When the replacement wakes up, they find themselves locked up in the food’s place. Then the person finds a place to hide until the door opens. Then they run for their lives and go home! When they get home, they tell their families about the great dog beast that kidnapped them and they try to go find it. They find a lot of caves on a mountain. One of the caves has a sign on it. They hear munching and crunching in the cave, and go in to check if anyone is inside. Then they find the beast! But it is a cat.
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a dandelion dancing in the wind alyssa, age 10
One day there was a dandelion. It was a fluffy, soft dandelion. The wind was blowing; the dandelion was dancing in the wind. The seeds were flying; the dandelion was lonely. . . Until one day. Another dandelion grew; the two dandelions were together in a big field. Those two dandelions were dancing together. One day the wind was so strong that a dandelion blew away. The dandelion was lonely again.
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Imegan,SPYage 9
I thought the flower was cool! And I loved the colours on the flower. Pink is my second-favourite colour. To get the picture, I went around the neighbourhood and I saw it in someone’s garden. It was also sunny.
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ashayla,sun age 10
I like the sun because I can play in the water on a hot, sunny day and have ice cream all day. I like the sun so I can go to the beach. I like the sand and shells. I like the beach because the water is cold and it’s a hot, sunny day. That’s what I like about the sun!
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Laura
MYlee
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the water fountaiN sarah, age 11
A fountain for a dog, an adult, a child. A fountain to end your thirst, to make up for the worst, to hydrate your temple, your body needs water, it’s just that simple. Remember to drink water, eight cups a day to keep the thirst away.
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queen alexandra picture that: the eastside of vancouver
Photo by Jimmy
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the warpeter,with a fish age 12
This soldier is in a war with an extra-large fish. The fish has a force field that the enemy soldiers can’t run through. When they touch it, they disappear with no clothing. The fish and the soldier are walking slowly to the enemy territory to stomp the ground and make the dirt fall. The dirt will cover the enemy door. Homer comes to the war and sees the extra-large fish and the one soldier. Bart is also watching the war. The extra-large fish, the soldier, Homer and Bart then go to Fresh Slice to celebrate.
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LOOK Shea, age 12
Beauty is all around you. Nature can be ugly but it will always have some beauty to it. All around you, things are growing. The forest is still a forest—there’s some covered, but Mother Nature is still blooming wonderfully. That’s how I see this photo. Notice the things around you, especially since it’s summer!
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Beauty
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the pink flower andrew, age 11
One day we were walking near Commercial Drive when a pink flower caught my attention on the sidewalk. I took a picture because the colour was unique. There were a lot of petals on the flower and lots of green, like the stem and the grass in the background. I chose this picture out of all the pictures because the colour is not common in the neighbourhood and the colour stands out. For my pictures, I used a Canon G12.
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the skyA.H., ageand tree 12
This photo is about a tree and the sky. The photo helped me learn that since the tree is tall and the sky is high, taking pictures while on a swing, swinging back and forth, is hard. It’s a tall swing. I picked this photo because it reminds me that I thought, “Don’t take a picture on the swing because you might fall,” but I tried it anyway. Every time I see the photo, it reminds me of my tree poem: “As the tree blows, the wind gets split and forms together. Exactly like a seed.”
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it's time toashley,get criminal age 12
My picture is about to “get criminal”—no, it’s about to get Criminal Minds up in here, for real. Criminal Minds is a TV show. For people who have not watched this show, it’s about murder and other crimes that shall not be named because Sarah won’t let me. I like the show because you don’t know who the killer is and what happened to the victim until the end of the episode. I would not recommend this TV show for people under age 11. “It’s time to get criminal” (but don’t get criminal)!
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the three little pigs thomas, age 11
Once upon a time there were three little pigs. One day the three little pigs bought three cans of spray paint. When they arrived at the wolf’s house, they spray painted it while the wolf was in jail. Then a police officer saw the pigs spray painting and put them in jail. The End.
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the leaf bogdan, age 11
Vancouver is all about nature, but we must help it become more environmental. It looks beautiful with all the trees. The leaf reminds me of my favourite tree, the apple tree. The tree lies in my home country, Romania. I chose this picture because thinking about the apple trees in Romania makes me feel happy because I remember the good times I had there.
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garbage CLAIRE, age 12
What are you doing? Do you realize? If you do, then why? But if not, I’ll tell you. You just insulted Mother Earth, completely and totally. Littering? Is that all you could think of? Couldn’t take your time to walk over to a garbage can. Aren’t you ashamed? Worth to be blamed? Maybe next time you’ll think before you do.
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the steps of life toucanni, age 12 They can make you happy, they can make you sad and they can make you mad. But you just need to know that they happen. They’re what make you, you. Here are the steps of my life.
make contact with me until grade 5. I was so mad at him, I didn’t reply to him.
