Junkyard Tales

I have been a fan of Sparkle Stories for years, five of them to be exact.  The summer that Charlie turned 6 I stumbled upon their website.  I contemplated the cost of their stories.  I decided that for the summer I would purchase three stories a week at $15.  I felt like for a summer purchase this would be well worth my money.  So, for three months we listened.  Originally that was all I was going to purchase.  That first summer we listened to Junkyard Tales, Martin and Sylvia, and So Many Fairies.  We had GRAND adventures.  I was amazed at how much bolder, longer, and in-depth  their play became.  It changed. I was amazed at how they would listen to the same story over and over and over again.  While they listened they played.  Martin and Sylvia will always be their first love but, the Junkyard, it has become a wonderful friend these last five years.  About two years ago my daughter made character blocks for my son for Christmas.  B has always LOVED Ben Thompson.
Originally she was going to draw them and then I would paint her drawing.  She did not feel confident enough to paint them.  But I loved her 8 year old drawings so much I just never got around to painting them.

Sargent: dog

Ben Thompson: Cat

"The Rowlands" : a raccoon family that visits the Junkyard at night. 

Whiney: puppy 

Georgia Bean: the rat

Sally the Chipmunk

Zippy:  the Porcupine 

Spiro:  the Skunk

We have played with our Junkyard friends for ears and have lost a few of them,   the mice and Little Mamma the Rabbit.  There are several things that I love about this "toy".

1.  It is open ended.
2.  My children created it themselves.
3.  We used scrap wood left over from a project, a pencil, and sandpaper.

I hope that you enjoy them as much as we have.  We have found that we need a few more blocks.  We need to add a few more friends:  a moose, some beavers, Mitzi Neagle, and Harriet the Hawk.