Taking BUT into school

I am currently working on 12 pages and spent most of the day stitching, adding colour, stitching some more. I had a chat to the headteacher, Debbie Sleep, at my children's school and she asked how the course was going. I admitted I was struggling with the ending of my broken button story, so she invited me in this afternoon to talk to two classes - Year 3/4 (8 and 9 years) and Year 5/6 (10 and 11 years) - to get their thoughts. Children are refreshingly honest and they were gave me some very encouraging feedback about the images I had created to date.

I posed the question: to what was But's other half attached to? These are some of their thoughts that came out in the lesson:

• the eye of a toy
• something to do with a wedding dress
• a girlfriend button and a romantic ending

Their teachers used But as a tool to challenge their storytelling skills and they spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about where But started out and where he ended up. I was impressed with their creativity.

Here are some of their stories:

1.  A bee stings But, but the sting goes through the button hole. The bee hovers around the house holding But. He drops him over the bed onto the teddy that belongs to Prince George. The maid finds him and sews him back on with the other half.

2. But is flying through the air. Ton is flying through the aid. A kitten was playing with it. They join.

3. Soldier's uniform. The maid cleared up and found the button.

4. But/Ton holds the theatre curtains together. Someone opened the curtains quickly but/ton snapped. Ton is hanging from a curtain thread. But falls into the orchestra pit into a trombone and as it is played, But is blown through the air. He is put into a button box.

5. A boy was playing with But. He made a catapult and fired him through the air. He landed in Santa's chimney. Santa noticed him and magically knew where the other half was. he sewed them back together and put them on his jumper ready for Christmas.

6. But lands on the Queen's bed. The Queen comes in and says "But where have you been? Ton has been looking for you all over the palace." She picks Ton up and puts him next to But. The maid sews them back together onto the Royal cloak.

Taking on board their ideas, it helped me shape the ending. My original idea was this:

And now I have decided that But will end up as the nose of a teddy. But not just any teddy - it is the Royal teddy and has been handed to Prince George by his great grandmother, the Queen.

So this is page 15 and 16 in planning stage.

The wording for my ending was this:

Page 13-14 : One day he was rudely lifted from his bed and attacked by a sharp spear. Was this the end?

Page 15-16: Far from it. There was his other half. But was whole again.

I decided to swap the proposed images over. So that the page 16 sees a close up of the button as a complete thing - the but and ton joining with the thread the reader has come to know as But's arms and legs. I hand felted the teddy and it does have a fur like quality - which is gently to touch as a bear would be.

My final image - one of the end papers will have a simple image of a tag which reads:
Dearest George. I hope you enjoy our family teddy. Much love from great grandma. ER xx

Page 15 in progress

Page 16 in progress.



It is thanks to my visit to Stroud Valley School that I came up with the ending. Some of the stories are wonderful - particularly the one when But ends up being blown from a trumpet!