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In Other News...
After much discernment and receiving counsel from trusted sources, I'm going to be reintegrating myself into the blogging world, outside of just picture books. Instead of just writing and saving all the files on my computer, I will be publishing them online for now. For whatever it's worth, I am called to write and to make my thoughts known (to myself and others!)
If you are interested in my musings outside of the picture book world, I'd be happy to have you tune in.
Blessings!
And now for something peculiar.
Have you met Treehorn yet? I just finished The Treehorn Trilogy and was delighted at the unexpected, unorthodox tales of this odd little boy and his completely aloof, dismissive parents. When Treehorn shrinks, all mother can say is "That's nice, dear." When money starts to grow on Treehorn's tree, it's a "You can't go outside after dark, dear." And when Treehorn has a birthday, he gets a sweater, leftover casserole and left alone with his birthday cake.
Modern parents will not like the Treehorn books. They will be disturbed by the morbid disinterest all the adults have for this child throughout his stories. Of course, the notorious Edward Gorey probably clamored to get this illustrating gig. I'm certain no one else could have so perfectly captured Treehorn's dull face or the parent's apathy. His pen and ink drawings are perfect here. I find these stories to be sheer delights. They aren't the treasures to use for capturing the hearts or inspiring virtue in young children, to be sure... but they are certainly a peculiar and even thought-provoking diversion for slightly older readers: my 10 and 12 year olds found Treehorn dreadfully amusing.
And off-the-beaten-path items that capture their imagination at this age, are items to which I like to introduce my children. To be exposed to the various genres of literature, even in the picture book world, is a valuable thing I think, when properly timed on a developmental level.
Top 10 Summer Family Read Alouds
While picture books are my bread and butter, all families should be reading aloud longer chapter books with their children. With summer peeking over the horizon now, it's a good time to plan out your summer read-aloud(s). Reading as a family, morning, noon or at night, is an excellent way to stay connected with all the activities of a freewheeling summer. Audio books make for a superb option as you are road tripping. And certain books are just perfect for this warm season in particular... here are my choices for optimal summer reading that the whole family will enjoy:
It's a classic for a reason. The four siblings are slightly more grounded in this world than the Narnia children, but the similarities are still there. I was unsure that my children would really get into the fairly descriptive, not-exactly-cliff-hangar-chapters, but they ate it up! Sailing, adventure, independent children soaking up summertime bliss. Something about Ransome's style just weaves enough magic into the story to make a solid impression on children aged 7-13 in this house! The only unfortunate thing is that while this book makes its way on lots of "best of" lists, not a lot of people make efforts to continue the series; the books are a bit lengthy... but so worth it. We are knee deep into the sequel: Swallowdale in our family and loving every bit of it.
Don't be mislead by the sweet cover. While it's tempting to want to curl up with your 5 year old daughter with this for a cute innocent adventure (try Milly-Molly-Mandy for that), the book is admittedly best suited for slightly older children... maybe age 10 or so. Feuding and intrigue and happy endings... all taking place in the heat of the south. Grab some iced tea and enjoy!
So, it sounds like a Roald Dahl comedy: boy finds a bunch of monkeys who escaped from a circus train. A large reward goes to whomever can return them to the owner. But the book isn't a funny book by design. It's full of adventure and suspense and for the sake of all that is good, do NOT get the paperback version which has a photograph of the boy on the cover. Photograph covers on books constitute a cardinal sin in my opinion (more on cardinal publishing sins to come)—no room is left for a child to form his own personal impression in their own minds; photograph covers ruin imaginations! Anyway, it's a great book!
We love Homer Price in this family! He is just the bee's knees if you asked my boys and easy, independent chapters of his adventures back in the 'good ol' days' will be perfect for lazy summer reading... don't forget the sequel! Light, enjoyable reading at its finest.
Boys only please (okay, I would've read and loved them as a tomboy 'tween but your mileage may vary). These guys have a clubhouse, impressive IQs and adventures galore that would fill your child's brain with plain old good stuff during summertime.
