bunny book

we brought this home after a recent trip to the library and it instantly became a favorite. seems I know a bunny of my own much like the little bunny in this story.

book faves

I'm so glad both my little guys like to settle onto my lap for a good story, any time, any place. Especially when the weather bounces between blustery and icy, or sloshy and mucky and we are bound indoors. A current favorite for all of us is Tikki Tikki Tembo. Pretty illustrations, a clever little story, a funny name to tongue twist over and over.

we are also fans of audio stories on CD. Hooray for audible.com and .99 downloads.

pretty books

swooning over these pretty books from anthropologie. discovered via delightful. i sorta have a thing for pretty books. (still wishing for those). it's not so bad to judge a book by it's cover.

the help

"I hope she ain't so country she ain't got a Hoover."

I'm the last one to the party on this one, but it really was such a good book. Within the first few pages I found myself nodding in agreement with gospel-choir like "mm-hmms!" and giggling like a little old lady at bingo. Even my thoughts have taken on a southern drawl. I wished I could whip out zinging one liners like Minnie and carry sorrow with such grace as Aibee, and endure condescension with such patience as any of these ladies. I also lost any penchant I might once have had for certain kinds of pie. And I wondered really what it was like to live in that time, in that world, where so few seemed to have a conscience at all, let alone a clear one. Where motherly affection was spared  by mothers but given in abundance by other women, who were often forced away from their own babies. The ties that bind became twisted and confused. And I fantasized over meals like pork chops and corn bread and collard greens, fried chicken and potato salad and caramel cakes. I was hungry through the entire book.

Coincidentally, collard greens were included in this week's co-op basket. I consulted one of my favorite southern women on proper preparation and now have a pot of southern life simmering away on my stove.

book pick

checked out from the library this week and we have all become fans:

Owl Babies

wonderful illustrations, a cute little story, a bit of a seasonal vibe. we like it. 

I should be more like Jane

Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs

--Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

photo credit

inherited

usually the cast-offs my mother sends my way end up in storage. but not these. When she was a little girl, 8 or 9 years old, her mother allowed her to join a book-of-the-month club. She felt very privileged, and I like to imagine her anticipation each month, waiting for the latest selection to arrive. A voracious reader in my own childhood, I devoured every book that came my way. And I love having these to display.

tucked inside one of the books was an invoice and also a teaser for the next month. all very official looking.  and old.

bargain books

Mr. J's school held a used-book sale a couple of weeks ago. And by sale I mean they were practically giving the books away. A little pocket change scored some vintage and out-of-print gems that have become standard requests in the bedtime story rotation. This one, despite a few blemishes on the cover, I find particularly charming:

 paperback version available here

The Biggest Bear

Piglet is really loving this book these days. I love the vintage vibe and old fashioned illustrations even though the ending perhaps lacks some modern sensibilities. It's about another time and it's a sweet little story.

My Lucky Day

Our own piglet thoroughly enjoys this fun story about a brave? tricky? foolish? pig and the wolf that would do him in. It's most always in our rotation of bedtime stories, and I don't mind reading it over and over.

frog and toad are friends

Somewhere in the haze of childhood memories I recall listening to a "Frog and Toad" book on tape when I was a little girl. Hmm. Or maybe it was "The Wind in the Willows."  Either way, I was happy when, during one of our visits to the bookstore for story time, Mr. J discovered this on the bargain shelf for $5. Our resident book critic, age 3.5, deems it a winner. Cover to cover several nights each week.

I especially like "The Swim."  Silly Toad is afraid he looks funny in his bathing suit and doesn't want anyone to see him. He does look funny in his bathing suit. I'm also quite fond of the lovely illustrations.

reading

books I'd like to read this year:

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

Kim

Hawaii

and perhaps numbers 5-7  this series

though I'm afraid they won't be as good as the first 4.

Christmas Books

the latest addition to our Christmas book collection:

The Mitten by Jan Brett

charming and sweet and wintry with beautiful illustrations, though not necessarily Christmas-y. we loved it at first read.

In other, related news...
Last Friday our local bookstore hosted a special story time in the evening, featuring this book. I had not, prior to that time, taken my babes to any story time at the library or bookstore, so fearful have I been as to Piglet's desires to remove the library koi from their pond and whoop and holler and such. I thought perhaps it was time to try, so we ventured out. Mr. J cruised the bookstore with Nanuk while Piglet and I parked ourselves on tiny benches in the story corner, waiting for the story teller. Waiting, waiting. Piglet getting restless, but doing his best. Long story short, the Story Teller finally arrived twenty minutes late and opted to read 3 stories that Piglet has had memorized for a year before even starting into the featured book. He was bored. He scampered up and down the aisles gleefully periodically shouting "I know that book! I know that book!"  Thirty minutes (hello! these are toddlers waiting!) after Story Time was to begin, the story-teller began The Mitten. I asked a clearly keyed up Piglet if he wanted to listen, at which point he flew up the aisle, grabbed the story teller from behind in a happy little head lock and shouted "I found you!" Which he also proclaimed to the 2 little girls who had lately arrived. He then leapt onto the reading platform, threw his arms up in the air and bellowed "Ladies and gentlemen" at which point a mortified Mr. J swooped in and tossed Piglet over his shoulder and hustled us all out of the store.

We went back the next morning for another try. Surprisingly, they let us in.

And surprisingly, Piglet sat happily and quietly through two and a half stories.

for the locals: book fair

Barnes and Noble is hosting a special Book Fair on Saturday, November 28th 9am-10pm

Proceeds from purchases made at this event benefit the First Book program, which provides free books to children across the country.

Activities, storytelling, and musical performances throughout the day.

