Dick Whittington and his Cat

      Last week, as an extension of our medieval studies, we went to see the Seattle Children's Theater performance of Dick Whittington and his Cat. This English folktale is based on the real life of Richard Whittington, who lived during the middle ages and was three-times mayor of London. This story was first told in the 1600s, and there are many versions of it. We listened to/watched a filmed reading of one version of the story, then compared that to what we saw in the play. We talked about what makes a story so compelling that people have been telling it for hundreds of years, and talked about how it relates to our overarching concept of "quest," and what other stories we know that follow the same rags-to-riches theme. As an extra added bonus, we also enjoyed a sunny picnic lunch at the Seattle Center and some time playing on the grass!