Second Star to the Right

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Iza Trapani

Elsa is probably in my favorite phase of "reading to children" at least so far.  I've only been doing this as a mother for 3 years, so I can't speak for the day when my kids meet George McDonald, C.S. Lewis, or L.M. Montgomery, but so far, Elsa is at the favorite age.

Her exploding verbal skills and very pointed preferences completely fascinate me.  It's like she is learning to speak as we read together.  I hear her say words for the first time as she points to them on the page.

And tonight, I swear, she said "Twinkle, twinkle Little Star."  It sounded more like "Tinny tinny wiwi barse," but I knew what she was saying.  She has been requesting this book all week--her way of requesting a book is to close whatever else I am reading and say "no!" until I figure out the right one--until tonight, when she uttered her first audible book title.  It was awesome.

And the fact that she likes this book really surprises me.  Heidi too loved Iza Trapani at this age--the illustrator takes famous songs and writes many verses to them, adds a plot within the song, and fills it out with cute art.

But the Twinkle song was a bit long and drawn out for Heidi; however, Elsa is fixated for the most part.  This book is worth a try or two--it might not work for your child, but the concept is cute and imaginative, and who knows, your child might surprise you!

For Epiphany: The Little Drummer Boy

This book still chokes me up.  Yes, I know the Little Drummer boy may well be a fictional character, but the portrayal of Christ's welcome acceptance of us and whatever we can give in worship with an obedient heart, Mary's generous humility, and the openness of another "poor boy," are all deeply true.

Elsa sat through this every night since we pulled out the Christmas books at the beginning of December. Heidi loved it too as a tiny tot--because even if they can't speak, then can always sing "rum pum pum pum."  It's a truly great book to sing to your child with gorgeous art.

If your child is older and you are trying to explain Epiphany, this book can be a useful tool as well.

And if you haven't been exposed to Ezra Jack Keats, you should.  Right now.

The Story of Holly and Ivy

This is probably way too old for a 3 year old, but I love this book so much, I had to try it.  And surprisingly, Heidi seems to like it.  I don't think she is connecting with the whole plot, but she definitely understands the character of Holly, the doll.  Ivy is the orphan, who in a magical turn of Christmas events....well, I can't spoil the plot here.

You won't be able to finish it in one sitting with a young child, but with Heidi we read until she loses interest (or falls asleep), then pick it up later where we left off.

Once again Barbara Cooney offers stunning illustrations of charming Victorian town scenes at Christmas.  And the sentimentality of the story is fairly Victorian too.  The author, Rumer Godden reminds me of Kate DiCamillo, and if I ever meet Kate, I'm definitely going to ask her how much Godden she read.

I'm a total sucker and even though I've been reading this since it was given to me as a child, I still choke through it when I'm reading it out loud.  If you like magical adoption stories, this is one of the best.

Christmas in the Barn--Margaret Wise Brown & Barbara Cooney

This was given to me when I was a year old, probably by my grandmother.  Once Again, Brown & Cooney pair up for something wonderful.  Elsa wanted to read through it twice, so something caught her attention.

Apparently someone thought it was a good idea to replace Cooney's illustrations in a newer version.  I prefer the old.  You can find used, er I mean, vintage copies on Amazon--these are beautiful. 

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones does The Creation with Amy Grant

 

Image used with permission from rabbitears.com

On the subject of Rabbit Ears, I also wanted to mention another current favorite of ours: The Creation Story, read by Amy Grant, with music from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.  The music is surprising and fresh and beautifully interprets the story.  There is some imaginative liberty taken, e.g. "the plants were stretching toward the light," but everything is consistent with the Biblical text and respectful of the story.  I'm fairly confident that this will secure Heidi's memorization of the order of creation and her love of its beauty effortlessly.  

Here are locations that sell Rabbit Ears:

Audio CDs are available through the Random House Listening Library website or retail stores. Random House has re-packaged the stories together in two's, three's and four's, calling these compilations "Rabbit Ears Treasury of ...."

