Avonne's Story Shoppe

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving

Time to share a Thanksgiving flannel board figure from one of Mom's most popular stories, "The Turkey with the Terrible Temper." Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

I Like to Think of Santa

by Avon Allen Compton, a poem written for Christmas of 1988

I like to think of Santa
With a mild and mellow face,
A real benevolent sort of man
Who has both charm and grace.

A Santa who adores all kids,
In fact, who doesn't really mind,
If kids hang, crawl, or sprawl on him--
You know the very kind.

The Santa that I'm thinking of,
Is one who understands and shares,
The thoughts of shy and fearful kids,
He listens to their cares.

I'm sure this sort of special saint,
Can nod his head and grin,
And make those sad, self-centered tots,
Feel better from within.

The Santa that I'm dreaming of
Is not a jovial boisterous guy,
But one who's rather quiet,
Yet has a twinkle in his eye.

I picture him with gentle hands,
And arms that give great hugs,
So every little girl and boy's
Heart strings get strong tugs.

Yes, I like to think of Santa
With a radiant beaming face,
Who takes the time to understand
And love the human race!

Note from Tammy: Brittany and I were just reading through some of the cute notebooks and things Nana Avon put together for Brittany and Jacob when they were young, I found this poem. I don't remember reading it before, although I must have when she first sent it to me. Reading it now really makes me smile--it is a different picture of Santa--a gentle one who is in tune with kids. Of course she would see Santa like that because that was how she was. She was an all-year-round Mrs. Santa to her grandkids and her students, the kids in the ward, wherever they were, she would find them and love them.

Avon Compton passed away peacefully just last November after a long struggle with Alzheimers disease. We will keep her memory alive by continuing to share her stories, poems and journals. Thanks for reading her blog!

Merry Christmas 2012

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Pilgrim Place Markers

Copy one figure for each person at your Thanksgiving dinner. Write the name of each person on one figure, then color and cut out. Glue the figure to the end of a popsicle stick, then push each one into a large gumdrop to make them stand up. Set them on the table as place markers for Thanksgiving dinner.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Limerick the Leprechaun

LIMERICK THE LEPRECHAUN

by Tamara Compton Hauge
Copyright 1978

Once upon a time, there was a leprechaun named Limerick. He lived in a very crowded peanut butter jar, and he didn't like it one bit!

"Oh for the good old days when I used to live in IRELAND," he said. "But then I had to get caught by UNCLE TODDY, and now here I am at Nana Avon's house in this peanut butter jar!"

"Nothing EVER happens here!" he complained. "Except when Monica and Mariah and Quin visit. . .then things are interesting!" But the three hardly ever came, because they lived 695.4 miles away from Nana--so it was a rather long drive.

"If only I could get out of this bottle," he said. He scratched his head and played with his hat some. Suddenly he noticed his magic four leaf clover charm in his hat.

"Maybe I can make some magic and get out of here!"

"Four leaf clover to begin,
Let me see Monica,
Mariah and Quin," he chanted, and suddenly--it worked--he was there in California with them.

"Now for some FUN!" said Limerick, that naughty little leprechaun. He knew all sorts of mischievous tricks. He started out by turning Monica's hair green.

He cast a spell on Mariah so that every word she said came out backwards! Meanwhile, flowers were growing in Monica's hair.

Next he turned Quin upside down so that he hung from the ceiling like a bat.

Who should walk in at that moment but their mother, returning from her Relief Society meeting. She took one look at Quin on the ceiling, Monica with green hair and Mariah talking backwards and she RAN! She thought Relief Society was getting to her.

Limerick the Leprechaun decided he'd better do something quick, or he'd get caught again. So he turned everything back to normal as fast as he could. Everyone was relieved.

"Well, I must be going back to Ireland. But you can be sure I'll come back to visit," said Limerick. And if you look carefully, you can see him hiding sometimes.

Historical note: When my brother Todd was on his mission in Ireland, in 1975, he wrote a letter to little sister Tina, nine years old at the time, and told her he would send her a leprechaun that he had caught. He said the leprechaun would be invisible, and to be sure to keep it safe in the bottle he was sending.

A few days later, we received an empty peanut butter bottle in the mail all the way from Ireland. There was a note in the bottle, and when Tina retrieved it, it said, "Ha ha ha....I escaped when you opened the bottle to get this note." Tina did not believe that the leprechaun had escaped, and she carried around the bottle and talked to it and seemed to enjoy her invisible leprechaun very much. My mom found a cute, rubber leprechaun figurine somewhere and put it in the peanut butter bottle, where it had a place of honor in her china cabinet for many years.

In 1978, my sister Terry Ann, her husband and their three young children were living in California. I, living in Utah, missed them dreadfully and had to make do with correspondence and the occasional phone call to keep in touch with them. I decided to write a St. Patrick's Day story for them, Monica age 4, Mariah age 3 and Quin age one-and-a-half. This story is what I created. It is not my most polished set of illustrations, but I think the story is fun anyway.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY TO ALL, Love Tammy

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Jesus Loves All Children

Jesus Loves All Children
original poem by Avon Compton
and additional verse by Tammy Compton Hauge
Illustrations by Tim Compton when he was 5
Cover and flannelboard figures by Terry Ann Compton Harward when she was 14
Copyright 1965, 2011
May be reproduced for family, school and church use. Commercial use only with permission of the author

Jesus loves all children

No matter who they are.

The little dark skinned

native

And baby dressed

in fur.

He loves the

blue-eyed

children

With hair

of golden hue.

And all the

tan-skinned

Latins

African

babies, too.

He loves the ones

in wheelchairs,

And those with freckled skin.

He loves the perfect,

and the scarred,

He loves

what is within.

He asked us to be

gentle,

And kind

as we can be,

To all these

different

children

Whenever them,

we see.

While I was growing up, I distinctly remember observing that my parents loved people from different cultures. I remember my mom making it a point to teach me respect for all races.

This poem was written by my mom in 1965 when Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum and language was in flux. My mom used the term "Negro," in her original poem, which was considered appropriate and polite at that time, as my mom intended, but which is now thought of as somewhat demeaning and Colonialistic. I re-wrote some of the poem to update that type of language, and to include the mention of other children loved by Jesus, who might be thought of as "different," such as those in wheelchairs.

Personally, I don't really have an insight into who Jesus loves, but I like to think that Jesus is as my mom describes him in her poem.

I hope I have been sensitive and respectful in reproducing this poem and welcome any comments or suggestions.

My mom was a wonderful example to me during her active life. She enthusiastically embraced everyone from everywhere, and especially those who were "different."

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY MOM!!!

Love Tammy

Todd's Valentine Surprise

Todd's Valentine Surprise
by Avon Compton, Copyright 1959, 1978, 2011
Illustrations by Avon Compton and Tammy Compton Hauge
May be reproduced for family, school and church use. Commercial use with permission of the author only.