Brambly Hedge Giveaway: WINNER!

I picked up a copy of The Four Seasons of Brambly Hedge in excellent shape at the thrift store today.  I already own this collection but I couldn't let Wilfred and Primrose et al. go unappreciated at 79 cents!  So I snatched it up.  I do this frequently… rescue books that I already own just because they're there.  They either get saved for gifts or put into the Little Free Library out front.

Today, however, you're in luck! I'm giving this copy to one of my
millionser… make that dozens of readers!  All you have to do is comment with the name of your favorite Springtime picture book (yep, just ONE title please) and maybe a sentence or two why you love it.  

I thought about offering more entries if you blog or Pinterest or Facebook or Twitter me… but I tend to grumble inwardly about having to do this on other blog giveaways and don't intend to 'buy' your advertising love here. I have to keep reminding myself that I am a hobby blogger; I do this for my own interest and diversion, not to gather some kind of mommy-blogger fame. (Though my occasional $10-$20 Amazon gift certificates for affiliate clicks have been utterly delightful!) So one entry per person please.

However!  For my own amusement and just to see if anyone is paying attention… if by some bizarre deviation of nature, there are at least 50 comments on this post, I'll throw in a bonus giveaway to one of the entrants: Andrew Henry's Meadow also in excellent condition, which happens to be one of my favorite books of all time!

So there you have it. Winners will be chosen by a cute, little, red-headed four year old who'll pick names out of a jar.  You have until May Day, noon PST. Go.
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This was very scientific:

Tiffany, please email me with your address for your book! Congratulations!

knowloveserve   at  gmail

The Thornbush

As I've said before, my Lenten and Easter book picks are pretty slim.  There are a couple glorious Easter books that tell the story of Easter, but really there isn't a whole lot out there that is specifically seasonally related like the way there is for Christmas. New to our basket this year is The Thornbush which tells of the little bush that ended up providing the crown of thorns for Jesus' head. So, I'm not in LOVE with the book.  I am, however, in LIKE with the book.  The concept makes up for where the actual storytelling may lack, and Jesus isn't TOO Caucasian looking (I always roll my eyes at our ethnocentrism.) at least. Most of all, it offers a different perspective from the scene of Christ's passion and I loved the ending line about how his crown was far greater than gold or silver. The personification of the bush felt a little weird to me… although I don't know why since I have no problem with trees being personified or flowers being personified in the same seasonal genre. Maybe because no one ever talks about bushes?  There is something more aesthetically palatable about trees and flowers that feel?  I don't know. Whatever the case may be, I am glad to have purchased this book for a new angle on the Easter story.  I have and love Wildsmith's Easter Story of course (THE best) and also Fiona French's Easter for the actual tale of Easter (need to get my hands on some Inos Biffi books), but no really great corollary, non-religious stories in the Easter season except Rechenka's Eggs, and a couple other egg titles. The nice thing about The Thornbush is that it's a useful story to illustrate the 3rd Sorrowful Mystery also… so it doesn't have to be specifically an Easter title.  Some pictures:

Sorting and Displaying Books… for now.

Someone recently asked me how I organize books in our home.  The answer is that we've gone through a few different methods and the current one isn't ideal, but it works. "Do the best you can with what you've got!" What we currently do is this: picture books are sorted into 12 stacks—one for each month.  The stacks not in use are stored in the attic (not ideal since it's dusty up there but I don't have space in our main living area quite just yet). The current month is stored in a basket like so:

Each stack is comprised of both seasonally appropriate books and generic titles.  I used to have only seasonal divisions but as our book collection grew, two things happened:  1-My basket wasn't big enough to hold a full season.  2- Many of the books NOT season specific never got read!  Adding in generic titles to our monthly baskets was the best thing I ever did!  Now, our excellent picture books all get read and loved in a healthy rotation and the children are happy to see "novel" titles each month.  So anyway, here is the month of April spread out (doesn't the toddler and soup near those books make you nervous?!  Me too… I quickly put them away after this–and yes, that's the cover missing off of Caps for Sale but I can't bear to toss it in my upcycling pile until I replace the book):

