Read This: The Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle

This is the most beautiful story book I have ever owned or seen--anywhere--ever--full stop.  When I picked it up in a gift shop in South Dakota and opened it, the world around me got a little quieter and the colors in the illustrations poured in through my eyes and caught in my throat.   Beginning to read the story itself, I was instantly captured.  It is The Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle by Gay Matthaei and Jewel Grutman, with illustrations by Adam Cvijanovic.  Let me tell you a little bit about it.

First of all, you should know that the story is fictious, but is based around actual historical events (historical fiction for kids!).  Arthur Amiotte, a respected elder in the Sioux tribe, a historian and an educator, was a direct consultant to this book.  The story itself is told via the journals of Thomas Blue Eagle.  He tells of his beloved horse (Two Painted Horse), and describes his life in the Sioux tribe (learning to shoot his bow, hunting buffalo, seeing a white man for the first time and thinking he was sick because he was so pale), all told in vibrant pictographic illustrations, much like the images once painted on skins by Plains Indians to preserve stories of historical events.

You learn of the great vision Thomas has while hiding in a tree during a Crow raid on his people, and how Thomas earns his name "Blue Eagle."  Eventually, as foretold by an elder, white settlers begin to arrive which creates many hardships for the Sioux.  The buffalo upon which they are dependent begin to disappear, and their tribe is moved to a reservation.  Treaties are made and broken, and war breaks out.

After a soldier approaches his family, Thomas Blue Eagle is moved the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania.  There Thomas is taught the white man's ways, but he also continues to preserve a connection to his native life through his journals and drawings--and also through his friendships with other Native American students from other tribes. Eventually, Thomas Blue Eagle returns home, and to the way of life he is most connected.

Perhaps you can see that everything about this book suggests that it is an actual journal-it is lined like a ledger book, the text appears hand-written, and the pages are yellowed and aging.  The book's blue covers are cloth-bound with a beautiful stamped border, and rounded corners.  The book looks authentic, and if you are familiar with early U.S. history, you will recognize certain events--making this so much more than just a child's storybook. Find a copy at your local library, buy your own here--or whatever works for you--but I hope you will just have a look, because it is amazing.

Read This: Earl the Squirrel

You might already be familiar with Corduroy--but do you know Earl?  Earl the Squirrel?  I didn't either--until I discovered a copy of this book at The Great Pumpkin Patch last fall. The black and white illustration on the cover caught my eye--and then I recognized the author's name--Don Freeman (better known for his overall-wearing-bear-creation--Corduroy).  Given my family's own complicated relationship with the cheeky squirrels living around our home--and in our attic--I could not resist a book that made squirrels a little more, well, endearing.

This is a story of a young squirrel whose mother believes has become spoiled and unnaturally dependent upon his human friend, Jill.  Make your own judgments here, but Earl does find a nutcracker helpful when breaking open an acorn (not to mention that red scarf he likes to wear knotted around his already furry neck). 

In the spirit of all great childhood acts of rebellion, Earl sets out one night to gather a bunch of acorns on his own--with the help of his unnatural yet handy, red scarf.  Of course, adventure ensues in the form of advice-giving owls and angry horn-wielding bulls, but Earl also learns a thing or two along the way--not the least of which is that while a natty red scarf does look good on him, and can come in handy in a pinch, it is still not necessary for his survival--a squirrel can get along just fine without accessorizing.

It is a sweet and simple story about becoming independent and understanding one's place in the world while also doing things in your own unique way.  The retro black and white scratchboard illustrations with the happy pop of Earl's red scarf throughout are eye-catching and even without the charm of Earl's character, make this book worth a read.   

(On a side note, ever since I bought our copy of this book, I have been thinking about Katie's squirrel plushie design--the one I purchased so long ago and never did anything with--and how much I would like to make an Earl from an old gray tweed suit jacket--with a little red scarf to wrap about his neck, of course...)

Read This: Seasons

I love this book.  So much.  I really bought it for me--but am happy to share it with Beeper too.   It is entitled, Seasons, and is by the fantastically talented french illustrator, Blexbolex.  It is a thick book, grainy image stacked upon image, printed on this creamy paper that evokes the drawing paper I most commonly used as child.

It is a book about, naturally, the seasons and the everyday wonders and activities and things and moments that mark the evolution of the seasons for us...

...but it is also a book of analogies, opposites, cause and effect, words that sound a little alike when you say them aloud, related things, images that rebound between one another in their similarities, and some more oblique pairings.

It is a visual meal so rich you can dig right in (no need for fork or knife), but it is also good for conversations about the details in the images and how these connect to the bold red letters that label each image.  It informs, and invites imagining of the story that is there between the images. 

