Origin storiesand the whereaboutsof the shadow

Transcribed from notes taken at the "Hundred Languages of Children" exhibit at COSI in Columbus, OH, in 2001. All of these observations came from three- to five-year-olds.


"the sea is born
from the mother wave.
the weather is born
from the storm.
the wind is born
from the air and has
the right shape to
bang things.
time is born from
the years."


"can the shadow disobey the light?
what happens to a little shadow
if it goes inside a big shadow?
does it disappear or does it just
go underneath?"


"shadows are made of air, like oxygen,
but a shadow is black oxygen and that's
carbon dioxide. yeah, because carbon
dioxide is black and so i think that's what
makes shadows.

"at night, shadows disappear because
the plants that feed on carbon dioxide
eat them. shadows are food for plants.
i think it's like that."


"if you switch your shoes,
do your shadows switch too?"