Summertime is E.B. White time! This is the time to bust out the glorious, early chapter books to your 5 and 6+ year olds. Be it Charlotte's Web or Stuart Little or The Trumpet of the Swan... all are so perfectly suited to long, slow summer days. I re-read Stuart Little recently with my children and was reminded again at how unique White is in the children's literature world: the ending is moving and poignant... but not your typical super-happy, loose ends tied up conclusion. Same with Charlotte's Web now that I think about it. I remember feeling sad at the dear little spiders floating away to find their place in the world... (even though I can only WISH that spiders in my house would float away...)
Oh my! Oh my! Have you seen the "Puffin in Bloom" collection yet?! The covers are stunning! Yeah, yeah, Heidi is fantastic summertime reading (watch out for the photograph covered editions, blech!). What could be greater than the Alps and a wild child and new friendships?! But seriously, check out this new cover by artist Anna Bond. And there's a whole set of them coming soon! What a stunning gift even an individual title would make here. Take a look at the individual covers here.
Often called "The boy's Little House series", Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers is great for boys and girls in my opinion. And this title is where it all starts. And let me tell you: these stories are so incredibly satisfying for both parent and child. There is just enough of a hat tip to adult sensibilities to make these books fantastic for everyone. I bought it on audio and we listened to it on our way to a camping trip last year. So, so, so good. A must have for anyone who loves the value of hard work, simple humor, and excellent storytelling.
But of course!
Back in print! Back in print! I'm so excited to find The Happy Hollisters revived in popularity. What is so lovely about this family of five children who get mixed up into lots of little mysteries and adventures is that they are always positive and fun. I devoured almost the entire series of these books when I was about 10 or so and longed for more titles. My cousin and I used to spend hours reading together, pretending we were just reading them to make fun of the funny, vintage language some kids used ("Gee whillakers!") but that's because we thought we were too cool to actually enjoy the fun in these books. Thankfully, my children don't think they are too cool for these books and they are eating up every copy I manage to acquire. They are all great reading, don't need to be read consecutively, and some particularly summery titles are The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip and The Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach...
* * * The Honorable Mention "Next 10"or "After Further Thought" Additions to this list. * * *
Our Lady of Fatima: May Giveaway!
I've often felt disgruntled that there is what I opine to be a great emptiness in the picture book world regarding Our Lady of Fatima. Guadalupe enjoys at least three excellent options as far as I can tell (like this, this, or this) plus a couple other 'good' options. Meanwhile, Fatima is left quite in the dust. I own the book Jacinta's Story and it is pretty good and really one of the only picture book options that I know of. But it's not one that I read in one sitting to the children. It's best broken into a few days' reading during Morning Basket time because the story is fairly extensive. Still hoping for a simple breakdown of the story at a young, elementary level.
Thankfully, there are a number of chapter books that do the story justice. And it's a story that needs to be told to people of all ages. The Children Of Fatima: And Our Lady's Message to the World is one of the best options on the market in my opinion, and it suits reading aloud quite nicely. May is the perfect month to devote to Our Lady and her message to both the children and to the world.
TAN Books has graciously offered to sponsor a giveaway of this book by Mary Fabyan Windeatt in honor of Our Lady and her upcoming feast day this month. The awesome thing is that while TAN publishing is known for their older, more traditional titles, they are making efforts to keep things fresh and relevant to families even today. In development right now are some workbooks that go along with the books in this series and the accompaniment designed for The Children Of Fatima will be one of the first ones done! (Sneak peak coming soon hopefully!)
In the meantime, there will be 3 winners in this giveaway who receive a copy of this book! All you have to do is comment on one way, simple or extravagent, your family tries to celebrate the month of May in your home. You have until Mother's Day to enter. This Sunday, the 10th. Blessings!
