Book of the Day: Yellow Moon, Apple Moon

Yellow Moon, Apple Moon
Author: Pamela Porter
Illustrator: Matt James
Groundwood Books, 2007

I haven't had much time to blog lately – sickness, Jewish holidays, withering away of naps – but I can't resist a quick post before Mirette wakes up.

This book arrived in the mail with a note from Steve.  "Dear Peggy and Mirette,  This book reminds me of you two.  I love you both dearly.  Steve aka Daddy"

How touching!  It's amazing how a beautiful book can add light and pleasure to a day. 

The book includes the song  A la puerta del cielo, which I often pound out on the piano, and the illustrations are swirls of thick, beautiful paint.

The author, Pamela Porter, generally writes young adult fiction. She has one other kids' book called Sky.  Matt James is a musician, an artist, and an illustrator for all kinds of other things—erotic books, cd covers, and another kids' book that looks fabulous called I Know Here.  His website:   http://www.mattjames.ca/p1.shtml.

I really like his band a lot too.  They are called Wayne Omaha and can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/wayneomaha/music/songs/electrical-light-won-rsquo-t-you-sh-19008728


May this sweet book light up your day too!

Dr. Joe

This summer we went to visit my family in Rochester, New York.  Before leaving for the airport, I remembered that I wanted to visit Dr. Joe's book collection.  I raced over to his house and had 20 glorious minutes perusing his library.

Dr. Joe and his lovely wife Ellie are some of our best and oldest family friends.  Dr. Joe, in addition to being a great eye doctor, is into his hobbies—taking photos and turning them into trivets and collecting first edition children's books.  

Apparently, when his kids were young, he noticed that their beloved books were torn or covered with jelly and he wanted to preserve what he thought to be great works of art, inspiring him to start his collection.

Most of his books are signed and he has OVER 1400.  Wow!  Dr. Joe wasn’t home when I arrived, so Ellie showed me to the collection.  My 20 minutes were filled with bliss.  The most interesting thing I found in my brief foray into this room was anthologies signed by multiple masters of the craft and biographies of the greats.  Boy do I have a lot of reading to do!

Dr. Joe’s collection has convinced me that what I am setting out to do – turn people on to enjoyable children’s literature and the authors who write them – is a worthy endeavor.  While we may think of them as bedtime tales, writing kids' books is a great endeavor of both words and illustrations and the marriage between the two.

Book of the Day: Roar of A Snore

Roar of a Snore
Author: Marsha Diane Arnold
Illustrator: Pierre Pratt
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2006

Does your child know who Dolly Parton is?

Strangely, mine is very familiar with Dolly.  Each month she receives a free book in the mail courtesy of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.  Any community that has a sponsoring organization can start this great service.

http://www.youtube.com/imaginationlibrary#p/u/4/fRyWw3od7Vo

On this island, the service is available to any kid up until age five regardless of economics.  It is very fun to get a book in the mail and the books are, for the most part, really great!  Clearly, Dolly had some pros in child literacy helping her pick out books.  

One of our favorites thus far is Roar of a Snore.  It's about a family trying to track down a loud snore.   I won't give away the ending, but just try saying this to your kid—"so Blue and Jack and Mama Gwyn and Baby Sue and Papa Ben and Josie Jo and Jennie Lynn and Sheep and Goat and Cow and Hens went searching."  It is fun to say and fun to read!   

The author's website:
http://www.marshadianearnold.com/pages/bookgallery/books.html

The illustrator's website (lots of great pictures and other books I'm curious about, but mostly in French):
http://www.pierrepratt.com/portfolio.html

Library Book of the Day: I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!
Author: Karen Beaumont
Illustrator: David Catrow
Harcourt, 2005

While checking out library books, Mirette often runs up with a few extra she has randomly pulled from the shelf.  Often these books are way too wordy for her age, but every now and then she hits upon a great one.  This week's pile included the charming  I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!  This is a perfect book for Mirette because, well, check it out for yourself. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuNNHMQUE1w

The book is sung to the tune of "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More," about a little girl who just can't help but paint her entire body.  It's funny, has fantastic illustrations, and gets the Mirette seal of approval!

The Author: Karen Beaumont has written a ton of books such as Baby Danced the Polka, I Like Myself, and Duck, Duck, Goose!: (A Coyote's on the Loose).  I am eager to check out more of her books.

The Illustrator: David Catrow has a colorful website complete with videos explaining his artistic process and tons of amazing drawings.  Much to my surprise, I found out he is the illustrator of Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, a beloved book from my counseling practice (about a girl who stands up to a bully).  I think his site would be great for teachers since there are many lesson plans and ideas for teaching art.
http://www.catrow.com/

More on Ladybug Girl!