Seems I've got about 20-25 books for most months right now. Each week, I grab some of the books and put them on the piano for display–an (effective) effort to lure young readers into wanting to grab one of those titles. Occasionally a library book or two (library books have their own basket) will be displayed like this with our regular ones:

This is the general plan and it works well for now but it doesn't solve the problem of most of our non-fiction titles which live on the bottom half of a shelf in our spare room. The top row seen here is pretty much every religious book we own, along with an assortment of fables and fairy tale books (probably not a great idea to put those categories on the same shelf as if they are equal genres… but it fits).  The middle row is all of our biographies, science, history, etc. books of the living sort that we read and reference frequently in our school studies. This row is full and tight and spilling onto the bottom row which is a smattering of readers, Dr. Seuss, Bob Books etc. The problem is that I often forget what I have!  I don't want to employ the Dewey Decimal System in my home, but I've got to get a better accounting method going on for when we need a book on Ancient Egypt or dinosaurs for example.  I did set up a Library Thing account but it's not been updated for over a year!  I think I'll probably resort to shelf labels or magazine file holders for this area. It won't be nearly as attractive but are books for aesthetics or utility?  (In my world, both… but I digress.)  

Okay, the top half of that bookshelf has our chapter books and a random smattering of games/stuff:

Our baby/board books (when not scattered throughout the house) get kept in their own little basket on a low end table for easy accessibility.  I try to rotate a few seasonal things in and out of there but mostly it's just all the same… new ones come in via thrift stores and old ones get tossed after getting soaked, torn or chewed beyond repair. Here it was at Christmas:

So this is our method today… tomorrow may be different!  In addition to this, each child has their own small basket or shelf of personally owned or gifted books that are in their room. My daughter has hers in a really cool pallet shelf Papa built:

And my own collection of adult books are still waiting for a permanent home… except my homeschooling or education philosophy books which are accessible on a shelf above the computer.

In Search of Creation

I have yet to find the absolutely perfect picture book on the story of Creation. Interestingly, there are at least a dozen stories on the market but absolutely all of them fall short of what I'm looking for!  All I want are the words of the Bible… or at least an honest rephrasing of the 7 days.  And great illustrations.  Why is that combo so difficult to find?  Many great artists are paired with the story told in an inauthentic way… or conversely, many of the best texts are paired with inane illustrations.  Or there is decent work done of both but something else just isn't quite right.  So far my very favorite title of the Creation story is Gennady Spirin's Creation which is beautifully done.  My only dislike of the book is that God looks like an giant, ominous wizard.  But who can accurately depict God anyway? So it's close to being "the one" and may just have to settle for that title for lack of better options anyway.

So, I had high hopes for the newest story of Creation done by the wonderful Archbishop Desmond Tutu: Let There Be Light. The illustrations were done by the famous 'feel good' illustrator Nancy Tillman who is best known for her books like On the Night You Were Born. Tillman seems to have the singular focus of all her work be that of boosting children's self esteem.  I am not anti feel-good books, mind you, I just get tired of the overdone saccharine genre and only truly enjoy the quirky not-so-obvious "You are Loved!" stories like The Runaway Bunny.  Everything else is fine for what?  Baby shower or birthday gifts?  But as far as actual STORIES go… they feel like an overdose of cookies with a side of soda topped off with a mound of frosting—too sickly sweet—too contrived.  But I digress.

Let There Be Light is a faithful enough adaptation of the story of Creation.  It goes through the 7 days.  The art is okay at first… I loved the sweeping constellation page and vagueness of the image of God Himself. But then it gets weird with the introduction of the animals.  They appear very, very computer generated and that type of art just doesn't seem to belong in such a celebration of the natural world as I envision it.  The message in the beginning and in the end of the book is that God created the world all gearing up to the creation of the WONDERFUL YOU!  And don't forget:  YOU ARE LOVED!

*sigh*

My search continues.  But this sort of thing might appeal to you; I can respect that.  Here is a pretty accurate video trailer of the book:

Bemoaning Authorized Sequels

I'm not fond of "authorized sequels" of books.  Folks should leave excellence well enough alone without trying to scratch out a few more dollars from a household name in literature. (e.g. The original two Corduroy books were perfect, the authorized sequels inferior in a hundred ways.) I agree with Elizabeth Bluemle, president of the Association of Booksellers for Children, when she says:

"It’s just too much to hope that someone who isn’t the original writer will capture the voice, character, setting, pacing (and all the other elements of bookmaking) in the right measure."