Right now the audio only download editions are available on some or all of these websites:
Audible.com
eMusic
iTunes
Borders
Simply Audiobooks
Barnesandnoble.com

DVDs (of individual titles) and hard cover books are available through the Rabbit Ears website.  Video downloads (also of individual titles) are available at iAmplify.com

And coming very soon... Rabbit Ears apps from the iTunes store.  I can't wait for that!

 

 

 

Audio Magic: The Velveteen Rabbit

Those who know my family have likely heard the strange, mystical way we talk about The Velveteen  Rabbit.  As a college freshman I had excerpts from it posted on my dorm room door (way before it was popular).  We can recite pages of it from memory together--it works its way into our daily conversations, into family jokes and always in the background, even showed up as a wedding toast (from memory of course).

The story is powerful, redemptive, magical, but I hardly doubt it would have achieved such a central and borderline obsessive role in our family were it not for a very special recording that came out in 1985, created by Rabbit Ears (Mark Sottnick and Doris Wilhousky) and featuring George Winston and Meryl Streep.  We owned the cassette tape, which itself became as worn, loved, and real as the rabbit.  We played it nonstop in our giant homeschooler van, to the point where non-family passengers sometimes requested a break.  They didn't understand.

Rabbit Ears, the company behind this most amazing audio recording ever, still produces lots of records for kids, all immaculately done with big-name actors and musicians reading the stories.  This is a great investment for those long homeschooler van rides.  I am hoping to post more on them in the future with attention to specific recordings, such as the Velveteen Rabbit.  If you don't have it, it is definitely the place to start.

Waddle, Toddle, Sing!

Dimity Duck (Jane Yolen/Sebastian Braun) is not for the cynical.  The first time I read it, there was some eye rolling and some "really?"  going on in my head.  But it caught on.  The rhythm draws in even the most wild toddler, and Elsa is to the point where she says "gain!" at the end of each reading.  The illustrations are  beautiful--simple, but very finished and easy on the eye.  It's a great book for pointing--there isn't much else on the page, so your child is guaranteed a higher success rate than in a book like Goodnight Moon, where there are 35 objects other than the mouse.  When you tell her to point to the duck, it's going to be pretty hard for her not to hit the duck with that chubby digit.

I vote for this one.

The Evolution of the Princess: Sara Crewe vs. Fancy Nancy

 

Yesterday at library time we got to hear the story of a little girl who loves pink.  Fancy Nancy is the epitome of all things pink, puffy, fru-fru, and frilly.  I definitely prefer Ladybug Girl in terms of recent princess figures, who seems somewhat aware of noble deeds, but perhaps is just more about the alternative super-hero persona.

I don't want to judge these small heroines, but I do want to challenge them.

Sara Crewe, if I remember correctly, was not older than 7 when she arrived at Miss Minchin's school for girls.  Small, strange, not exactly pretty, loyal to her father and friends, kindhearted to the scullery maid and the unlovable toddler, she embodies the classical ideals of inner royalty in a beautiful and elegant manner, even more so when she is faced with the trials of poverty, cruelty, and loneliness.

I have the Tasha Tudor edition, given to me by my grandmother upon my 7th Christmas.  My parents started reading it aloud to us, but a few chapters in I stole the book away and finished it myself.  It was one of the first books I remember reading over and over, especially the chapter where Sara wakes up and finds her tiny garret room transformed into something completely magical.  Fancy Nancy would love that chapter too.

The most astounding thing to me is that Sara Crewe and Fancy Nancy seem to be about the same age, at least in the beginning of Burnett's story.  I would love to see the two of them meet.  I have a sneaking suspicion that FN would have been a chum of Lavinia over Sara, but I don't want to sell her short.  Maybe it's all just about the times in which we live.

We need Fancy Nancy, if only to teach our daughters some vocabulary words.  But even more so, we need Sara Crewe, to teach them that being a princess is something inside of you. Something that never falters or changes when the external world brings you hardship. Even, (heaven forbid), when they take away the most beautiful french-designed party dress the school has ever seen.

