Christmas Books

Advent Calendar with Emmy's
elf Graham Cracker

Opening book #1

As the seasons change, so do the books in the basket we keep in the living room.  We have collected books about autumn, winter, spring and summer.  As a holiday approaches, one of our favorite things to do is to display our collection of holiday books in a separate basket.  Last Christmas we decided to made an advent calendar using our books.  Emmy chose 24 books from our collection of Christmas books and then wrapped each one.  We numbered each book as we wrapped and put them into a basket in numerical order.  Each night we opened a book at bedtime and read it together as a family.  We enjoyed this advent calendar better than any other that we have tried and plan on doing the same thing this Christmas.

We recently added two new books to our Christmas collection and Emmy asked that I share them with you.  So here it goes...
Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas by Julia Rawlinson illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke (2010)
Emmy and I first fell in love with Fletcher, or Ferdie as he is known in the United Kingdom, when we read Fletcher and the Falling Leaves. Rawlinson has created four Fletcher stories - one for each season.  Each of these stories about Fletcher and his forest friends has an underlying theme of true friendship and how giving brings just as much joy as receiving.


In the story Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas, Fletcher is worried that Santa Claus will not be able to find the rabbit family's new home and so he works with his friends on creating a stick path leading from their old burrow to their new burrow. They are invited into the Rabbit's home to share blackberry pie and sing Christmas Carols.  While they are enjoying the Christmas Eve festivities, snowflakes begin to fall and the sticks are buried under the snow.  Fletcher worries all the way home and decides that there is only one thing a true friend would do - stay awake all night to tell Santa the news.  Fletcher settles down to wait but can't help falling fast asleep.

When Fletcher wakes up on Christmas morning and sees the gifts left for him under his tree, he rushes to the Rabbit's burrow to apologize only to find them opening their Christmas gifts.  Santa found his way!

A Christmas Tree for Pyn by Olivier Dunrea (2011)
It's no secret that Emmy and I LOVE Olivier Dunrea whose series of books about some adorable goslings are still read around our house (read our post about Ollie the Stomper).  We admire his illustrations that are simple yet full of emotion.  When we came across A Christmas Tree for Pyn, we knew that we had to add it to our Christmas book collection.  This book isn't about Santa Claus or presents, it's about the true emotion of the season ~ that Christmasy feeling that we all look for. With each rereading, this book endears itself to me and Emmy more and more.

Oother, and his small daughter Pyn, live in a cottage "on top of a steep, craggy mountain." Oother is a "big, gruff man" who doesn't say much and when he does, it usually sounds like this,"Umphf." Oother loves his daughter very much, but he is a "bearlike mountain man who did not soften for anyone.  Not even Pyn."  Pyn's "Good morning, Papa" is always followed by "My name is Oother."  And so she would correct herself and say "Good morning, Oother."  Pyn is cared for and is happy as is evident in the work she does around the cottage as Oother goes into the woods to work, but you can sense a loneliness admist the text and illustrations.  Dunrea enlightens us to this feeling when Oother thinks to himself, "How very much like her mother she is."  There is no mother around and it is now evident that Oother is still adjusting to her absence.  When Pyn suggests getting a Christmas tree, Oother gruffly responds, "No Christmas tree."  

With gentle determination, Pyn keeps asking until she gets a "We'll see." response.  Pyn finally sets out on her own to chop down a tree, but finds herself stuck in the snow.  Oother is there to rescue her and they then set off together to find the perfect tree. Emmy and I both love how Oother and Pyn bow their heads to give thanks to the tree before they cut it down.  Once the tree is home, Pyn dashes around the cottage finding all of the special things that she has been collecting from the forest (acorns, berries, abandoned birds' nests and birds' feathers) and adorns the tree with her treasures.  Reluctantly, Oother begins to help Pyn place the items amongst the tree branches and when they are finished they stare in amazement at their beautiful tree.  

The finishing touch...Oother goes into the cellar and brings up a small package and says "For your Christmas tree.  It belonged to your mother."  Inside the package is a beautiful handmade bird for the top of the tree.  Now that space has been made in their lives for Pyn's mother, Oother's heart softens and when Pyn thanks him "Thank you, Oother." He corrects her and says "My name's Papa."
Emmy admires Pyn's determination to bring a Christmas tree into her home and calls Oother "A big softy."