Thankfully, there are a number of chapter books that do the story justice. And it's a story that needs to be told to people of all ages. The Children Of Fatima: And Our Lady's Message to the World is one of the best options on the market in my opinion, and it suits reading aloud quite nicely. May is the perfect month to devote to Our Lady and her message to both the children and to the world.TAN Books has graciously offered to sponsor a giveaway of this book by Mary Fabyan Windeatt in honor of Our Lady and her upcoming feast day this month. The awesome thing is that while TAN publishing is known for their older, more traditional titles, they are making efforts to keep things fresh and relevant to families even today. In development right now are some workbooks that go along with the books in this series and the accompaniment designed for The Children Of Fatima will be one of the first ones done! (Sneak peak coming soon hopefully!)
In the meantime, there will be 3 winners in this giveaway who receive a copy of this book! All you have to do is comment on one way, simple or extravagent, your family tries to celebrate the month of May in your home. You have until Mother's Day to enter. This Sunday, the 10th. Blessings!
****Closed! We have three winners! Pre-literate Henry was asked to circle 3 names on the list: Congrats to the Holloway family, Erin and Monica!****
Bring Back Stories
I stumbled across this article recently... discussing the problems publishers are having in the picture book industry and it made some very compelling points. Something I've noticed more and more of recently is the flourishing population of clever, popular, concept books. Books that have very little text but that are either neat to look at or innovative in design (think the hip: This Is Not My Hat or engaging Mix It Up! ) I love books like these myself and enjoy throwing them in our read-alouds often. But I almost never buy them. These are not the food with which I feed the souls of my children. These don't offer the narrative weaving and pacing a good, healthy tale does like Many Moons or Princess Furball.
Stories need to be developed and while the fun, sparsely worded books are enjoyable to look at and giggle with... they aren't something that I put as high of a value on... both psychologically and monetarily.
Publishers are noticing that some of the old standby classics are still selling well; people STILL want to invest money in things like Mike Mulligan and Little Toot even though there is nothing contemporary or short about them. We want a satisfying, soul feeding experience of sharing a tale with our children... we aren't interested in just amusing ourselves or being fascinated by innovation. To get this feeling, an investment of time, talent and treasure needs to be made by all parties: author, illustrator and publisher. This is what parents are chasing when they keep spending money on old stuff... it's not that we are just hopelessly nostalgic suckers— excellent books can still be found newly published today after all— it's that we want that beautiful development of story that is increasingly shunned by publishers today in deference to some desperate grasp of innovation, coolness or humor. This is why we hunt down out-of-print titles with a feverish hope... we are trying to escape the bilge of awful books on publishers' shelves today and reach into our memories for something meaningful and authentic.
Stories need to be developed and while the fun, sparsely worded books are enjoyable to look at and giggle with... they aren't something that I put as high of a value on... both psychologically and monetarily.
Top 10 Little Books
To this day, while there are many compilations and anthologies of the Peter Rabbit series, nothing... NOTHING compares to the magic of the small, hardback set of single, independent, tiny volumes. If your home library of picture books consists of nothing other than this set, you'll be leagues ahead of 90% of your parenting peers in the sheer quality of what you're offering.
Anyway, it got me thinking about the awesomeness of tiny books in general. What child doesn't love miniature things designed just for their size? Especially when the miniatures are real, be it functional tea cups, utensils, brooms, aprons etc. So it is with books. There is something special about volumes published under 7 inches tall. And the only thing I love more than reading tiny books to my children, is seeing my young ones sprawled out in the grass on their own with a little book of their own fitting so nicely in their little hands.
Little books pack into diaper bags well, fit into stockings, Easter baskets and everyday baskets, and make fantastic little bonus gifts to accompany other items. Here is my pick of the 10 best little books on the market today:
The Peter Rabbit books. Of course. Just go ahead and throw all 23 titles into one listing here. Each is excellent.
The Story of Little Black Sambo. Okay, so all the modern parents prefer The Story of Little Babaji (also on the small side) because it is more PC, but I love the original myself. I have both books and my children like both equally but I have a nostalgic spot for the old one because my mother read it to me so many times...