If you haven't read this book, look for the edition with Tasha Tudor's illustrations.  It is worth the investment.  The pages are thick and will withstand many readings and much love.  A great gift for any little princess.

Why I do this

I think a cross-continental move is a good excuse for losing it on the blogging front, especially since even an i-pad would be useless when you roll with these girls. 

The other ringing irony is that since I started this blog, I've read less to both girls than ever before.  Like sometimes, only one book per day.  But maybe that is good for everyone.

However, a brief interchange at the library yesterday put some wind in my sails.  That and the fact that we are currently living with Nana, which offers me some actual time to sit down and blog.  For now at least.

Anyway, yesterday it was raining, a rite of passage for living back in the Midwest.  A gentle, misty, indian summer rain.  So we went to library time.  The librarians were great; well prepared, animated, and offered some nicely themed choices and songs (some I will touch on later).  But I was a little disappointed when I overheard a conversation between a patron and another librarian at the children's desk.

Patron: "I'm looking for something to read to my grand-daughter.  She is three."

Librarian: "Have you heard of Fancy Nancy?"

Patron: "Yes, I've seen her around.  I guess I'll keep looking."

Librarian: ....(actually I'm not sure if she even said anything else or just ducked her head back into whatever she was doing.  What it really that important?)

IMHO, that kind of question should be every librarian's dream.  Isn't that why librarians become what they are?  To share the oft-overlooked gems in the realms of gold with those treasure seekers who deserve them the most?  You know, the ones who want to know what you think?  I was shocked to see the librarian respond with such a pat answer.  But maybe she was just manning the station for the real children's librarians who were still happily doing the pink pig dance.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but then I scuttled over to the patron in question.

Me: "Did you say you were looking for books for a three year old?"

Her: "Um, yes." (I could see her wondering what kind of weirdo was approaching her.)

Me:  "My daughters really like this." I thrust a copy of Now It's Fall into her hand, sheepishly; after all, I don't have any real credentials.  She wasn't like, "Oh, it's Summer from Second Star!  Thank goodness she's here!"  I threw out a few more suggestions by Jane Yolen and slunk off.

The more I care about something, the more shy I tend to be--especially in terms of approaching strangers, but I couldn't just let this poor woman walk off thinking Fancy Nancy was all that's out there.  And it reminded me that's why I wanted to start a blog like this.  To remind people that kids deserve more than whatever has the most branding and retail.  To help those seeking treasure.  To remind myself that books are valuable and there are many to choose from, and that we are allowed to be selective.  And most of all, to have fun!

An Honest Mistake

Okay, it was a moment of weakness.  Having already made it from A-Z through the picture books at our local library, I'm now trying the second tier with Heidi for the sake of new material.  My child has a wide-eyed fascination for all things reptilian, grotesque or odd (ask her about crabs sometime).  She love dinosaurs of course, having named the one at our local grocery store "diney the dinosaur."  We haven't told her that if you put a quarter in Diney, he moves.  She is thrilled enough when we stop to pet him.

Anyway, so I thought the dino-cinderella combo would be interesting.  The plot is a lame version of Cinderella with a tongue twisting "D' theme throughout.  Here's proof:

The dumfounded deinonychus stopped in disbelief.  "Who called me a dummy?" he demanded.  The moon's light caught Dinorella's dangling diamonds.  Dots and dabs of light darted toward the Deinonychus.  "A Devil!" cried the Deinonychus.  "See its dreadful demon eyes?"  

This is awful.  Not only is the language clumsy and awkward, but it is poor taste.  Words like "dummy" used as an insult, "devil," and "demon," have no place in a Cinderella story.  And who measures light in dots and dabs?  It's not paint, people.

Every page of the book is like this--a bad joke that just keeps on going, like standing in line for the water fountain in 6th grade.  Perhaps that is the audience this book was directed toward---but it gets worse.

Heidi loves this book.  I have tried to edit out the dumb and demonic language in my readings of it, but it is the one book she continues to request out of her entire library stash this week.  So we dash and dawdle through the dundering disaster diplomatically, for we dare not disagree.