Mini Mighty Merry Molly

This story was inspired by our adorable neighbour Molly. We met Molly when Michael and Ann Sofie moved next door to our townhouse  on Bear Mountain. Molly was under two. We quickly became friends with the family. Given that they were new to Canada, and their family was back in Europe, and I was missing teaching the wee ones, our support evolved into periodically babysitting or engaging in fun learning activities. We revelled in our let’s pretend we are grandparents, lol.

We were particularly struck by Molly’s maturity and resilience at such a young age. It was mind blowing to watch her learn two languages. As mentioned in the story, she at her young age ate proficiently with cutlery, exhibited exemplary gross motor skills riding her bike, a scooter plus she could balance on narrow beams, catch a ball and showed exceptional fine motor skills in her detailed drawings. She at a very young age took to colour and design through her fashion choices. She was and still is extremely good-natured. Although resilient and adaptable, Molly is no push over when she is committed to a goal or an idea, she will stand her ground.

Her one vulnerable spot, weakness if you want to call it that, was her attachment to her soothers. Yes, she had at least thirty of them. One day I was visiting and saw the whole assortment washed and laid out on the counter drying. In time Anne Sofie was pregnant with their second child. Michael and Anne Sofie were thinking that it was approaching time to encourage Molly to give  up her soothers. Consequently, Anne Sofie introduced the soother fairy.

It is this family’s story that inspired this story. Molly will always be our ‘pretend grand-daughter’ and have a special place in our hearts.

Mark & Keith taking in the views

Mark Rolston became Mary Catherine Rolston’s Elf King May 21, 1983. He spent 44 years as an insurance claims specialist. As an avid sports fan, he is a walking sport trivia reference bank. He is passionate about the game of golf. Since retiring and moving out to Vancouver Island in 2016, he has worked on perfecting his game. When their eldest had his First Communion, Mark drew an adorable stick figure sketch of Matt praying. Since then, for years MC has encouraged Mark to engage in painting and sketching. Although he did produce a couple other sketches, it wasn’t until the move to the island that Mark began to investigate and play with his inner creativity. You can see more of his journey by watching I’m Not An Artist on YouTube.

Since fully retiring the summer of 2021, he took on the project of digitally illustrating Mini Mighty Merry Molly with his endearing stick figures.

Predicting is an essential tool when developing as a strong reader. This story has been written to hook the young audience in engaging in predictable events.

Reflecting throughout a book makes the story extra personal and come alive. It reflects a reader’s level of comprehension. A more thoughtful and complex reflection and connection reveal a higher understanding of the story. They also help reinforce one’s memory sequence which forms the basis of a retelling with more detail and reference to nuance. A simple and literal retelling reflects a more simplistic understanding.

Making connections facilitates a deeper understanding of a story through making inferences, noting details and relating them to prior information. It is seeing, linking, and articulating other topics and events to the story. The reader is applying this reading experience to other learned information. Often when making connections the reader will arrive at exciting new insights that extend beyond the literal story.