The Nutshell Library by Maurice Sendak. Alligators All Around is the standout book in this 4-volume set but they are so well priced as a collection, I'd go ahead and purchase the others with that title.
Pelle's New Suit (mini edition). I normally prefer my full-sized Elsa Beskow books, but this one in particular works as a mini because it doesn't have as much text as most of her other titles. For that, and the fact that it is the perfect springtime book, it's on the list.
A Hole Is to Dig is perhaps my very favorite "nonsensically profound" books (I made that category up; nice eh?). From the silly to the thought provoking, Ruth Krauss found magic in pairing with Sendak on this title. The hardback is out of print, but worth finding...
A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog is the first in the series and my favorite Mercer Mayer books by far. They are wordless but tell a lovely story... don't forget the equally excellent sequels Frog Goes to Dinner, Frog, Where Are You? and others.
The Brave Cowboy. My three year old fell in love with the Brave Cowboy when he first met him and it's still one of his favorite books to call his own and to be found curled up with in a corner somewhere. That's enough to merit a spot on this list.
Alphabet of Boats. Linocuts. Boats. Education. Beauty. Simplicity. All under 5 square inches. I can't help that so many of the books I love are out of print— sorry! Just keep your eyes peeled for this little gem. (Which reminds me... I've seen enough good stuff now to warrant "Volume 3" version of Top Ten Alphabet books... hmm, will attend to that soon hopefully.)
Let's Be Enemies. Sendak illustrating again! He excelled at the tiny books. Janice May Undry created a lovely little tale of making and breaking friendships. It's very fun to read with a 5 year old...
The Little Train... or really, any Lois Lenski books. All are small. My favorite ones are his seasonal books which are a bit spendy OOP, but any of his occupational books like this one or Policeman Small or The Little Airplane, etc are vintage winners as well.*********
And now, some qualifying remarks:
I would've included the gorgeous Flower Fairies Alphabet, but I'm mad that they skipped the letter X. You can cheat a little or work around it... but don't skip the letter altogether!
Also, these are slightly larger than 'tiny', but of immense importance in the picture book collector's world: The Year in Brambly Hedge Set and Adventures in Brambly Hedge Set. Unfortunately these books are long out of print but they are really wonderful to own and cherish... in the same botanical goodness vein as one would find the Beatrix Potter books.
And lastly, I've requested an inter-library loan to get my eyes on The Treehorn Trilogy. It looks fabulous. Edward Gorey is not everyone's cup of pictorial tea but I like him and am eager to see these books!
The Winner!
I reached into my bag of meaningless methods and chose a winner for Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World. Here is how it worked:Write down the posted times of all the comments.
Ask child number 1: "am or pm?"
All the PMs got crossed out. Sorry!
Ask child number 2: "8 or 9?"
All the 8s got crossed out.
Ask child number 3: "11 or 47?"
47 takes all.
Mary, who commented on the post at 9:47 am (PST) wins!
Congrats and I hope you all tune in for next time!
Just for Today...
I tried looking up the history of the prayer, because its origin isn't universally accepted and several adaptations of the prayer exist, one is in use by AA. Here is a common one:
- Just for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
- Just for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
- Just for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
- Just for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
- Just for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
- Just for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
- Just for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
- Just for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
- Just for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
- Just for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for twelve hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.
And I think that is a fantastic prayer for meditation.
Bimba Landmann's style isn't one that everyone will immediately appreciate. She has a whimsy to be sure... but not a fun, cutesy, whimsy like Elisa Kleven that everyone adores... Bimba's is more ethereal and almost Byzantine influenced. In this book, for example, the pictures are gorgeous but aren't always a perfect correlation with the text at first glance. There's a boy (who is he? The young pope?) who seems to be living in some kind of Turkish or Muslim-inspired seaside village. And he has, um... a pet reindeer... I think that's what it is at least.