This very gentle reminder of the spirit of Christmas is just what Emmy and I need.  With all of the hustle and bustle, the meaning of Christmas is often forgotten.  We will pause and appreciate the beauty of the season from the twinkling lights to the smell of pine to the festive music.  And we will be mindful to bring peace and happiness to those that we meet.  With that thought, we will end this post with these words from Longfellow's poem Christmas Bells.

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Thank You, Sarah

The pen is mightier than the sword."  

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Emmy and I recently discovered a very persistent woman in history who helped to save Thanksgiving for all Americans - Sarah Josepha Hale.  This discovery was thanks to author Laurie Halse Anderson and her funny and inspirational book Thank You, Sarah The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving.  Anderson has written many children's and young adult books based on American history with an upcoming book in the works about one of her heroes Abigail Adams.  With lively illustrations by Matt Faulkner that often resemble caricatures, the story of Sarah Hale comes to life as a woman who means business.

"Way, way back, when skirts were long and hats were tall, Thanksgiving was fading away.  

Sure, the folks up in New England celebrated it.  They'd roast a turkey and invite 

the relatives when the harvest came in.  But not in the South, not in the West, 

not even in the Middle Atlantic states.  More and more, people ignored the holiday.  

Thanksgiving was in trouble.  It needed...A SUPERHERO!  No, not that kind.  

Thanksgiving needed a real superhero, someone bold and brave and stubborn and smart.  Thanksgiving needed Sarah Hale."  

I love the message that putting pen to paper is a way to create change by getting others to hear your point of view and perhaps persuade them to change their way of thinking.  It took Sarah Hale thirty-eight years and thousands of letters to persuade our top leaders to declare the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving.  Four presidents denied Hale's request, but not Abraham Lincoln.  In the year 1863, President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.

If you are interested in reading Hale's letter to President Lincoln, you can find it here. 

And so Emmy and I give thanks this Thanksgiving to Sarah Hale for using her pen to stand up for what she believed in and creating change.  Sarah Hale's life has made a tremendous difference in the culture of our country.  Both Emmy and I have enjoyed getting to know who she was.  These are the facts that Emmy would like everyone to know:
*  She was the first American female magazine editor.  The Ladies' Magazine was where she published fashion, household and educational articles alongside poems and short stories that she wrote as well as some of the most famous authors of her day...Edgar Allan Poe, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Nathaniel Hawthorne to name a few.  She then went on to become editor for the magazine Godey's Lady's Book where she worked for forty years.
* She wrote the popular nursery rhyme Mary Had A Little Lamb in the year 1830 after a lamb followed one of her students to school one day.
* She pushed hard for the education of girls and for women's colleges and helped found Vassar College
* She strongly believed in play and physical education and helped to build playgrounds
* She raised money to preserve and build monuments honoring historical figures and events such as George Washington's Mount Vernon plantation and Bunker Hill in Boston, MA.

We both highly recommend the book Thank You, Sarah as it helped Emmy to realize that children have a great deal of influence.  By writing letters to the head of school, the city council, the mayor and newspaper editors, she can make her opinions heard and perhaps create change.

To give you a little taste of the book, here is Emmy reading the first few pages.  Enjoy!

"

To read our other posts about Thanksgiving click on the following:

Strega Nona's Harvest

Thanksgiving Books

One is a Feast For Mouse

Monster Needs a Costume

Autumn is here!  The trees are exploding with color, there is a chill in the air and apples and pumpkins are everywhere.  This is our favorite time of the year.  Halloween is just around the corner, so the question "What will you be for Halloween?" is on Emmy's mind.  Each year we go back and look at all of her Halloween photos.  We giggle and reminisce about days gone by.  After Halloween this year, we plan on putting the photos into a book with a little description under each written by Emmy and adding to it each Halloween.  We will be sure to share that with you when we are finished.  For now here are photos of Emmy in her costumes from the past eight years.

First Halloween
Tigger

Second Halloween
Lion ROAR

Third Halloween
Silly Clown

Fourth Halloween
Dancing Princess

Fifth Halloween
Fairy Princess

Sixth Halloween
Snow Fairy Princess

Seventh Halloween
Ladybug

Eighth Halloween
Dark Ninja

I love looking back at her sweet face and seeing the changes that have occurred with each passing year. This year was the first one to move out of the princess/fairy world and enter into a spookier world - Dark Ninja!  She has already told me to be prepared for next year because she is planning on being a vampire.

