By Suzanna Leigh My name is Puff. Well it used to be. That’s what Jackie Paper called me. Such fine times we had! Sailing the high seas, getting homage from pirates and princes. Sometimes I took him flying high over the land and we looked down at the little towns and villages below. It was…
By Ali Elsberry Of the many benefits of homeschooling our family, one of our favorites is hopping into the car and heading out to explore someplace new. Sometimes we get lucky and stumble upon these places while out and about, but other times I do a little research ahead of time and come up with…
Tom is a weed who has grown up on the bumper of a car, rooted onto a bit of dirt he found caked in a crevice. His car was in a big crash, and now he sits with his car, forgotten among many other broken cars in a concrete parking lot. You can read all…
Tom is a weed who has grown up on the bumper of a car, rooted onto a bit of dirt he found caked in a crevice. He has traveled widely as a stowaway, but recent months have been peaceful. Tomtomtidimiddleton – Illustration by Jane Valencia Tom was familiar with his car’s trips to a terribly…
By Andy Valencia Previous parts of the story are available at vashonloop.com/tom/ Tom, the weed who accidentally rooted onto the bumper of a car, is on a long journey. Parked at a campground, he went to seed without dying, and is getting to know his new children. Tom spent the rest of the day teaching…
By Ali Elsberry I just love the nostalgia that comes from inhaling the wonderful scent of fir this time of the year. When I was young, we always went to the local tree farm in the tiny town where I grew up to find our Christmas tree. We’d load up in our heavy jackets and…
By Andy Valencia The next morning, the car went out on another trip, but Tom didn’t even pay attention. He could feel his body trying to push out a second flower, and he held it back even as his one flower gathered pollen and started trying to grab all his juices to form so many…
By Stephen Schildbach Santiago’s Woodpile – by Stephen Schildbach Impracticality is deciding to write and illustrate a children’s book while working a full-time job. I’ve never written a children’s book. And long gone is an illustration career that once provided my full income. I’m a full-time web designer, and have two children to support with…
By Andy Valencia After the night of packing, the car was already racing along as the first rays of sun woke Tom up. They were going very fast, and there were countless cars around them. As Tom watched the world go by, he wondered Just how big IS the world? The answer was: very, very…
By Andy Valencia Tom woke on the second day and got busy fortifying his position. He looked at how much energy and materials remained, and decided to push his shoot up just a bit more, and then thicken the stalk to make it stronger. If it snapped off, he didn’t have enough energy left over…