Yet despite these oddities, it all somehow fits. And it makes the prayer's meditative quality shine through to not have such literal illustrations.
Easter Basket Board Books...
Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts & Pieces of the Natural World, and a Giveaway!
"How many ways do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."
The find of the year (so far) for me is this piece of glory from Julia Rothman called Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World. The entire thing is the what makes me love to homeschool (and I needed a new boost in loving that lately). The book is fabulous, and everything one could wish for in a "textbook."
First, it's chock full of interesting facts covering various areas of geology, botany, biology, meteorology and astronomy. In being such a broad book, do we turn up our noses claiming it can't offer depth in any one area? Sure. You may look down if you like. But what it DOES offer is so beautifully presented and academically enriching that you'd be missing something great by choosing a dry science book over this one.
And then there are the illustrations. Folksy, detailed, handwoven with love and care and interest. My goodness, I'm in love!
This author is the same one who brought us Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of Country Life a few years ago. It had raving reviews but it was brand new to me this year. I figured that I didn't have a whole heckuva lot of interest in farm life on a technical scale so what would I get out of it?! Little did I know that I'd lovingly turn each page in this too, admiring the art and the information each page provided.
Both books would be phenomenal springboards for deeper studies into any one area. Nature Anatomy especially is such a breath of fresh air in this home.
I have the highly lauded (in Charlotte Mason circles anyway) Handbook of Nature Study and while the information in that is excellent, the photos are in greyscale and limited by their time period. And much to my ever-burning shame, it doesn't get used nearly so much as I had planned. I'd like to think of this new Nature Anatomy filling in the gap in some way as being something fresh, useful, beautiful and worthy to include in our morning basket studies a few times a week. A must have in my opinion... you can virtually browse through it here.
I'm so in love with this book that I'm going to send it to one lucky person during this upcoming Easter season. I don't know how I'll choose a winner, but it'll be non-scientifically random of course. If you have read through this post and are interested in receiving the book, just post a comment about something, anything, I don't care— by Divine Mercy Sunday. That day is my birthday and it would give me great delight to share the gift of this book with someone!
Therapy in Picture Books
This post is for my sister—a soon to be licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She asked for my opinion on books that deal with difficult subjects in a delicate way... to aid children in making sense of trauma or sadness or difficulty in their lives. Note that I have NOT read every single one of these books. What I did, was pore over many, many lists, follow many rabbit-trails, read a few message boards, evaluated many reviews and compiled 24 titles that looked to be the most promising. This is certainly not exhaustive—I don't doubt I'm missing some great titles. But I did go ahead and ignore 90% of what was recommended for therapy books precisely because that's what they were designed to be (e.g. "Mommy and Daddy Dinosaur Got a Divorce" or somesuch). In this scope (as in most others) I seek stories primarily... good messages secondarily.
There are some exceptions, but I do think the art of subtlety in this area is perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when reading books with children. Kids aren't stupid. They see through things that moralize or patronize very quickly. But again... I have not read all these books personally so maybe a few of them do exactly this... let me know! I am only bookmarking this list for people to peruse who may want to investigate ways to cope with life stressors through the welcoming, non-threatening medium of picture books. If you know of something that I'm missing here, please comment!!!
- Rabbityness (non-specific but sudden loss, grief)
- Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs (death of grandparent, love this book!!!)
- Horton Hatches the Egg (adoption classic!)
- Loon Summer (divorce)
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (enough said, by the way... the movie was pretty good!)
- Charlie Anderson (divorce, normalizing step-families)
- The Quarreling Book (stopping the cycle of anger. Classic and fun.)
- My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother (sibling rivalry)
- A Terrible Thing Happened (an exception to the "story first" rule, because it seems this could be really helpful in helping kids heal from witnessing or experiencing trauma—especially for things that are hard to find the right words for like sexual abuse, etc.)
- How to Take the Grrrr Out of Anger (another exception. I own this book. My then-8 year old read it... it's now being passed down to his brother. It didn't "cure" anger. But it helped him to remember some strategies for dealing with it in a healthy way.)