Step 3: My first real best friend I could tell her everything and anything. I could write a book about her. She can Step 1: My first crush understand the problems I have and I had my first crush when I was in kinderconnect with them. She has my back with garten. On the first day, when my mom anything and I have hers. We have our brought me there to meet the teacher, I small arguments, but I can never stay saw this one boy and it was “love at first mad at her. I love her to the bone. sight.” He did not feel the same way. He Step 4: Foster care looked at me and thought I was revoltNext step for me was foster care. ing. I was heartbroken at age 5. I got into it because of family problems Step 2: Stopped seeing my dad (not going to get into details). It was One step of my life was being in a car better for me, though. I got to know crash. I didn’t get injured, but it was remyself more. ally scary for me at age 7. My dad didn’t Step 5: Elementary graduation I was really excited. My family came to support me and my brother. Everyone looked nice and the food was great. That’s how far I am in my life. I can’t wait to see what life has in store for me. I hope I can be surprised with weird twists. I hope I will be happy and not worry about what other people think of me.
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Photo by Joseph
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nightingale welcome to our neighbourhood
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this isjose,myage 10school
This is my school. I like my school. This is the front door. I go to class. The name of my school is Florence Nightingale. It has lots of windows. There is a flagpole in front of my school.
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purple dragon denika, age 8
Dragons are cool. They can fight everything. The dragons love being a family. Purple Dragon breathes purple fire. He can eat fish. He is awesome. He lives in a cave. He fights the bad people. I saw a dragon in East Van, so my best friend and I went to see it again, and we did see it. It was powerful. I am keeping it as a pet. I will feed it fish. It lives in my backyard. I took this photo because it is purple.
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FRIENDS AKASHA, age 9
My friends are cool-awesome and we are all very friendly. This photo is me and my friend. I thought a photo of feet would be nice and it turned out very nice. The reason why I chose this photo is because I love my friends and stinky feet are cool. Sometimes when I walk down the street I see a friend and say hello and wave.
Feet are used for walking. Feet are used for running. Feet are used for almost everything. You should thank feet.
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LIGHT AND DARKNESS VICTOR, age 11
This picture was taken in East Vancouver at Robson Park. I took this picture because the flower bush and all the different kinds of plants interest me. There were pink flowers. What really interests me about this picture that I took is the light and darkness, clear skies and shadows. I took this picture at an angle so the whole garden and sky could be seen. It reminds me of the good old days I’ve had at Robson Park.
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untitled malachy, age 10 Here is a yellow and black bee on a lavender bush. The smell of the lavender was very relaxing. The bee was standing upside down on the lavender bush. It was collecting pollen to make honey! I chose this photo because everyone
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said that it was so cool and it could go in a National Geographic book. And what’s important about bees is that without bees, there would be no fruit, and we wouldn’t have plants and flowers.
florenceeric,nightingale age 12 In the background of this picture, you can see Florence Nightingale. It is a special school and it was started in 1912. It was named after a nurse called Florence Nightingale. She worked in a hospital during the war. She was known for the work she did helping soldiers when they were injured or hurt. She was the most famous one in her hospital, and that’s why the school was named after her.
I like the picture because it shows details of the part of the school with the fence. I like the colours of the school with the orange, red and grey. It also has a little playground that is old. I think it’s old because it is made with wood and metal. Nowadays, most playgrounds are made of plastic. I think people in the neighbourhood cherish the school.
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my headPaola,isage 11too big
The honeybee was having problems getting nectar from the big, white flower. “My head is too big! MY HEAD IS TOO BIG!” Justin Beeber hollered. “Why does my head have to be so big?” Justin sighed and with a big frown on his huge face, he started to buzz off, but stopped when he saw his friends, Bob, Mac and Steve, approaching. “HEY, FRIENDS!” Justin Beeber yelled, but Bob, Mac and Steve didn’t hear him. “HEY, FRIENDS!” Justin screamed, and finally Bob, Mac and Steve heard him. “What do you want, Beeber?” Bob, Mac and Steve buzzed.
“MY HEAD IS TOO BIG TO FIT INTO THE FLOWER!” “Holy honeytarts!” Bob, Mac and Steve said. “You don’t have to yell to tell us that.” “Sorry,” Justin sobbed quietly, “but I wanted to ask if you guys could try to get some nectar for me.” Bob, Mac and Steve took a moment to look at one another and said, “Okay!” So, all three of them took three paces back and raced into the big, white flower! But, oh no! Bob, Mac and Steve didn’t realize that their bodies would not fit into the flower! “Our bodies are too big! OUR BODIES ARE TOO BIG!”
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BOB THE BACON-GREASE FLOWER joseph, age 9
This flower is awesome because his name is Bob. Bob eats bacon grease. He needs moonlight. He likes dog water. He likes hail instead of rain. Every day he waits to die. His neighbour, who lives under a red leaf, has a chainsaw. His neighbour asks if he wants some chainsaw to eat. Bob says, “No!” When he absorbs sunlight, he makes bacon on his warm leaves. His favourite food is a Baconator. His neighbour lives close to Wendy’s and when people throw their leftover Baconators away, he gives them to Bob. His neighbour eats bees when they go on him. Bob got his roots pulled out and they put him into a glass of bacon grease.
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the kirsten, alleyway age 10
I see trees and tiny little bumble bees, Mountains and streets. I walked on my two own feet. I see cars and tall buildings. It was a sunny day.
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