Good morning, friends! Happy Monday!
Boy, I sure appreciated all of your kind encouragement and support for my homeschooling post last week. Lots of great thoughts and ideas and such were shared in the comments- I’m super excited to have that little area as a resource in the near future! Thank you!
Y’all know that I talk about my sister, Rebecca, from time to time – and that I think she’s pretty fantastic! Well today, she’s actually sharing a nugget of awesome with all of us in the form of a favorite book list for these final days of summer that tend to get so hot and impossible to be outside. Rebecca knows her stuff when it comes to well-written, beautifully illustrated literature (my kids absolutely love it that she was a librarian in college!), so this really is an awesome little list!
Enjoy the list and the happy commentary from my big sissy! And have a fabulous start to your week!
xoxo,
Raechel
——-
Tennessee summers are serious business. It’s hot. Sometimes we just stay inside and read. Here’s a list of eleven of our current favorite books.
Petunia
A goose who feels fancy because she found a book; so fancy that her neck grows longer and she gets too big for her goosey britches. We love anything with ducks or geese, and we never get too big for our britches.
Freight Train
Super cool rainbow color design. My little boys love the movement of the train.
The Kitchen Knight
This is illustrated by my all-time-favorite children’s book illustrator, Trina Schart Hyman.
She draws her women big-haired and gorgeous, and her men strong and good. This is just how I want my Arthurian tales told.
A Child’s Calendar
This is also illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, but you will love her just as much a me. A child’s calendar is 12 poems written by fancy New England poet, John Updike and 12 accompanying pictures that capture the feeling of each month of the year. We read it probably once a season. It helps me remember what childhood felt like as I live through seasons again and again with my children.
The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher
Caleb and Beatrice love this because artistically it’s totally fascinating. It’s a great use of negative space. You hardly see more of the grey lady than her face and hands because she blends into the grey backgrounds. Also there’s no text, so Beatrice can enjoy it without me. (Because sometimes I don’t want to read books aloud. Ok.)
Leave Your Sleep
I love this book on so many levels. First, remember Natalie Merchant? She used to be in 10,000 Maniacs? Well, now she’s an adorable mom and she put together this book of poems and it comes with a cd of all the poems set to music. So what? It’s awesome. She chose great poems, and each song has a different feel and, although appropriate for children, the feel is not kidsy. She sings “The Blind Men and the Elephant”, which Raechel and I memorized when we were younger, and it just makes me so happy to hear it again set to great music. My favorite book find of the summer.
Open House for Butterflies
So, Raechel told me that this book makes Ryan a little crazy. It’s maybe too willy-nilly. It’s sweet illustrations with like, twenty unrelated, random musings. Like, “A baby is very convenient to be.” And, “Yesterday shows another day is here.” And, “A song for bumpy roads is good to know.”
Yes. Funny. And strange. Beatrice and I like it. Ryan does not. Which camp are you?
The Little House
Everyone should read this. Makes you love the country.
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
Classic from our childhood. Illustrations are all black and white. Except the hats. They are all RED. It’s fantastic.
Fin M’coul
Read this when you want to use an irish accent for your kids. I give elaborate performances. I had a great professor in college who read The Illiad to his teenage girls at night, and, chuckling, said they were enrolled in a class that they couldn’t drop. Well, my kids are too. And especially while they are little and still think I’m fabulous, I’m going to perform for them, and read to them the things that I love!
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Last one, ok? Don’t even read the words. You know the story. Just look at the pictures. And look again. And let your little people dream.
I found a first edition of the Bartholomew hat book at a garage sale a few years back. Not bad for a quarter. We are all anxious to see the pictures you took at the wedding!
THE ILLUSTRATIONS. Rebecca, you indeed put together a bang-up list. Bravo!!
What age Would You Say These Books Are For?
Our kids range from ages 2 to 6!
Oh Great, My son Is almost Five, Thanks!