- Always and Forever (death)
- When They Fight (parental fighting)
- My Many Colored Days (for the preschool set to help put names to feelings)
- A Mother for Choco (adoption)
- The Invisible Boy (teaching empathy/inclusion)
- Spaghetti in A Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to Be Who You Are (bullying)
- You've Got Dragons (OCD or anxiety)
- Now One Foot, Now the Other (coping with physical disability)
- Michael Rosen's Sad Book (a beautiful book on grief; it doesn't try to 'fix' it. It just owns it and explores it.)
- Ian's Walk (a sibling with autism book)
- Those Shoes (wants vs. needs, making sense of poverty)
- A Day's Work (poverty, honesty, dignity... not just for kids in therapy!!!)
- If Nathan Were Here (non-specific death of a friend, making peace with that loss)
- Rudi's Pond (death of friend)
Brother Hugo and the Bear for Lent!
For Valentine's Day this year, I gifted each of my children a "one free book" coupon and they got to select ANY book they wanted to have shipped to them (all second hand "Like New" copies, to keep it cost effective and I retained veto powers of course...) With just a hint of guidance, my three year old saw the picture of Brother Hugo and the Bear and declared proudly that it was to be his choice. Yes!
The book came and immediately I fell in love with it. It is a story imagined by Katy Beebe from one tiny little line in a real, historical letter that comments this:
"And send to us, if you please, the great volume of letters by the holy father Augustine, which contains his letters to Saint Jerome, and Saint Jerome's to him. For it happens that the greater part of our volume was eaten by a bear."
The book would be a great unit study builder for all things medieval... especially cloistered life, illuminated letters, manuscript making and the 12th century in general. I am going to pair it with a viewing of that oddly strange and beautiful period movie: The Secret of Kells. If I was really motivated, I'd figure out some sort of illuminated letter lesson but I'm pretty sure all our markers are currently lost in heater return vents or chewed up by the puppy. So that may need to wait... All in all, I'm delighted to have this book and use it as Lenten reading (not in a pious way, but at least in a relevant, fun way) and highly recommend it to those who are interested in bringing the Middle Aged, monastic life alive for their children. Probably my best picture book purchase in a long time...
Check out this hypnotic video showing the start to finish illustrations, set to chant...
Spring Transition Favorites
The coming of spring is probably the most prolific genre of seasonal transition books in the picture book world. Summer is absolutely the LEAST written about as far as transition time goes... likely because it's a much more subtle change than the crisping of leaves in fall and falling of snow in winter. With spring it's the new life and the great thaw.
I know half the country is blanketed with snow still but here in the Pacific Northwest it's been downright glorious and unusually warm. The daffodils and tulips are poking out of the ground and we all want to scream at them, "Wait! Not yet! It's too soon!" Not because we don't welcome the sun and 60 degree weather but because we are afraid the frost season isn't over and this warm spell is some sort of cosmic trickery.
But I will take this opportunity to revel in some of my favorite books of the time and opine about which springtime titles merit being called some of the BEST in "seasonal transition literature." A couple are pulled from my general Top Ten Springtime Book list.
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons by Il Sung Na. I purchased this board book recently for my daughter to fill in our baby book basket. It is delightful and fun. Il Sung Na's style is so unique, I am always happy to have her books offer a bit of a different picture than the rich, traditional drawings. I think this would make a marvelous precursor to her A Book of Babies which seems to be just about perfect springtime reading...
Spring Thaw by Steven Schnur is such an obvious choice with the gorgeous, pastoral setting and oil painted illustrations by Stacey Schuett and the light, quiet text. I discussed it more here.
And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead is one of those rare books that I bought at full price right when I saw it. I was and still am enamored
by the cadence and pacing of this book. I declare it to be a must have. When read properly, it's bliss.
