Benjy's Boat Trip

Benjy's Boat Trip

Margaret Bloy Graham 1977

 Another adorable Benjy book by Margaret Bloy Graham.  This one hits especially close to home since we are about to go overseas for a couple weeks and leave Molly in the care of a neighbor.  I'm already worried that she'll think we've abandoned her!

In Graham's story Benjy's family boards a ship for a cruise, leaving him with Aunt Mary.  Of course the kids and Benjy are sad.  So later when he sees a ship at the port he thinks it's the same one with his family on it and he breaks away from Aunt Mary and runs aboard.

Not only is he stuck on a strange ship, but there's also the ship cat who doesn't like him.  The cook soon finds Benjy and takes care of him, feeding him hamburgers and letting him sleep on his bed.  Eventually everyone onboard, even the cat, become his friends.  Not to worry, there is a happy reunion with his family at the end!

Other books illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham:

Be Nice to Spiders

The Storm Book

The Mouse Bride

This folk tale about a pair of mice parents who are seeking the perfect bridegroom for their perfect daughter felt familiar to me.  I'm sure I've read some variation of it before but I had no idea that its origin was Mayan.  That's the wonderfully curious thing about folk tales, they can travel about and change.   In a postscript Judith Dupre explains that the fable is told by the Chol Indians who live in the rainforest in Mexico.  They have no written language, but their "words sound like the rain hitting rock and reflect their love of music and sense of play."   She explained "This myth is told and retold to each generation of children so that they might understand the circular ways of Nature and make peace with the harsh sun and torrential rains of their home."

The Mouse Bride
Judith Dupre 
illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck 1993

A Fairy Tale

 A uniquely sweet tale of a little girl growing up in a dingy factory town.  She meets her neighbor, Mrs. Leaf who may or may not be a fairy even though she looks like a small grey haired old woman.  The story is both magical and surprisingly sentimental.

A Fairy Tale

Tony Ross 1991

Sequoyah

 Here's a story I didn't know at all!  How Sequoyah made up a system of writing for his Cherokee people in the early 1800's.  It's a fascinating story that James Rumford encourages further exploration into.   Anna Sixkiller Huckaby provides the Cherokee translations on each page and a syllabary at the end.  I love these fascinating parts of history that have such impact but are often overlooked or forgotten.   More books like this, please! 

Sequoyah

James Rumford 2004

This is Rome

Brilliant midcentury design and illustration are the hallmarks of  Miroslav Sasek's city books from around the world.  We have a couple I've picked up second hand and I thought it was cute that I found This is Rome on the same shelf as Just Being Audrey at the thrift store (it immediately brought to mind the movie "Roman Holiday"!)

This is Rome
M. Sasek 1960