The bright colors, the bold red block-style text, the stark layered screen-printed images are so much happiness for my eyes.  And I love that the book feels both modern and retro--just  looking at this book I get nostalgia for the library I used to visit as a 5-year-old and the alphabet book I loved most there, but it also feels cool enough to set out on my coffeetable for others to enjoy.  I so, so highly recommend this book--it would make a most lovely holiday gift for your child, or for your artsy friend, or your hip niece in art-school.  If you want to see more, there is a lovely little Youtube video about the book put together by the publisher--check that out here.

Read This: Bone Soup

The monster love is showing no visible signs of waning anytime soon around here.  Zombies, vampires, witches, skeletons, oogley-boogly sorts of monsters are all equally adored and appreciated for their individual merits.  Blood-suckers, brains-cravers, bony or warty noses--we are equal-opportunity monster fans.    So you can see how this book--Bone Soup by Cambria Evans--would fit right into our little library.

I admit though, part of what attracted me to this book is that it is a spooky little twist on the classic Stone Soup story I grew up reading--except so much more fun when a town full of monsters are tricked into adding their most prized ingredients to the soup--you know, like spider eggs, toe nail clippings, stewed eyeballs and similar delicacies.

Of course, really, what is best about this book are the wonderful creepy-cute illustrations--just enough spook but still enough sweet to appeal to the under-10-set without creating nightmare-fodder.  I mean, I would happily give any one of the monsters in this book a hug--or even spend the night in their wonderfully realized homes with secret-cupboards, cobwebby cellars and cracked mirrors.  Or maybe even design a plushie inspired by one of the monsters--you know, something itty bitty that might be able to live in a matchbox or something?  Hmmm...

But really--check out Finnigin the skeleton with his gigantic eating mouth and his very tasty bone soup recipe.  Guaranteed to please and nourish.  Get a copy here--or from your local library.

Read This: The Man Who Lost His Head

 This book, The Man Who Lost His Head, is everything I like in a children's book--eye-feasting illustrations, imaginative with a bit of absurdity, a well-written story, and a classic in that it has endured for almost 70 years.  It is written by Claire Hutchet Bishop, and illustrated by Robert McCloskey who you probably know better as the writer and illustrator of Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings (which won a Caldecott medal, in case you care).

The story, as one might imagine from the title of the book, revolves around a man who awakes one fine day only to discover he has lost his head (and who has not had a morning like that, I ask you?).  From there, he goes about trying to replace his head with something temporary but suitable so he can feel comfortable in public while he tries to locate his head...

Naturally, he first tries out a pumpkin...

.. and when that does not quite work, overcorrects with a parsnip...

...but then works out that custom carving (a dangerous feat one might imagine with no head to begin with!) a little something may work best.   With that done, he can truly set about trying to find his head...

...which, of course, involves a trip to the county fair where he plays toss the ring games, rides a carousel, and almost gets his replacement head taken off by a tiger--amongst other things (none of which involve actually finding his head).

Ultimately, he meets a bright if cheeky boy who is determined to help him find his head once and for all through whatever means necessary.  I suppose the story is a parable, but I simply find it to be fun--unpredictable, filled with silly yet wonderful writing that never talks down to the reader, and black and white illustrations burbling with clever details.  I am, in fact, so captured by the illustrations every time I read this book--the dotty pajamas the main character wears, the rural 1940's era characters in overalls, the black cat playing in the background, the boy's cowlick and freckles--that I could almost forgo reading the story--except that Beeper really wants to hear the story too because it is too good not to read.  

And if it is interest to you, you may want to know that this is part of the New York Review Children's Collection--which is a collection of varied and lesser-known classic books, all beautifully designed and bound in such a way that it reinforces their status as books deserving to be kept, cherished,  and read again and again, over time. 

Read This: D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths

I fell in love with Greek Mythology when I was in first grade--I actually learned to read using early reading workbooks that contained simplified versions of Greek myths.  I became such a mythology nerd, I had a poster of mythological creatures hanging over my bed in 3rd grade, and for my 6th grade special project, I made a hallway long mural that I drew of Greek gods and monsters (yes, uber-nerd, might be more appropriate). I even carried this love into college where I briefly became a classics major and studied the ancient Greek language, and ancient history, as well as literature.  Suffice to say, there is a reason I was attracted to this book,  D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire.

I gave this book to Beeper as a gift this past year.  Each night we read a several stories--sometimes several more than we should have as we pushed out bedtime in order to read one more.  Usually, Beeper falls asleep while we are reading--he never fell asleep while I was reading this book. Almost as soon as we finished the book, he wanted to read it together again.  The way I see it, either my love of Greek mythology transferred to him genetically, or this book is just really good.  Probably the latter.

 The illustrations are a-freaking-mazing--lush and color-filled and even the bronze or black and white illustrations are clamoring with detail.  Beeper and I would spend long quiet moments just examining the illustrations together before continuing to read the stories.  The illustrations by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire, are truly works of art in and of themselves--both European born, they used an old-world, labor-intensive process of stone lithography which involved tracing their images on slabs of Bavarian limestone, which then produced the extraordinarily vivid illustrations you see in the book. 