At Grandpa's Sugar Bush and/or 
Sugarbush Spring by Marsha Wilson Chall. Any beginning of spring list should include at least one title about tapping maple trees. Both of these are great choices in their own right. Rich, luscious artwork, either title will make non-New Englanders wish they could trample the slushy snow and tap trees. If I had to choose one, I'd only be able to base it on whether I wanted my child to identify with the female or male voice. Now if anyone reading this happens to know or get a hold of The Sugaring-Off Party, please let me know what you think! I'm dying to see those folksy illustrations up close.
You're probably familiar with the winter delight, Owl Moon, but did you know about Goose Moon by Carolyn Arden and Jim Postier? The story kicks off with winter coming when geese fly southward and a little girl enjoys the season of sledding and fun. But eventually it gets tiresome and she longs for springtime. Her grandpa tells her how we can tell spring is coming and the story ends with the arrival of a very special moonlit moment.
Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven. Another one heavy on the excellent rhyme and meter, I'm in love with this book. A town needs to shake off the cold and positively FORCE springtime into existence with the baking of sun bread. The always enchanting Kleven illustrations bring this one alive.
When Spring Comes by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock traipses through the various (19th century) activities a girl longs for while she waits for the sun to return after winter. This is also illustrated by Stacey Scheuett who did Spring Thaw. I like the easy amount of text that stands back just enough to let the gorgeous illustrations tell the story.
I know half the country is blanketed with snow still but here in the Pacific Northwest it's been downright glorious and unusually warm. The daffodils and tulips are poking out of the ground and we all want to scream at them, "Wait! Not yet! It's too soon!" Not because we don't welcome the sun and 60 degree weather but because we are afraid the frost season isn't over and this warm spell is some sort of cosmic trickery.But I will take this opportunity to revel in some of my favorite books of the time and opine about which springtime titles merit being called some of the BEST in "seasonal transition literature." A couple are pulled from my general Top Ten Springtime Book list.
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons by Il Sung Na. I purchased this board book recently for my daughter to fill in our baby book basket. It is delightful and fun. Il Sung Na's style is so unique, I am always happy to have her books offer a bit of a different picture than the rich, traditional drawings. I think this would make a marvelous precursor to her A Book of Babies which seems to be just about perfect springtime reading... Spring Thaw by Steven Schnur is such an obvious choice with the gorgeous, pastoral setting and oil painted illustrations by Stacey Schuett and the light, quiet text. I discussed it more here. And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead is one of those rare books that I bought at full price right when I saw it. I was and still am enamored by the cadence and pacing of this book. I declare it to be a must have. When read properly, it's bliss. At Grandpa's Sugar Bush and/or Sugarbush Spring by Marsha Wilson Chall. Any beginning of spring list should include at least one title about tapping maple trees. Both of these are great choices in their own right. Rich, luscious artwork, either title will make non-New Englanders wish they could trample the slushy snow and tap trees. If I had to choose one, I'd only be able to base it on whether I wanted my child to identify with the female or male voice. Now if anyone reading this happens to know or get a hold of The Sugaring-Off Party, please let me know what you think! I'm dying to see those folksy illustrations up close. You're probably familiar with the winter delight, Owl Moon, but did you know about Goose Moon by Carolyn Arden and Jim Postier? The story kicks off with winter coming when geese fly southward and a little girl enjoys the season of sledding and fun. But eventually it gets tiresome and she longs for springtime. Her grandpa tells her how we can tell spring is coming and the story ends with the arrival of a very special moonlit moment. Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven. Another one heavy on the excellent rhyme and meter, I'm in love with this book. A town needs to shake off the cold and positively FORCE springtime into existence with the baking of sun bread. The always enchanting Kleven illustrations bring this one alive. When Spring Comes by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock traipses through the various (19th century) activities a girl longs for while she waits for the sun to return after winter. This is also illustrated by Stacey Scheuett who did Spring Thaw. I like the easy amount of text that stands back just enough to let the gorgeous illustrations tell the story.