What Charlotte found in the backyard

How perfect after reading our book Gem, Charlotte found a toad in our very own backyard today.  She thought it might be a girl and named it "Elizabeth".  She also wondered if it was the same toad we found last year.  Toad's can live a long time so maybe, who knows?

Gem

 

Gem

Holly Hobbie 2012

 

Our friends Soren and Silas were over this week and we "read" this book together.  The charming wordless pictures show the story of a little toad and his adventures.  Soren and Charlotte got quite a giggle out of it. 

Last summer we had our own toad explorer in the backyard.  We held him and passed him around, admiring his bumps and big eyes, then we set him free.  I hope he comes back for another visit this year.

 

The Hidden Bestiary

The Hidden Bestiary of Marvelous, Mysterious, and (maybe even) Magical Creatures

Judy Young

illustrated by Laura Francesca Filippucci 2009

 

In keeping with a hidden animal theme, here's another square book (making scanning for this blog tricky) that has great illustrations.  A 19th century explorer has discovered a broken case and something missing at the "Finchhaven Museum of Extraordinary Curiosities, Oddities and Improbabilities".  It's up to you to help find the hidden clues in the pictures from his travels around the world.  As he tracks down the animals on his list you must determine "Is it alive?  Is it extinct?  Did it ever exist?"

I love that this museum picture looks like The Wagner Institute!

 

Puzzle Island

Puzzle Island

Paul Adshead 1995

 

Madeleine and Henry were my first puzzle book lovers.  We've spent many hours reading this one.  (I had to take photos because the large square size of the book doesn't fit easily on my scanner.)  The instructions are given in the form of letters and a code around the outside of the pictures tells you which animals are hidden.  Some are harder to spot than others.  I wouldn't recommend it as a bedtime book (there's too much to think about and do), but it makes for a nice rainy day activity.

Lost and Found

Charlotte really loves hidden picture books.  This one isn't too hard and the pictures are bright and full of animals.  It's by Dahlov Ipcar who also wrote my favorite "Bug City".  The rhymes are about a little girl who has lost all her pets and must find them hidden on the following pages.  Can you spot them?

Lost and Found

A Hidden Animal Book

by Dahlov Ipcar 1981

A Child's Book of Flowers

One time Henry and I took this book outside to see how many of the flowers we could find in the wooded part of our backyard.  There's not too much information given on each, but the vintage illustrations are nice and it's an interesting selection of wildflowers.

A Child's Book of Flowers

Irma Wilde 1952

These Trillium grow naturally in our woods.  It wasn't till we saw this picture that we identified them.  Ours have white flowers.

I love Jack-in-the Pulpits.  They're always a treat to find in the woods- every year we get about a dozen or so.  I wish I knew of a way to propagate them.

 

You might also like these books:

My Big Book of the Outdoors

Mushrooms Ferns and Mosses

Flora's Feast A Festival of Flowers

What Tree Is It?

 

 

 

Flora's Feast A Festival of Flowers

It feels like just over-night blossoms have appeared.  Our fragrant hyacinths are up and so are great clusters of happy yellow daffodils.  It's definitely Spring, Spring, Spring!

Flora's Feast A Fairy's Festival of Flowers

Walter Crane (first published in 1889)

 

I thought I had lost this book for a while (apparently it was only misplaced on our bookshelves).  Walter Crane's artwork is tremendous of course.  Each flower is represented in fairy form and dress and you just want to gaze at the pictures.  Flora calls the flowers forth and first to come are the snowdrops.  All through the summer the flowers are arrayed, finally ending with the Autumn blooming mums and the Christmas Rose.  I've included the illustrations of the flowers that we have in our own garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(also known as a Hellebore)