We have no trouble at our house deciding on what to be for Halloween and have never changed our minds, but I have heard of children that come up with at least ten different costume ideas and have trouble choosing just one.  Well if this sounds like your child, we have the most perfect book recommendation for you - Monster Needs a Costume by Paul Czajak illustrated by Wendy Grieb

Emmy and I recently attended the Book Launch for this wonderful book at our local bookstore - Jabberwocky Bookshop.  We had a great time making a monster mask, talking with the author, listening to the story being read aloud and enjoying some yummy cake.

Czajak uses rhythm and rhyme to tell the story of a Monster who can't make up his mind on what he wants to be for Halloween.  I LOVE the way the boy takes care of Monster in the story as a parent would take care of him.  Emmy LOVES all of Monster's ideas and can relate to wanting to wear the costume every single day.  Grieb's humorous illustrations add plenty of playfulness to Czajak's story.

I am always inspired when I meet a children's book author especially when he is celebrating his very first picture book.  Emmy and I love to hear how an author gets his idea for a book and Paul's story was interesting indeed as his idea came straight from his daughter.  Listening to his daughter play in the back seat of the car, he heard her say to her doll, "My monster needs a haircut."  From those five words began a series of books about Monster.

Take a peek at this very endearing book.  We hope it finds a place in your hearts as it has in ours...

Emmy and I are very excited for book two in the Monster & Me series, Monster Needs His Sleep, coming out in April 2014.

Hunwick's Egg

Have you ever met a Bilby? Emmy and I haven't, but we are hoping to one day. Emmy is so full of anticipation for the Easter Bunny's arrival tomorrow morning, but after reading the book, Hunwick's Egg, she is wondering about a visit from an Easter Bilby. The Easter Bilby is the Australian alternative to the Easter Bunny. Bilbies (a type of bandicoot) are marsupials. They are about the size of a rabbit and like rabbits have large ears. Bilbies are nocturnal, omnivore animals living in the arid areas of central Australia. They are endangered due to habitat destruction.

Mem Fox and Pamela Lofts have created a story of hope celebrating the warmth and power of an unexpected friendship. When after a storm, Hunwick discovers an egg he is determined to take care of it until it hatches. Hunwick's neighbors (emu, cockatoo, echidna) are concerned when the egg doesn't seem to be hatching, but Hunwick realizes that his egg is actually a perfectly shaped stone and continues to "love it with all his heart." The illustrations add an interesting element to the text and showcases the flora and fauna of the Australian landscape.

Making connections while reading is an important part of the process and Emmy is on her way. She was able to use prior knowledge to make a connection from this book to one we had previously read (text to text connection...there is also text to self and text to world connections). After reading Hunwick's Egg with her, Emmy immediately compared it to The Odd Egg. She realized that the duck and the bilby both needed a friend and wanted to take care of something special. Even though Hunwick's egg did not turn out to be an egg, Emmy understood the stone's special meaning to Hunwick as she has a rather large collection of rocks that each mean something special to her.

Click here to read an interview with Mem Fox about this amazing story.

This is Mem Fox's second collaboration with illustrator Pamela Lofts - the first being the wildly successful classic Koula Lou.

"There was once a baby koula, so soft and round

that all who saw her loved her. Her name was Koula Lou.
The emu loved her. The platypus loved her.
And even tough little Koala Klaws next door loved her.
But it was her mother who loved her most of all..."

Whether you enjoy a chocolate bunny or a chocolate bilby
(profits help protect these animals from extinction),
Emmy and I wish you a very happy Easter!

St. Patrick's Day in the Morning

Young children hear quite often that they are too small to do some things and this is the case for young Jamie in the book St. Patrick's Day in the Morning written by Eve Bunting with illustrations by Jan Brett.

Jamie is told by his family that he cannot participate in the St. Patrick's Day parade because he is too small to make it to the top of Acorn Hill. Jamie is determined to prove them wrong.

"It's not fair, Nell," Jamie Donovan said to his sheepdog.
"I want to walk in the parade, too. They say I am too small -
that I couldn't get to the top of Acorn Hill alone.
But what do they know?"

With his flute in hand, Jamie and his loyal dog Nell set off together to make their own parade while the village is still asleep. They excitedly greet the morning sun at the TOP of Acorn Hill.

The clever illustrations by Jan Brett are rich in detail but minimal in color highlighting the greens and golds of Ireland and the orange of the flag.

After reading this story in my best Irish accent with an Irish jig playing in the background, Emmy quickly got her flute and made her own parade around the house and up the stairs to the top landing announcing that she had made it to the top of Acorn Hill! Every time she did her parade, my camera was nowhere to be found. I guess a mental snapshot will have to do.

Another great book for St. Patrick's Day is Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato. Read all about it here.

