Kununurra Things

The Ten Tiny Things team has been travelling. And that's good because it means we can collect lots of tinies - in our minds' eyes and in our cameras. But the trick then is to find time, in between travels, to post them here for you.

Today there is a window of time, a tiny, rare thing in itself, so here are some tinies from Kununurra, way up in the top end of Western Australia.

So tiny and light he can walk on water ...

The fabulous reeds in which the birds hide

Like this one!

We don't know what this is, or who broke it open. Maybe one of those innocent-looking birds?

Bearded tree stump

  

Green wrapping itself around this tree, a creeping scarf

A creeping something else!

A boab tree is not tiny, but this plaque was. The tree was planted in the  "Celebrity Tree Park" by author Libby Gleeson. Meg's offer to plant her own celebrity tree was sadly rebuffed....

The Kimberley is famous for the scale of things - the sweeping gorges, the massive outcrops of rock, the incredible vastness of the landscape. It made Meg feel very tiny herself. But in the midst of all that, there are so many smaller treasures to be found. It was a very quick flying visit this time, but next time there will be more days to spend, more exploring to be done, more glorious tinies to uncover ...

Tiny Things, Amazing Activities

We're taking a little break from our regularly scheduled tinies today because we've had an email that's too lovely not to share.

Jackie from My Little Bookcase wrote to tell us about how inspired she had been by Ten Tiny Things, and to share some of the follow-up activities she embarked on with her daughter, Cam.

With her permission, we've posted a selection of notes and images below. But we highly recommend you click over to My Little Bookcase to see the complete story of what these adventurers got up to, all of it beautifully illustrated with step-by-step photographs.

First, make yourself a tiny collecting box ...

... then take a nature walk.

Sort the tinies; describe your treasures ...

  

... and get kitted up for some serious crafting!

This is just the tiniest window into what Jackie and Cam got up to over a number of days; for all the details do take a moment to visit My Little Bookcase.

Jackie also wrote a lovely review of the book, and finished her email with the comment, Congratulations on a stunning book that was nothing short of inspiring for us.

In reply, we can only say that we are equally inspired by these fantastic activities. It is incredibly satisfying to see the ideas of the book being extended and developed in such rich and interesting ways. If you've used the book as a springboard for your own adventures, why not write and tell us? We'd love to hear from you!

Close-to-Home Tinies

So we've been to Singapore and Paris and Mississippi ... and today we return to our own backyard. These tinies come from a suburb near Fremantle.

These shoes have lost their tightrope walker

Anyone for juice?

A quiet watering hole for the birds

Footpath art

Stories on stories. If you look closely you can see the words "Long live verse" etched into the concrete underneath 

A closer view...

A secret grotto. What would live here?

The funkiest letterbox ever

And the second funkiest ...

A eucalyptus curtain

  

The opposite of tiny, but still a secret. A giant spider hiding in someone's yard.

I wonder where our next tinies will come from. And where they will take us...

One Photo, Ten Tinies

Today's tinies come from poet Annamaria Weldon. This shot of tree wrens and welcome swallows was taken in Yalgorup National Park. Annamaria writes: 

Not long till school holidays now and if you go to Lake Clifton (between Mandurah and Bunbury, off the Old Coast Road in Yalgorup National Park) and sit very quietly on this observation deck, birds will come and perch all around. That's what I did. It's not difficult to sit still there, as the light on lake water and all the bird voices are totally relaxing. This was taken early in May when the birds had just feasted on swarms of insects, that's why they look so big-bellied (and sleepy).

Ten tiny things in one photo! Just gorgeous, and also very fitting in a way. Because something poets are good at is condensing the large into the small, distilling a lot into a very little: economy of language, a finely tuned image that does the work of many lines of prose. We love that Annamaria has done this here, too, capturing so many tinies in one small frame.

Much of Annamaria's writing is done in response to the natural world, of which she also takes stunning photographs. If you would like to know more, you can visit her website.

Dix Choses Minuscules ...

... means "Ten Tiny Things" in French. Today's tinies have come to you all the way from the oh-so-stylish streets of Paris, France.

Anything goes ...

Good kitty

I don't think so!

Miniature street art with shadows

Throw away the key, love

Skeleton drain

Rainbow manhole

Pacman by mystery artist

  

Love set in stone

    

Wild creatures

With thanks to travelling illustrator Frané Lessac, who has a keen, sideways eye for the curious and unexpected in life. We're so glad you took the time from your Parisian sojourn to gather these tinies for us. Tu as très bien fait!

Ten Tiny Ningaloo Things

It's a beautiful time of year to be heading north. Dianne Wolfer sent ten tiny things from Ningaloo, so tiny they were all able to be gathered in one unexpected place ...

Thanks, Dianne! We have it on good authority that those tinies were returned to the wild shortly after this photo was taken, in case some equally tiny hermit crabs were on the lookout for a cozy new home.

Children's writers like Dianne have been out and about all over Australia and beyond in the last month or so, celebrating Children's Book Week in schools, libraries, and anywhere good books gather. Our next tiny things will be coming from quite a distance (and they might make you feel like saying ooh la la!).

Tiny Mississippi Things

From Madison, Mississippi, Mary Grace (16)  writes:

... the attached images are photos my brother and i took in our neighborhood.  We both had a lot of fun doing this and i really like what it encouraged. It has inspired me to go outside more. ever since that first walk taking pics. we have walked almost every night. Thanks for the inspiration! :)

These are the images that she and her brother Jake, aged 5, found, when they went for a stroll (captions are ours):

Someone left their tiny mark here.

Blue frogs worshipping at the tree (the cult of Stanley?)

Angels abound ...

But someone is watching!

What's tiny here? Tiny creeping plants, taking over the path? We found ourselves searching for something, and isn't that the point, too?

Gather ye rose-petals while ye may

Kissing geese-cousins

Alice on the rabbit-bench?

Can't help imagining someone chasing this little guy. Quick - this way!

A quiet blessing in the garden.

Thanks so much, Mary Grace and Jake. How exciting to have some tiny things from the other side of the world! We hope you keep enjoying your walks and discovering the secrets hiding outside.

Tiny Bookwormy Things

Some intrepid Bookworms went hunting for ten tiny things in and around the Koorliny Arts Centre in Kwinana.

Look what they found!

Ella: I found a little leaf on the carpet.

Why are these buttons outside?

Mia: A flower in the vegetable garden.

Ella: My baby brother is fast asleep.

Dean: I found a hole.

Dean: I found these blankets too.

I like this leaf.

Ethan: I can see a silver thing.

Look! A sticker!

Ava: I can see a tiny plant.

Thank you, Book Worms! What an interesting collection of tiny things you found. How lucky to find an actual baby! We also particularly love the hole, which is never just a hole but always a doorway to another fantastical world. This particular hole looks like a very interesting one - black, and with all sorts of tiny planets orbiting around it. And of course, a blanket would be a very useful thing to take when you set of on an adventure in such a place ...