Follow The Trail

I wrote about the pilgrim trail in a previous post, but there are also more modern trails you can follow. If you look down as you walk in Liège, Belgium, you might see one of these little brass circles.

My first thought was "Oh, so he lived here! I had no idea." George Simenon, the author of the books about detective Maigret, was from Liège. I remembered watching the TV series based on his books many moons ago in Sweden.

I instantly recognised Maigret's trademark pipe and hat, and I also understood that the small arrow was pointing in the direction you ought to walk if you wanted to get to the next place of interest. Putting down little markers like these is a simple but clever way of both leading people along the trail and bringing it to the attention of somebody who happens to come across it, like in my case.

We never had time to follow the trail, but we did find Mr Maigret sitting on a bench. Looked like he had been sitting there for a while, possibly trying to find a solution to a particularly tricky case.

My Medieval Profession?

I did one of those five-question quizzes over at Blogthings the other day. It is not the first time I have tried it, and I am still puzzled. The one I did before this one was completely way out in the blogosphere, not at all close the truth. I mean, how can you define anybody with only five questions asked and six or seven optional answers? In a way I admire the people who sit there and make it up!

This time I thought I would give it a go, give it five minutes only to be fair to them, and I ended up doing it several times and varying my answers. But the damn thing showed me up as a Playwright however much I tried to change my career! So be it, I am a Medieval Playwright then, of sorts. The modern version of the result is becomingly flattering since I am working on a "book project". Time will tell how accurate that prediction is. I am working on it!

You Are a Playwright

You are a highly literate wordsmith. You love both reading and writing. You are also a natural storyteller. You can turn a mediocre anecdote into a riveting tale. You find people and all aspects of life fascinating. No topic is off limits for you. In modern times, you would make a good filmmaker or novelist.

What's Your Medieval Profession?

1st hit in Google search!

…and 2^nd and 3^rd and 7^th and 8^th etc. I wondered why I got so many hits from American teachers. It’s quite unbelievable really. It’s that girl Pippi Longstocking again!

I wrote about her not long ago and had some children’s drawings in a Smilebox together with a worksheet I had “made earlier”. I am a bit nerdy when it comes to statistics and like to see how people find my insignificant blog. Some are looking for info on the Rheinturm clock in Düsseldorf, others have found my angry “SAAB logo” (type in those words and you’ll find it on the first image page in Google), but Pippi is the clear favourite.

My top search hits on Pippi Longstocking

Pippi Longstocking comprehension – 1^st in Google

Pippi Longstocking drawing - 2^nd in Google

Pippi Longstocking comp questions - 3^rd in Google

Pippi Longstocking comprehension quiz - 7^th in Google

Pippi Longstocking comprehension questions - 7^th in Google

Pippi Longstocking lesson plan – 7^th in Google

Pippi Longstocking lesson plans – 8^th in Google

All of these, and similar search words, find my blog quite easily. I have found that the books about Pippi are on recommended reading lists for elementary kids in the US, so that might explain the interest from what seems to be mainly young teachers. I assume they are young because they all spell her name using lower case letters. Young teachers these days, oh dear me! ;-) Or am I prejudiced?

Astrid Lindgren and Pippi Longstocking

Astrid Lindgren is Sweden’s best-known children’s author by far. She has left behind a treasure trove of books, loved by generations of readers. Here in Germany her books are also very popular and you see them in all the bookshops. Astrid created a number of much-loved characters and she almost single-handedly produced a whole “nation-worth” of children’s literature. She was an amazingly creative author and an extraordinary woman in other ways as well. Take a look at the Wikipedia entry and see for yourselves.

When I arrived in Germany a little over four years ago I started doing supply teaching in British primary schools with age groups younger than I was used to teaching. I needed some “emergency” lesson plans that could be used at short notice. What to do? I produced some work sheets that I always kept handy. One of them was about Pippi Longstocking, based mainly on reading comprehension and involving drawing, which most children love. It was not particularly demanding, almost everybody could do it, and it gave me an opportunity to answer their questions about Sweden as well. The lesson served both as an ice-breaker and a time-filler.

Astrid’s most famous character, Pippi Longstocking, lived in a house on her own; she was very strong and could lift the horse she kept on the veranda; she also had a little monkey, who often sat on her shoulder. Pippi always did things her own way, which most of the time was exactly what well-mannered children would not dream of doing, children like her friends Tommy and Annika.

These are some professional illustrations.

And here are the instructions to the children, who were 7-8 years old at the time.

To enjoy the children’s attempts at drawing our rebellious young heroine, Pippi Longstocking, please press the button. It will make you smile!

Make a photobook - it's easy!