There are exceptions. Many of the newer Curious George stories are okay for example (though still not as lovely as H.A. Rey's original seven); my kids certainly don't notice anything amiss anyway. 

Anyway, I knew right away that I was reading the complaints of a fellow bibliozealous when I read this piece about the "new Winnie-the-Pooh" book (an ominous phrase in itself since the world of Pooh and Piglet and Christopher Robin are immortalized outside of any time era we know in the real world).  I enjoyed her insights on why exactly The Hundred Acre Wood should've been left in peace; there really is no such thing as excellence needing an update.

"You sense the enthusiasm and good intentions, and can even appreciate the elaborate effort that went into the display, but in the end the anomalous female figure becomes an ever-present reminder that this is a superfluous imitation. "

 C. Rosen about Return to the Hundred Acre Wood

Tangent: My favorite new life-helps

2014 has brought some new items into my life that are excellent!  Because I don't do Facebook or personal blogging right now, I'm bursting at the seems to tell the world about my great finds.  So, I'll just hijack my book blog for a moment to showcase my newest, random life-helps:

 I've tried two other brands of waterproof mattress covers.  They are loud, unbreathing and don't hold up well after multiple washings.  Wet-Stop mattress covers are actually comfortable, quiet, and extremely well suited to many washings!  Every kid bed in the house is now covered with one!

 A $7 can opener.  Revolutionary.  You never realize how well something is supposed to work until you have an item that does it well.  My old, rusty can opener required mega force and precision to function.  This 4-in-1 item is rocking my world.
 If you have nice camera gear, protect your investment!  I am in love with the Ape Case brand of cases!  We have a smaller holster for grab & go situations but the medium case in the picture is what we use for traveling and holding our extra lenses, external flash and various other items.  The bright yellow interior is so great for seeing what's inside and the whole case is built tough!  Finally, something to withstand my rambunctious family!

 Okay, so a Celtic album is hardly a "life help" but I was delighted to listen to this particular collection of excellent music.  Of course, the title of The Brendan Voyage won me over immediately but I'm always a sucker for Irish sounds. (I have to say that this pairs nicely of course with the book: Saint Brendan and the Voyage Before Columbus and that March is pretty much the unofficial "Irish Appreciation Month" around here.)

 Don't knock these wool nursing pads 'til you try 'em.  I took the leap after reading great reviews from some other mamas.  And they are huge (my husband said "What are these tortilla thingies?" when they came in the mail —which actually prevents the "bullseye" look on your chest with normal pads!). So these are expensive. But they are hands-down the best new-baby item I've purchased in years!  I would fast for a week if I had to just to afford these!  I bought two pairs and that's all you need.  They are so soft, so comforting. The natural lanolin in the nursing pads helps ward off infections and the entire thing is designed to keep your breast warm (which actually helps avoid clogged ducts too)… so when it gets wet, it's not the cold, clammy wet from disposable or cotton pads, but a warm wet.  I wash them with very hot water… no need to get a special wool cleanser… just hot water to rinse out dried up milk and then air dry in a warm place.  So, so great...

 Bovine gelatin. Seriously.  I have 90 year old-lady knee joints.  They have been aching for almost a year now.  It hurts to genuflect, to keep my knees bent for long, to bend over, to sit on the toilet.  I have avoided the doctor because I don't like doctors and didn't want to pay tons for co-pays and MRIs and yadda, yadda, yadda.  So my sister told me about this stuff because she had a similar knee pain and all HER doctor visits didn't yield any good news except that "it's reversible." So here I am, 4 days after taking this stuff 2-3 times a day and the pain in my knees is significantly reduced so far!  It's unbelievable to be able to kneel down in Mass without being in agony.  I don't know how long this will last or if I can get totally pain free this way… after about a month, I'll taper down my serving to one a day and see how that goes. Then maybe I'll be able to stop completely.  All I know is that I'm grateful for a simple, natural and— comparatively speaking— cheap alternative to Big-Pharma.

