Long ago, in a tiny house at the edge of the forest lived grandmother.  

Grandmother loved to spend her days in the garden tending to the flowers.  She grew more than she needed so she could share with the birds and small animals that came to visit.  Grandmother had a tiny root cellar beneath her house where she stored her carrots and pumpkins in the winter and in the summer it was cool. in the summer. It was where she always went when there was a storm and she needed to be safe.   

“This protection story was written for the children of Ukraine. It is in loving memory of my beautiful grandmother who passed away last winter, a first generation Czechoslovakian farmer with Ukrainian ancestry. Her name meant “one who comes from where the wild roses grow.”  And in gratitude to my Ukrainian friends whose light and beauty sustained me for 10 years when I was away from home. There is nothing more important than home and kin.  

We recommend this story for ages 3 - 7

About the Author

Darla Barrows was born and raised on a small family owned dairy farm in the Driftless region of the Midwest.  She and her family recently moved back to the Driftless to be near her parents who have turned their 70 acres of farmland into prairie flower conservation. Darla holds a degree in ASL Interpretation and Transliteration from Saint Paul College and is a graduate of the Birth to Three Program at Sophia’s Hearth in Keene, New Hampshire. Darla first began teaching Parent and Child classes twenty years ago in ASL before becoming a Waldorf Parent and Child educator and running her own program in Canada for nearly a decade. Darla is a mother, a gardener, and works as the Online Programming Coordinator for Sophia’s Hearth.

To discover more please visit wenurturecollective.com/stories-for-children