The writing of the myths themselves is perfectly balanced for a child--they are faithful to the myths themselves, revealing the gods and goddesses' might as well as their very-human-like pettiness and other foibles--while balancing just enough detail with just the right amount of action.

Beeper loved learning about each of the Olympian gods and goddesses and how they came into being (Athena emerging fully formed from Zeus' head during a headache, Venus arising from the sea on a cushion of seafoam), the great powers of the gods that once helped to explain natural phenomena to the ancient peoples (Zeus' lightning bolts forged by the Cylcopes, Persephone's return from Hade's underworld and to her mother, Demeter, precipitating the return of spring), as well as about the mortal children of Zeus, many of whom are the heroes of mythology (Perseus who cut off Medusa's head, Hercules and his 10 labors, Theseus who slayed the Minotaur).

This is just good stuff.  Reading this book with your child will add a whole new layer of understanding to the world around them as our world is rife with references to Greek mythology--in classical and modern art, in great literature (Shakespeare) as well as popular books (Percy Jackson), in movies, and in popular phrases (Achilles' heel)--and suddenly Beeper catches and recognizes this stuff everywhere. 

Whatever the case, you can find D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths here for just a little more than $12.  It is a nice large format, measuring about 9x13 inches, and contains everything you ever wanted to know about the Olympians, the minor gods, and their mortal children.  Who knows?  Maybe Beeper will one day be the classical studies major I never was--or maybe he will just have an abiding love of Greek mythology his entire life, just like his nerdy mama.

Have Yourself a Lovely Crafternoon with the Kids...

I am smiling as a write this--see:  :-)   

I have some very happy news to share with you--I am in my very first book!   It is one of two books recently published--Kids' Crafternoon Sewing and Kids' Crafternoon Papercraft.  Both books were curated and edited by the lovely Kathreen Ricketson of Whip Up and each contains 25 projects designed and created from many talented crafters around the world.  Let me tell you a little bit more about the books...

{Pet Pillows designed by Karen Jester}

{Limby the Button-Eyed Dude designed by Lizette Greco + Grecolaborativo}

Each book features projects that can be completed in an afternoon by kids--most of which are designed to be completed largely independently with limited on-the-scene support from parents or other big people.  While the projects are aimed at the 7-12-year-old set, there are many, many projects in here I know a 14 or 15 or even 16 year old would be interested in making for him or herself.  Oh, and that is the other good bit--the projects are aimed to appeal to both boys and girls.  Nice.

{Illustrated Softy Badges designed by Lisa Tilse}

The books are actually part of a series of craft books, all aimed at kids, of course, that Kathreen put together with Hardie Grant.  Books with projects based around beading and felt will also be released at some point in the future (and I also have projects in each of those, thank you for asking).  

{iPod Creature Cosy by me!}

{Sassy the Sock Softy also designed by me!}
Oh, and here are my two projects in the sewing book: the iPod Creature Cosy (2nd above--made from recycled sweaters and customizable to the size of your own MP3 player needs), and Sassy the Sock Creature with its tongue sticking out of its mouth all sweet and snotty-like (above--made from a stripey sock, can be handsewn too!).

It is a really thoughtfully put together book--clearly designed to make the projects as accessible as possible to kids. Above are the illustrated instructions in the books, just to walk a kid step by step through how to make the projects (Kathreen's husband did the illustrations--personally, I like that--a family effort gives it all more heart). And there is a pocket at the front of the books with the template pieces for easy access.  

Here are just a few of the projects I love in the Kids' Crafternoon Papercraft book...

{Book Invaders Bookmark designed by Elod Beregszaszi}

{Pet Menagerie designed Nancy W Hall}

{Home Sweet Home designed by Cate Holst}

{Sewn Cards designed by Alison Hudson}

Do you like them?  Want to make some of these projects with your own kids?  Curious about the other fantastic projects in the books?  Good--because I have a copy of the Kids' Crafternoon Sewing book and the Kids' Crafternoon Papercraft book to give away--one to each of my readers.  All I ask is that you leave a comment by end of day Tuesday (July 26th) telling me what you like most about these books, or which project you can't wait to make with your kids or just for you (no shame there), or why you think it is awesome Kathreen put together these books in the first place, or whatever comment you choose to leave related to the books--and I will announce the two lucky winners on Wednesday, July 27th right here.  

And if you are not so fortunate as to be one of the lucky winners, there are other options so listen up, people: you can either crash the blog party Kathreen has arranged around blogland (find the sites and dates here), or you can order your very own copies either through Booktopia or Amazon UK.  

Imagine me dancing around all joyful-like with the books in my arms right now, elated as hell to be part of the crafty group represented in the book--because that is what I am doing (or let's be honest--maybe I am just folding some laundry right now but, well, you know what I  mean...)