Emmy has decided that leprechauns can be quite mischievous. See what they did to her milk!!!

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

Eve Bunting and Jan Brett make a fantastic team. Check out another book, The Valentine Bears, by this "dynamic duo" here.

Brownie Groundhog and the February Fox

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day! The day everyone waits to hear what kind of weather we can expect for the next six weeks. According to legend, if the groundhog peeks out of its hole and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If not, then spring is right around the corner. We've had plenty of winter here in New England so a sign of spring would be a very welcome sight.

When I was teaching young children, Groundhog Day was always a day

that we looked forward to. The

anticipation would build as we predicted whether Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow or not. We would learn about the legend behind Groundhog Day, research groundhogs and find Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on the map. On the morning of February 2nd, the children would arrive in top hats to tell

me what Phil's forecast had been.

I am anxious to share my Groundhog Day books with Emmy, but this year I am really looking

forward to reading the book Brownie Groundhog and February Fox with her. Susan Blackaby wrote the text to accompany Carmen Segovia's gorgeous illustrations. In this book a groundhog "shimmied up the passageway of her cozy den" to find not only her shadow "stretched across the frosted field," but also a hungry fox..."Hold still," he said. "I'm trying to eat you for

breakfast." I know that Emmy will relate to both the groundhog and the fox as they both don't like to wait whether it's for spring or the next meal just as Emmy doesn't like to wait for lots of things especially Mommy's attention. As the story unfolds, the groundhog successfully talks her way out of being eaten by distracting the fox until she shares her snack of cinnamon toast and cocoa. In the end the two are unlikely friends who look forward to seeing each other the next day.

It looks like tomorrow will be another snow day for Emmy and me. That makes four snow days this winter! These days are great for snuggling and baking so perhaps we'll bake up some yummy cupcakes and add toppings to create Groundhog Day Cupcakes - vanilla wafers for ears, M&M's for the eyes and nose, mini marshmallows for the teeth.

To add a little music to the occasion, Emmy and I will try out this catchy little tune.

Be sure to check out this website shortly after sunrise on Groundhog Day for Punxsutawney Phil's official forecast!

Thanksgiving Books

In addition to One is a Feast For Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale, Emmy's pick for her favorite Thanksgiving book would have to be A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting illustrated by Diane de Groat. In this story, Mrs. Moose asks Mr. Moose to get her a turkey for Thanksgiving.

"Everyone has turkey for Thanksgiving.

Everyone but us."

With a nuzzle to Mrs. Moose's head, Mr. Moose heads out to find a turkey. He is joined in the hunt by his soon-to-be dinner guests Rabbit, The Goats, Sheep and Porcupine. Turkey is found hiding in his nest with signs discouraging visitors.

Do not disturb! (come back after Thanksgiving.)

AND

No turkey here!

Upon seeing Mr. Moose and his friends, the bird is terrified and tries to run, but is caught by Mr. Moose who smiles a toothy smile and says,

"I hope you don't have other plans

for Thanksgiving, Turkey."

Mrs. Moose is delighted when she sees her guests for Thanksgiving dinner especially Turkey. Mrs. Moose shows everyone where to sit and when a chair is brought from the other room for Turkey he is very much surprised,

"A...a chair?" Turkey stammered.

With a table filled with acorns, alfalfa sprouts, willow bark, cured grasses, wild parsley and pressed leaves, Mrs. Moose is sure that Turkey will find something to his liking. Turkey is just over the moon at the idea that he is sitting AT the table and not ON it. Kudos to Eve Bunting for introducing us to a vegetarian-themed Thanksgiving dinner!!!!

Two more wonderful books for this time of year are Feeling Thankful and In November.

The book Feeling Thankful, written by Shelley Rotner and

Sheila Kelly with photographs by Shelley Rotner, is an invitation to smile and be thankful as it celebrates life and the many things in the world for which people have to be thankful through beautiful photographs of children. This book will inspire your young one to express what he or she is thankful for. It is also a great model of a book that an older child could make on his own or that families could make together.

Feeling Thankful

I'm thankful for me.

For the things that I have and the things that I do.

I'm thankful for all the

people that are special to me:

My family...my friends...and my teachers too.

I'm thankful I have a home and good food to eat.

I'm thankful for the places where I play.

I'm thankful there are birds, butterflies, flowers, and trees.

I'm thankful when I walk in the rain.

I'm thankful for the moon and the morning, when it comes.

I'm thankful for the whole wide world.

