Beatrice Bowles

We lovingly remember Beatrice Bowles, a member of the IC who passed in November, 2021.

Beatrice Bowles was a storyteller, writer, and recording artist of wonderous tales that connected children to nature's deep and lasting wisdom. She performed nationally and internationally in schools, botanical gardens, art and garden centers, and at conferences. Her audiobooks/CDs feature original music by composer Sara Buchanan MacLean.

According to Beatrice, "My  earliest memory is of sunshine streaming into my grandfather’s yellow  breakfast room and onto a blue bowl of raspberries before me. In that  moment, everything connected, light, warmth, color, sweetness. In that  moment, life seemed miraculously beautiful and deeply good. I had no  words, only wonder.

"Once I could read, I fairy tales kept alive that sense of wonder. I devoured my grandmother’s beautiful storybooks of tales from around the world. I marveled at the way the stories brought alive all of nature  from the sun and stars, from trees and flowers to storms and spiders, and to all kinds of characters from magical to monstrous. Stories of  goodness triumphing over evil and of kindness defeating greed, gave me  courage, hope and faith in justice.

"Later, when I read the same stories and more to my own children, I felt l like a gardener planting magic seeds. Their delight in hearing  stories inspired me to become a storyteller and learn to tell stories by  heart. I saw storytelling as a crafty way to connect more children today to nature’s timeless secrets of happiness and survival and to the  challenges and joys of human nature.

"Inspired by Spider Grandmother, the fairy godmother of my  storytelling, I like to weave webs of tales from different cultures  around a shared theme in my performances, my audio storybooks, and my two storybooks, SPIDER SECRETS and GRANDMOTHER SPIDER'S WEB OF WONDERS (April 30, 2020).

"May these lively stories stretch your imagination beyond belief, reveal allies you never knew you had, and delight you happily ever after."

Her work lives on, and will continue to enthrall children of all ages for many years to come.