I've got all kinds of books to write about, but Mirette has become so attached to Ladybug Girl! that it's worthy of another posting. 

Ladybug Girl Loves. . . comes with us in the car and in the grocery.  She shows it to everyone, sings made-up songs about Ladybug Girl, and begs me to play the dress-up ladybug game on the computer.   She is hooked.  

Here is what she said in the car today: "Ladybug Girl has a tutu just like ME!"  "Ladybug Girl has a dog just like ME!"  I am getting the idea that she REALLY relates to Ladybug Girl.

Ordinarily, I'd be tearing my hair out with the same book read over and over again.  But this one, I am as equally into.  I was reading a kids' magazine the other day with Mirette and there was a piece about a girl looking around the yard.  It was cute, but ladybug girl somehow turns these simple acts into an adventure. 

This is our favorite page: "Ladybug Girl loves to go on trips with her family.  She always tries to guess where the car will take her next.  Maybe it will drive her to the moon!"

Mirette loves looking at the picture of the mommy in the car and likes the idea of visiting the moon.

I love this page because I think a lot about how kids have no control over where we take them.  I often imagine what it would be like to be in Mirette's shoes, at the parents' beck and call, never knowing exactly what adventure we are going to embark on.  I love the idea of the car doing the deciding!

The Old and the New: Dick and Jane meet the Ladybug Girl!

There are so many great books to introduce to Mirette—both old and new.  We could read, read, and read some more and not even begin to cover ground!  It's pretty cool that there is so much to choose from. 

THE OLD:
In a used bookstore I found the reissue of the Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends. I know that Dick and Jane tales are considered the quintessential boring kids' books.  I agree that it would be awful if our collection was limited to this one nuclear, white, wide-eyed family.  But given the diversity of our bookshelf, it's retro and fun to read aloud.

THE NEW:
This week, I took Mirette to storytime at the Mockingbird independent bookshop in Seattle http://www.mockingbirdbooksgl.com/.  The storyteller noticed Mirette's ladybug shoes and turned us on to Ladybug Girl!  I may be behind the times here because according to the storyteller, Ladybug Girl and her brother Bumblebee Boy are all the rage right now.  What a great discovery!

The series, developed by the husband and wife team of Jacky Davis and David Soman, is based on the life and adventures of their kids.  They do things like explore the backyard, study ants, dress up, fight the bad guys etc.  It's very cute stuff and it reminds me of Mirette's little friends trampsing around this beautiful island we live on.  

Their website has some simple kids' games on it like rock painting, dressing up Ladybug Girl, and helping her jump up and collect leaves.  The rock painting was interesting, but Mirette couldn't really do it herself.  She loved the dress-up game and thought the jumping to catch a leaf one was hilarious.  http://www.ladybuggirl.com/author.html

Margaret the Master: Part Two

Children are keen as wild animals and also as timorous.  So you can't be 'too funny' or 'too scary' or 'too many worded.'  All these things are not as easy as they sound for grown people.  There is always the old problem of learning how to write.  We speak naturally, but spend all our lives trying to write naturally.  Margaret Wise Brown

Admittedly, I haven't read every Margaret Wise Brown book, but I did hunt down some of the rare and older ones.  One thing I have come to realize is that she sure is gifted!  Her words, though simple, are something special.  She knows how to organize words.  She's dreamy, and simple, and fun all at the same time and she has a keen imagination that's different and unusual.  Here are some of our favorites:

Goodnight Moon: The "quiet old lady whispering Hush" was supposed to be a human, but Clement Hurd was better at drawing rabbits!  (interesting fact!)

The Runaway Bunny: The idea for this book was taken from a medieval Provencal love ballad: "if you pursue me I shall become a fish in the water and I shall escape you.  If you become a fish I shall become an eel. . ."  In this context, the guy sounds a bit like a stalker to me.  But transferring the concept to a mama chasing her baby bunny, it becomes a sweet story about always being there for your child.

The Little Island: This was my best discovery!  The pictures are amazing.  I can definitely see why Leonard Weisgard won the Caldecott.   

The Color Kitten: Mira loves this one!

Indoor Noisy Book: This is a whole series and I love the words she uses to depict the noises.  The pictures are not that interesting though, printed only in three colors, and it feels old-fashioned.  Still, it gets Mira's thumbs-up.

The Sailor Dog:  This is a favorite from Steve's childhood and it's a super cute tale!

The Friendly Book:  A very fun read aloud and great illustrations. 