In November by Cynthia Rylant illustrated by Jill Kastner is a beautiful book for this time of year. It is a quiet story about nature preparing for winter. The poetic words and rich paintings work well together to create a calm and peaceful transition between seasons.

In November, at winter's gate, the stars are brittle.

The sun is a sometime friend. And the

world has tucked her children in,

with a kiss on their heads, till spring.

And now for the good part!!!!!!!!! A turkey treat!

To make your own, you will need:

one package of cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreo cookies)

one package of red cinnamon candies

one box of malted milk balls

one package of candy corn

one container of ready-to-spread chocolate frosting

1) Carefully separate the cookie leaving the cream filling on one side. Set cookie half without filling aside.

2) Attach a red cinnamon candy (head) to the malted milk ball (body) with a dab of frosting.

3) Attach the turkey body to the center of the cookie half with cream filling using a dab of chocolate frosting.

4) Spread frosting on the inside of the cookie half that doesn't have filling.

5) Arrange the candy corn on the chocolate frosting with the wide end along the edge (turkey's feathers).

6) Attach the cookie with the turkey's feathers to the cookie with the turkey body using the chocolate frosting.

7) Gobble it up!

Hello Mr. Turkey

(Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It)

Hello, Mr. Turkey - How are you?

Hello, Mr. Turkey - How are you?

With a gobble, gobble, gobble.

And a wobble, wobble, wobble.

Hello, Mr. Turkey - How are you?

Happy Thanksgiving!

And the winner is....

And the winner is...SARA!

Congratulations, Sara! Emmy is so excited to put the Book Giveaway package into the mail. She LOVES all of the surprises that are included for you and your little ones.

Choosing a name out of a hat was very funny to Emmy. She really wanted to send a book to everyone so plans are already underway for another Book Giveaway! Thanks to all who entered our contest.

Emmy's choice for her favorite Thanksgiving book is One is a Feast for Mouse - A Thanksgiving Tale by Judy Cox with illustrations by Jeffrey Ebbeler. As we all know, our eyes are often bigger than our stomachs when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner and Mouse is no different. When everyone in the house falls asleep after sharing their Thanksgiving feast, Mouse comes out of his hidey-hole in search of leftovers. He spies a "teensy-tiny toothsome green pea all by itself under a plate. Give thanks, he thought. One will be a feast for me." As Mouse makes his way across the table with the delicious pea he sees six leftover cranberries, "I'll just take one, he said to himself. One is a feast for me." and continues across the table balancing the cranberry on top of the pea. This journey across the table allows Mouse to add more things to his stash: an olive, a carrot, a plate of mashed potatoes, gravy in a boat, pumpkin pie and a platter of turkey - all balanced strategically on top of each other. As Mouse nears the edge of the table, he meets CAT! What follows is catastrophe as Mouse tries to keep his loot, run from the cat and get back to his hidey-hole. He manages to escape, but without his Thanksgiving feast. As he sat trembling in his hole, he spotted that teensy-tiny toothsome green pea in the corner. And so the story ends with Mouse gratefully cutting into that luscious green pea. "Give thanks! One is a feast for me!"

As the story unfolds, Emmy is delighted in Mouse's attempts to balance all of the food. She likes Mouse's solution of placing the carrot stick into the hole of the olive to make it easier to carry. Just like Emmy, your little one will chime in when the food items are repeated in a similar style as the story The House That Jack Built.

Click here for the video trailer for the book One is a Feast for Mouse - A Thanksgiving Tale with the soundtrack provided by the illustrator's rockabilly band!

If you LOVE this book as much as Emmy and I, then get ready to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Judy Cox and Jeffrey Ebbeler as they also created the book Cinco De Mouse-o!

Stay tuned for our next Book Giveaway!!!

Not So Creepy Halloween Stories

"Mitzi liked creepy things.

Creepy bedroom slippers

Creepy breakfast cereal.

Creepy relatives.

So, naturally, when she

decided to get a pet,

she wanted the creepiest

pet possible."

Despite Mitzi being a witch and loving all things creepy, the book Hoodwinked, by Arthur Howard, is a wonderfully non-creepy book for those of us just getting into spooky things. After several attempts at finding the perfect creepy pet at the Cackle & Company pet shop, Mitzi discovers her perfect pet is an adorable orange cat she names Hoodwink.

"And strange as it seems, she didn't mind one bit

that he was adorable. After all, she said,

looks aren't everything."

I have read this book to Emmy every day for weeks, but the best reader of this creepy book is Emmy herself. So listen in as she reads aloud Hoodwinked.

