Dogwood. Bee balm. Fox Glove. Forget-me-not. Did you ever wonder where those names came from? Well, let me enlighten you.
Dogwood: What in the world does Dogwood have to do with dogs? Most likely, this naming has to do with the hardness of the wood. There is an old English word, "Dagwood." The slender stems from the tree were used as "dags." Daggers, skewers, and arrows. Sometime in the early 1600s, dagwood was changed to dogwood.
Bee balm: Sounds like it's something for the bees themselves. But if you notice, this plant doesn't attract bees at all! There is a resin derived from the plant which can be used for soothing bee stings.
Foxglove: This one actually comes from a fun story—a fox was having a hard time sneaking into the henhouse to grab a quick meal. A naughty fairy decided to help him out by slipping his paws into the glove-like blooms so he could silently sneak up on the chickens. (Look at the flowers, and you will see the fox's paw prints.)
Forget-me-not: This is from a rather sad story. A lover trying to cross a river to reach his sweetheart gets swept away by the currrent, but manages to grasp some flowers on the bank to throw to her as he calls, "Forget me not!"
What do you think of these names? Are there any other flower names you're wondering about?
Today's IWSG question is, "Have you ever read one of your books a long time after it's been published? What was the experience like?"
I read my picture books all the time. I think overall, I'm happy with all of them. There are a couple of things on the first one I might do differently. I actually have not read my Bubba and Squirt books carefully since they've been published. I've made teacher guides for all of them, and I've skimmed over them while producing those. I should really read them all in a row and see how the story flows, especially since they were written over a long period of time. What about you? Have you read stories you published long ago? What did you think about them?