Free admission

also, check this out on December 4th

pretty books

One of the fabulous finds in my latest magazine: these beautifully bound classics. I'll take one of each, thank you.  I'd line them up on my bedside and admire them every day, reading each one in turn. Wishing I could gift them to some of my favorite bibliophiles: Jane Eyre for Marty, Wuthering Heights for Jenny, Pride and Prejudice for Missy, Sense and Sensibility for Joy...

I think I can...

i've been reading this to my little ones at bedtime. it's so sweet, with old-fashioned cuteness about it. my aunt and uncle sent a gift card to B & N shortly after Nanuk was born. i spent over an hour, all by myself, browsing the children's book section (bliss!) until I decided on this one. I had a paperback copy during my own childhood; it's still charming to me.

writing assignment: children's library

via travlinoma's school days

~Do you have recommendations for books that haven't been mentioned yet? Who would enjoy them: a little girl, a 10-year-old boy, the whole family? Is it a read-it-yourself, or a read-it-to-me type book?

~If you were giving just one book to an infant grandchild, what would it be? A friend suggested Clotilda by Jack Kent. I like A You're Adorable by Martha Alexander. What's your favorite?

~Do you remember a special book from your childhood? Who read it to you?

children's books. ahhhh. a subject dear to my heart. Where do I even start? As a newlywed I began building a children's library enthusiastically, long before any babies came to me. I've continued adding to it since the arrival of my wee ones; story time is precious at our home, especially at bedtime. Some we have enjoyed most with our boys: Where the Wild Things Are, it's just so timeless and boyish, Tough Boris is short but precious with a story unfolding in the illustrations, Good Night Moon is quite easily a perfect bedtime story, and Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever is filled with silly and interesting illustrations and charming short stories. A wonderful gift for any family, I enjoyed it tremendously as a little girl and now my little boy is thrilled with it. Same goes for the classic Little Golden Books like The Tawny Scrawny Lion and Tootle; they never get old. For older children and adults, Number the Stars is lovely, and my sweet husband never lets a school year go by without reading Where the Red Fern Grows aloud to his students. I read it in fifth grade and cried so hard I vowed never to read it again. But it is wonderful. And every girl should read Anne of Green Gables at some point in her life. Plain and simple.

An early reader (but a late everything else), I was captivated by almost anything readable. Biographies. Picture Books. Novels. Two favorites, aside from my Nancy Drew collection, come to mind. First, Nine Days to Christmas. I remember it from the first grade, when I'd make a beeline for this book at every class visit down the hall to the library. I adored it week after week. It's out of print now, but my husband tracked down a used copy and gave it to me as a Christmas gift two years ago. Romantic, no? The other book is The Giant Jam Sandwich and I think I loved it because it It's silly and rhyming with fun vocabulary, plus it involved summer and strawberry jam, both of which make me happy. I'm so pleased my kiddo enjoy it as much, over and over again. I'll stop now, though the list goes on.

School Days: The Book Shelf

Travlin Oma, my "course instructor" as it were, and a most well-read woman, shared the following list of the kinds of books one might discover in a great bookstore. Very clever. You can read her full experience here.

1. Books You Needn't Read,
2. Books Made For Purposes Other Than Reading,
3. Books You'd Read If You Had More Time. You bypass them, and move into the
4. Books You Mean To Read,
5. Books You'll Read When They Come Out In Paperback section, and bump into the
6. Books That Everybody's Read So It's As If You've Read Them,
7. Books You Want To Own So They'll Be Handy Just In Case and
8. Books You Ought To Get Now So You Can Read Them Next Summer. Suddenly you see
9. Books Read Long Ago Which It's Now Time To Reread and
10. Books You've Always Pretended to Have Read And Now It's Time To Really Read Them.

Writing Assignment: ~Choose a type of book from the list above, and make your own list of five titles that fit the category.

I'll go with number 10, which may or may not overlap somewhat with numbers 4 and 6. I like confessionals.

* The Princess Bride

* Les Miserables

* Jane Eyre (shameful, I know)

* Lord of the Rings

* The Hobbit

Writing Assignment: Bookshelf

via Travelin Oma's School Days:

Writing assignment: Soulmates

A book I've read over and over and over again? I haven't. I've been reading--gobbling up book after book--since age 3. I tackled "Little women" at age 8. "Rebecca" at age 12. I've loved and adored many books, some I've read twice. But I can't think of a single book I've read repeatedly over the years. Why? Perhaps there are too many good books. My favorites are certainly worthy of double-dipping or even triple-dipping, but how is one to choose? Gilbert Blythe and his Anne Girl--quirky and flawed and temperamental just like me. Elizabeth and that Mr. Darcy--is she my soulmate of the story, or is he? Scout and her adored Atticus, a daughter idolizing her daddy as I do. Selfish Wang Lung and humble O-Lan. Bold Hester and her Pearl. And lest we forget dear Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Familiar friends indeed. Yes, that Jo is surely a soulmate and I knew it in the third grade. Maybe some of these treasure are too sacred. Perhaps they made me weep so, even with all their happiness and beauty, that I hesitate to revisit the tears. Oh how I hate to cry. Must I read their stories time and time again to love them justly? Or is there injustice in neglecting so many other worthy tales? The thrill of one ignites the thrill of another and as one fair story is finished, I giddily anticipate the next. Romance, history, adventure, biography and hope at once. It seems there isn't time enough to sample all that entice me, let alone re-read my list of beloveds. And beloved they are. And beloved they always will be though they visit my bedside table but a few times in this short life.

obsession

can't put them down. New York Times editions, an entire book full of them.  yes, I sometimes peek at the answers in the back of the book (those weekend versions are intense!). but I still manage to feel a little smarter upon completion.