(By the way, anytime Emmy starts to read a book to me, she will say..."I'm going to read it differently." I find this so cute. She usually has the character's names and the plot down pat, but will add her own lines and voices which makes listening to her read a complete joy.)

If you have a beginner reader at your house, you may be familiar with Arthur Howard's illustrations as he draws the pictures for the Mr. Putty and Tabby books written by Cynthia Rylant.

If you are looking for another Halloween book that is a bit scary, but not too much, try There Was An Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. Emmy LOVES this one especially when the the pumpkin head says "BOO, BOO!" The assorted items of clothing found in the story have a calling to scare something, but when the old lady bravely says, "I'm not afraid of you." the unhappy look on the pumpkin head gives the the old lady an idea. I won't give away the ending, but here is a hint in the form of a song:

Scarecrow

(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little scarecrow

Stuffed with hay,

Standing watch in my field all day.

When I see a crow

I like to shout:

"Hey, Mr. Crow, you'd better get out!"

Oh, and one more sweet book that is a bit of a creepy Halloween story and a

great book for bedtime - Who Wants a Dragon? by James Mayhew. An adorable pink dragon is lost in the night looking for his home and his adventures take him around the kingdom where he ends up frightening most everyone until his Mommy flies by... "She'll cuddle him, and kiss him, and help him sleep tight."

Emmy and I really enjoy books by James Mayhew. You may remember our post on Katie in London. Mr. Mayhew writes a wonderful blog where I just found out his struggle in creating another series of books based on his son during the boy's younger years. The first book is titled

Boy and is set to be republished next summer. It looks so

endearing! If you are interested in finding out about the struggle to get this series going and published check out this post on Mayhew's blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Happy Halloween!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Time to Keep

A Time to Keep is a delightful book of holidays that begins when a little girl asks, "Granny, what was it like when Mummy was me?" Tasha Tudor gives us a year's worth of wonderful holiday traditions from her life in New England. Quotations from literature charmingly open each month along with beautiful borders that surround each page's nostalgic illustrations depicting family celebrations. Beginning with brown and frozen grasses and flowers decorated with icicles, the borders show the changes of season as each month progresses. The flowers bud and send out catkins, then blossoms, then flowers and leaves, then fruits, all in splendid realistic detail. With the delicious foods, the antics of the children, the activities and games, the decorations, the weather, the homespun plays and puppet shows, and the joyful seasonal work, Tasha Tudor warmly invites us to engage in the fun as she rekindles our own memories of childhood. What fun it is to see big families caught up in living through the wonders of the wheel of the year. Equally important to the holidays are the birthdays, the county fairs, cider and maple syrup making time. Tasha Tudor's own experience of the people and animals of her childhood grace the lovely pages and offer us a glimpse into lives that are filled with love and wonder and appreciation for the beautiful and gentle nuances of living the good life. Simplicity and tradition make the holidays magical and ask us to re-examine how we celebrate our traditional holidays. Materialism is replaced by creativity and family participation. The focus is on love, comfort, and gratitude rather than excessive "partying." This book is truly a treat and is guaranteed to help put whatever holidays you celebrate into thoughtful perspective.

I become completely swept over by nostalgia and longing every time I look at this spectacular book. I find myself yearning for the life depicted in Tudor's scenes. Even though Emmy is a bit young to fully appreciate this book, I will continue to reach for it on the first of every month and share with her the wonder and secrets that each month holds.

To learn more about the life of Tasha Tudor, please visit her family's website:
http://www.tashatudorandfamily.com/index.html

A Box of Treats

When I taught second grade, one of my favorite authors to share with children was Kevin Henkes. He has created an imaginative world full of the most adorable mouse characters that are endearing to children and their parents. I have been looking forward to sharing his series of books with Emmy and she is delighted by them! A great way to start is with A Box of Treats: Five Little Picture Books about Lilly and Her Friends. These are very simple books that focus on a special treat related to a holiday.

I have been saving them and giving them to Emmy as each holiday has arrived. The most recent one was Lilly's Chocolate Heart which is the story of Lilly who is looking for a place to save her last chocolate heart. After many attempts, the perfect place to save the heart is...her tummy! Emmy LOVES chocolate and just giggles and giggles when Lilly eats the chocolate rather than saving it. I think she can relate as she was unable to save any of her small chocolate hearts this past Valentine's Day.

Now that Emmy has a bit of experience with the mouse characters, I am geared up to share Chester's Way with her later today. Get ready to fall in love with Chester, Wilson and Lilly!