The eight year old boy didn't really want to enlarge his sketch of the gray-green bird for the painting project, but it was his best bird sketch in the little drawing pad. He had caught the bird's posture so well in his initial analysis. This bird wasn't brightly colored, and it wasn't going to be quick and simple. We looked at the 8x10" magazine photo together.
"You know what I like about this bird?," I asked him. "He's wearing a mask. He's carefully watching and waiting, noticing everything. See that piercing stare? He's standing totally still, but he can catch his prey in a flash! When I lived in Oklahoma, I used to see these little herons around the creek by my house. They weren't big, but they were so disciplined, like a karate master. They stood so still and were so camouflaged they could surprise any enemy. I had to be really alert to notice them on my walks. Look at the way his wing feathers make that zigzag diamond pattern. How cool is that!? I know you like to draw superheroes. Man! Doesn't The Green Night Heron sound like a cool name for a crime-fighter? You could make a whole comic book of drawings about The Green Night Heron's adventures after you learn how to make the bird look strong and smart."
I'm not bragging. I'm more relieved. My student took the bait and did some of his best work ever. Feel free to use any part of this motivational speech. Before this decade is out, The Green Night Heron will go to the moon. Ask not what The Green Night Heron can do for you...
True, I had my bird names confused. The bird in the magazine photo was probably a yellow-crowned night heron, not a green heron or a black-crowned night heron. It's neck was too short to be a little brown heron. There's no such thing as a green night heron in my bird book, because, of course, a super-observant crime-fighter must keep his identity a secret, sort of like Dick Cheney in his bat cave.
[I really did love espying herons and egrets on walks near Bankside Drive in Edmond, OK, back in 1988.]
© 2008 Nancy L. Ruder
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