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So there you are!  I feel better now that I've shared the good news.  :-)

Spring Thaw

Winter isn't hard and drastic here in the Puget Sound region of Washington State, but I know many parts of the US, and obviously much of Canada are still blanketed in snow. Spring Thaw is a book for dwellers of these parts. Steven Schnur is an author I only associated with his lovely, seasonal acrostic books (e.g. Winter: An Alphabet Acrostic, Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic etc.) before coming across this title, bought cheaply second-hand (unfortunately, Amazon sellers are savvy to the seasonal demand of things and this is currently marked up on that market).  Was I in for a treat!  The text is reflective and evocative:

The sun climbs high into the blue sky. By mid-morning a thousand tiny streams run from the roof like a curtain of crystal beads.

And the illustrations are an oil paint impasto that would be wonderful to see in person!  The story is very simple telling of the first day's break in snow and ends with a farmer enjoying the pale, warm sunset on his face.  It is an exquisite March book…  I think I need to update my Top Ten Spring booklist and divide it into two categories! The fresh start of Spring/end of Winter books and then the general springtime list.  Anyway, I took a few photos of the inside of this book for you...

Who Are Picture Books For?

I don't know what's got me on this kick of reading picture book author's writings (oh wait, it's the
caffeine buzz that's not allowing me to nap right now!) but I am chewing on some incredibly thought provoking words by the talented Shaun Tan now on the question of "Who are picture books for?"

The artists’ responsibility lies first and foremost with the work itself, trusting that it will invite the attention of others by the force of its conviction. So it’s really quite unusual to ask “who do you do it for?” 

And this especially is rather profound:

 The simplicity of a picture book in terms of narrative structure, visual appeal and often fable-like brevity might seem to suggest that it is indeed ideally suited to a juvenile readership. It’s about showing and telling, a window for learning to ‘read’ in a broad sense, exploring relationships between words, pictures and the world we experience every day. But is this an activity that ends with childhood, when at some point we are sufficiently qualified to graduate from one medium to another? Simplicity certainly does not exclude sophistication or complexity; we inherently know that the truth is otherwise. “Art,” as Einstein reminds us, “is the expression of the most profound thoughts in the simplest way.”

Good stuff here, and in the whole essay.  It's long and thoughtful, probably appreciated by only the most die-hard of bibliozealots.  Picture books are more than simply fun diversions to fill up a child's bookshelf. Much, much more. 

Wiesner on Tuesday

Speaking of wordless books, I was reading one of the Caldecott Acceptance speeches author/illustrator David Wiesner gave and I loved this context he offers on his book Tuesday:

"At least as often as people ask me where I came up with the idea for the book, they want to know, “Why Tuesday?” When I decided to punctuate the story with the times of the day, it became clear that the mysterious element had to do with the particular day of the week when these strange things happened. So I tried to decide what the funniest day of the week was. I immediately discounted the weekend; Saturday and Sunday had too many connotations, as did Friday. Monday was next to go, being the first day of the work week, which left Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Wednesday’s spelling had always bothered me, so it was out. Thursday was all right, but the more I said “T-u-e-s-d-a-y,” the more I like the “ooze” quality it had. It seemed to go with frogs.

A wordless book offers a different kind of an experience from one with text, for both the author and the reader. There is no author’s voice telling the story. Each viewer reads the book in his or her own way. The reader is an integral part of the storytelling process. As a result, there are as many versions of what happened that Tuesday night as there are readers. For some, the dog in the story is rightfully defending his territory against amphibian invaders, and their sympathy lies with the dog when the frogs get the best of him. For others, the dog is a humorless bully who gets his comeuppance. As the author of a wordless book, I don’t have to concern myself about whether the reader’s interpretation of each and every detail is the same as mine. My own view has no more, and no less, validity than that of any other viewer. Since my intent was for the book, as a whole, to make people laugh, all that matters is that the pictures are funny.

A series of individually funny pictures, however, does not necessarily add up to a successful story. The book was very carefully plotted, and details were developed in ways that move the story forward as logically as possible, from the full moon that rises slowly in the sky that first Tuesday night, to the gibbous moon that appears a week later at the end. By placing my characters in the context of a familiar reality, I hoped to entice readers to take that great leap of faith and believe that frogs, and perhaps pigs, too, could fly—if the conditions were just right."