Who Is Mother Bilbee

Guest Writer: Isabel Anders

Who Is Mother Bilbee? 

Mother Bilbee transforms familiar lullabies and animal tales—with a deeply child-friendly twist on classic rhymes. In this first title, Sing a Song of Six Birds, Karine Makartichan’s whimsical and eye-catching illustrations depict blackbirds who “turn the tables around” on the original nursery rhyme—as they become the bakers!

She may wear an apron and bake cookies with colorful sprinkles on top, brightening a rainy afternoon—“Just because … ”  

Or she might sit, rocking, wearing earbuds, and listening to Brahms’ Op. 49, No. 4, published in 1868 and widely known as “Brahms’ Lullaby.”

She was inspired to write her take on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” by a line in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice: “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.” 

Her own upbeat version, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Shining Star!” rocks this line: “When you remind me to aim high, it’s as though I touch the sky!” Gazing at the night sky always thrills and inspires her, as though she were a child, too.

Keenly aware that words also shine in a world that needs their vibrant sparks, she loves crafting a rhyme that’s hard to forget. She maintains her sense of play and promotes the pleasure of reading tales out loud, preferably with someone you love. As she points out in her retelling of “The North Wind and the Sun”:

… Here is what the Sun and Wind reveal to us in fun:

There can be different ways to learn how to get things done!

It isn’t always visible—the power we’re thinking of.

Sometimes, the most effective way to move us is through love.

In just such ways, in Mother Bilbee’s Tales, she happily provides new twists and meanings to sit alongside the classic lines that everyone knows. She spins her stories not to replace older poems and tales—but to encourage young minds to think outside the usual and search to find what matters most to them.

By teaching children to ask the right questions, she believes the answers in specific situations will naturally carry them from “here” to “there.” It isn’t always the flashy, boasting ones who make the grade, as revealed in her Folktale rhyme “The Hare and the Tortoise.”

The hare began in confidence, a smile upon his face. BUT …

The tortoise knew that, after all, it’s: “Steady wins the race.”

How we act now, in situations that test us, IS what we are—and a preview of what we can yet become. Mother Bilbee, without being preachy or tiresome, passes out colorful treats that carry inside them a second, more profound gift: Reminders that our thoughts and actions today, if we take care, can become steps to something bigger, better, and more satisfying than we could ever dream!

As we learn from her retelling of “The Milkmaid and the Bucket”:

It’s fine having plans and great actions pursuing.

But don’t let them distract you from what you are doing!

Tomorrow, this maid would take care and not fall—

Or she’ll pick herself up and then laugh at it all.

We can make mistakes and do better next time.

And that is the point of this sweet milkmaid rhyme!

Mother Bilbee would gladly carry the bucket on her head, just like the milkmaid, if sharing milk and cookies with her eager child-listeners was about to begin right now.

Release date: June 1.

Advance praise for Mother Bilbee Tales:

“Heart-warming! Any child would love this!”—Dr. Elizabeth-Anne Stewart, Life Coach, and Image Guidance Counselor.

“Intelligent and insightful.”—Oralee Stiles Hamilton, Spiritual Director, Oregon Interfaith Spiritual Center.

Isabel Anders

Joanna Seibert. joannaseibert.com

Children at the End of the Service

10:30 Dismissal

“ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble, like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”—Matthew 18: 2-5.

One of my favorite parts of the 10:30 service at St. Mark’s is at the end at the back of the church, when several young children come and help me with the dismissal. They are usually sweet girls, but there is an occasional brave boy. On rare occasions, they even walk down the aisle hand in hand with me to arrive at the back of the church.

There are so many words I would like to say to them. I want them to learn to love being part of a church community worshiping together. I want them to know they are the future of the world and Christ’s church. I want them to see this place is open to them for the rest of their lives. I want them to know this is a safe place. I want them to know this is where they will find a community worshiping a loving God. I want them to know what they can learn from this worshiping community at Saint Mark’s. This can be the very gift they inherit to pass on to their children and grandchildren, as my mother and grandparents did for me. I want them to learn what Jesus said when the disciples asked him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus pulled a child out of the crowd and said the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are people like these.

Frederick Buechner writes about our children: “Children live with their hands open more than with their fists clenched. They are people who,…, are so relatively unburdened by preconceptions that if somebody says there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they are perfectly willing to go take a look for themselves. Children aren’t necessarily better than other people. Like the child in “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” they are just apt to be better at telling the difference between a phony and the real

thing” 1.  

 Therefore, I must be so careful about what I say and always try to speak the truth. Of course, there is no way to tell these amazing children all this. But what I can do is simply love them for those brief moments at the back of the church, before they go home, and let them know this is a place of love.

1Frederick Buechner in Beyond Words.

Joanna Seibert joannaseibert.com

Grace

Grace

“Like the unexpected call of a friend just when you need it most, grace arrives unannounced. A door opens. A path becomes clear. An answer presents itself. Grace is what it feels like to be touched by God.”—Bishop Steven Charleston, Facebook Page.

Mother’s Book of Common Prayer

I stand waiting to walk out and read the Gospel as we sing the Sequence, the hymn before the Gospel: “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.” I glance at the last verse, and there, faintly written in pencil, just before the beginning of the last line, is the word “softer.” It is in my mother’s distinctive handwriting. I had forgotten that my mother sang in the choir at Grace Episcopal Church in Yorktown, Virginia. So, this must be a directive from the choir director.

My mother has been dead for more than twenty years. We did not always understand each other, but when she died, I wanted to honor her in some way. I decided to start using her personal hymnal/prayer book in church.

Her name has worn off the front cover; the gold cross will soon disappear. The red leather cover is now coming apart, particularly the backboard of the book’s spine. I have not repaired it because, for some unknown reason, what remains of this book, just as she used it, seems to be connecting me to her.

When I saw my mother’s writing, I gasped and sent up a small prayer of thanksgiving. We had some challenging times, but I have begun to feel healing over the years since her death. This morning, in this split second, I felt reconciled with my mother and grateful for her life and support.

Healing family relationships takes time and constant prayer for family members and ourselves. Today, I realize that prayer works. Attempting to connect to an estranged family member through something that the family member treasured over time works. Valuing what we have in common, rather than remembering our differences, brings healing in life as well as after death. For example, my mother and I shared our love of the Episcopal Church and singing in particular. Today, I felt my mother beside me.

Through this realization, I experienced one more way: God’s grace continues to heal and care for us over time if we only put ourselves in the position to receive.

 It is Grace that is helping us through this time. Our only job is to look for it and see it all around us.

The name of my mother’s Episcopal church in Yorktown also helped! Grace!

Bless you for supporting the ministry of our church and conference center, Camp Mitchell, on top of Petit Jean Mountain, by buying this book in the daily series of writings for the liturgical year, A Daily Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter. My mother never saw this book or the other two in the series, but she would have liked it. If you enjoyed this book, could you briefly write a recommendation on its page on Amazon? More thank-you’s than I can say for helping support a special camp for Arkansas's children, youth, and adults!!!