The Genesis
of Scampering Meadows
The Authors: Jonathan & Charlene Bowen
Scampering Meadows is a children’s story written by Jonathan and Charlene Bowen.
We are known to our grandchildren as “Papa” and “Yaya.” These are Greek names, although we are not Greek— our first grandson gave us the names and they have stuck with us.
Scampering Meadows are a series of stories we began writing for our grandchildren. They have gone through a series of transformations to end up where they are today.
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Special thanks goes to our children and friends who have helped proof read and make suggestions along the way.
Stories with Principles
One of the main goals of Scampering Meadows is to create stories with underlying principles running throughout to help frame our children’s minds. The “fruits of the spirit” are characteristics God looks to develop in his children. We aim to weave these “fruits” into each story. As the children in the Mouse Family Stories go on their adventures, they encounter everyday problems that require them to use the fruits of the spirit to overcome.
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Fruits must be cultivated and watered, and the surrounding weeds must be removed. At the beginning of each story, we added a little section called “Principles for Parents to Highlight” to help parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts learn the principles and discuss them with their children in their unique circumstances. The stories are designed to weave godly principles into daily life.
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The stories are focused on strengthening relationships and family bonds. Activities and outings feature heavily in the books, encouraging family-centred interaction with all ages.
On the Road
We sold our house in 2023 and have been living a somewhat nomadic life since. We have travelled to the USA from Canada, and across Canada. We have visited our family and friends across the continent gathering ideas for stories on the way.
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To build the mouse world, we have collected various antiques to work as props in the mouse houses. We've been scouring North America; wherever our travels have taken us, we have found props for future stories.
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We have taken the mice with us on our journeys and have had story shoots in the prairies, the Rocky Mountains, the Muskokas, on lakes and rivers, in fields and valleys, and in the snow.
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We hope to continue to take the mice with us where ever we travel, gathering ideas for stories that will captivate children's imaginations.
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Mice Spy!
Every story has an engaging "mice spy" activity.
Children can enjoy travelling back through the pages as they search the book and find treasures hidden within the pages.​
Creating the Mouse World
We could not always find exactly what we were looking for, so we had to get creative and make some of the furniture such as beds, vanities, tables, ladders etc.
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We have employed the talents of our nieces to create bedspreads, clothing, hats, and all kinds of accessories that will appear in the stories.
Phebe Penny, Illustrator
Phebe studied the fundamentals of art at Sheridan and would continue to teach herself illustration after graduating. Her artwork has proven to add the finishing touches to the stories. As a child, I remember stories like Rupert the Bear and the little bears on the corner of each page. These fascinated me, and I would spend hours looking at them. We wanted to include something like this in our stories. We had seen Phebe's incredible work and asked if she would consider being part of the project. She enthusiastically agreed, and her work is seen on every page. The illustrations capture the imagination and reflect the emotions of the mice as they adventure through the Scampering Meadows.