Little Donkey Close Your Eyes:  This one can be sung to "Hush Little Baby."

Margaret the Master: Part One

Margaret Wise Brown  (1910-1952)

http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/Her_books.html

A book should try to accomplish something more than just to repeat a child's own experiences.  One would hope rather to make a child laugh or feel clear and happy-headed as he follows a simple rhythm to its logical end, to jog him with the unexpected and comfort him with the familiar; and perhaps to lift him for a few moments from his own problems of shoe laces that won't tie and busy parents and mysterious clock time into the world of a bug or a bear or a bee or a boy living in the timeless world of story.   Margaret Wise Brown

The day after I announced my pregnancy at work, a fellow teacher gave me a copy of Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, both by Margaret Wise Brown.  I was touched.  It was my first official baby gift.  By the time of Mirette's birth, I had six more copies of Goodnight Moon and three of The Runaway Bunny—most given as gifts, one given to me for free by an early literacy project for new moms. 

When Mirette was three months old, I memorized Goodnight Moon and recited it to her each night before bed for an entire year.  I still know the book by heart (and probably always will).  

Who is this popular and prolific Margaret Wise Brown, her books obviously some rite of passage into motherhood?  I decided to do some research.  I started by slogging through Awakened by the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus.  This book is so slow and choppy that I will save you from having to read it yourself by summing up the interesting parts as best I can:

1.  She loved cats!  She liked to view the world from a cat's point of view.

2.  She didn't feel that comfortable hanging out with Jewish people.  Hmmm?

3.  She loved rabbits, but also hunted them for sport.

4.  She died at the age of 42 from a blood clot.

5.  She was beautiful.

6.  She had a house in Maine and a cottage in New York.

7.  She did a lot to help illustrators and new writers succeed.

8.  She almost worked with Maurice Sendak.

9.  According to this book, she was always looking for older women to mentor her, even falling in love with an older poet named Michael Strange (who did not treat her very well). 

But, by far, number 10 is the most interesting.

10.  Her writing reflects the influences of both Lucy Mitchell and Anne Carroll Moore.  Lucy Mitchell was her teacher and mentor at the Bank Street College of Education, a cutting edge establishment very revered in New York.  Lucy was passionate about the "here and now" storytelling method, believing that playing with and exploring language, rhythms, and the child's world was the key to a good kids' book.  From her point of view, fantasy, dreams, and psychology were not of interest to children. 

Anne Carrol Moore was a children's librarian in New York and she was very against the "here and now" method.  She believed great writing and the re-telling of fantasies and fairy tales was the strength of a good book.  What's more, she had a tremendous amount of power in the literary world and could make or break a book with a single word.  

This dichotomy is so clearly reflected in the book The Little Island.  It's a sweet story about a beautiful island.  Then suddenly a cat is having a philosophical and kind-of weird conversation with the island.  Finally, it goes back to the "here and now" storytelling.  

When reading Margaret Wise Brown's gigantic body of work (over 100 books), it is helpful to remember that she has a very historic place in the writing of children's lit. and a lot of her books, a tad bit boring now, were cutting edge at the time.

Book of the Day: Bad Frogs

Bad Frogs
Thacher Hurd
Candlewick Press, 2009

It's been harder to find time to post than I thought it would be (even hard to find time to take a shower)!  Adjusting to being a stay-at-home mom has been a tad bit difficult both logistically (where's dad?) and emotionally (what's my identity?).  But it's only week one and I am taking it slowly.  

This blog is very compelling to me (as an antidote to making bottles and changing diapers) and I am making all kinds of unique and charming discoveries which I am excited to share!

One thing I have found is that these very famous authors and illustrators often have children that write books and/or illustrate.  

For example, Clement Hurd, the illustrator of Goodnight Moon, and his wife Edith Thacher Hurd, also an illustrator and author, had one son named Thacher.

He wrote and brightly illustrated a bunch of sweet, colorful books: Art Dog, Sleepy Cadillac, and Bad Frogs.  I love Bad Frogs.  Its plot is about a bunch of funny green frogs who are bad.  "Could they be good?  Could they be quiet?  NO WAY!"  It's really fun to read and Mirette thinks it's very funny.

Disclaimer: Steve just told me he doesn't like this book.  He doesn't like the labels "good" and "bad."  He thinks the bad frogs are doing things that a typical teenager would do like staying up late and kissing their girlfriends.  He has a point, but I'm still going with cute, funny, and fun to read aloud.

Thacher has a colorful website and blog: http://thacherhurd.com/.  Through this, I discovered that Art Dog is coming soon to the Seattle Children's Theater.  I will definitely be there!