Grandpa's Ghost Stories

 Something a little ghoulish, something a little silly, something a little scary just for Halloween.  Included is a wonderful introduction about Jim Flora, a popular graphic artist with a unique style.  He illustrated many album and magazine covers.  Bold, whimsical, outlandish and often bizarre, I think his artwork is incredible! 

Grandpa's Ghost Stories

James Flora 1978

On a dark and stormy night a grandfather tells his grandson a series of stories about skeletons, witches and ghosts. Each one leading into the next more horrible adventure.  Surely they couldn't be true?!

The Boy and the Ghost

 J. Brian Pinkney books are always in abundance at the thrift store, they are so popular.  I liked this one because of the story of a brave boy who spends the night in a haunted house and comes out the richer for it.  Robert D. San Souci gives a good explanation at the end about the origin of folktales and how they change and blend as they travel through countries, and cultures and ages.  The Southern setting seemed just right for this one.

The Boy and the Ghost

Robert D. San Souci

illustrated by J. Brian Pinkney 1989

Turns out our copy was signed!

A Book of the Seasons

The feathers of the willow
        Are half of them grown yellow
        Above the swelling stream;
  And ragged are the bushes,

And rusty now the rushes,
            And wild the clouded gleam. 

                        -Richard Watson Dixon

    I love a seasonal anthology, especially now as my favorite season is upon us (Autumn!).  Eve Garnett put together a sweet collection of poetry paired with her drawings.  There's something very Tasha Tudor about it.  Here is what Eve writes on the front flap:  

"English lyrical poetry is almost inseparable from English landscape, and I have always felt, for children especially, that the seasons of the year, each with its well-defined delights and restrictions, have a fundamental significance which is of the very essence of poetry."

A Book of the Seasons

An Anthology

Eve Garnett 1961

What the Moon Brought

What the Moon Brought

Sadie Rose Weilerstein 

illustrated by Mathilda Keller 1942 

While we aren't Jewish, many of our friends are and our school always has off for the high holidays, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.  When Madeleine and Henry were in nursery school they were even given apples and honey in class to celebrate Rosh Hashana.  I wish we had this book in our collection then because I would definitely have read it to them.  The stories about the Jewish holidays are informative as well as charming, featuring two sisters, Debbie and Ruth.  Published in 1942 the tales and language evoke what feels like a simpler time.  There's a particularly interesting story about the girls sending money off to Palestine to plant a tree in George Washington's forest.  I had to look this up and it was a real thing that was proposed in the 1930's. 

The cover and inside end pages have the best illustrations.  Sadie Rose Weilerstein also authored popular The Adventures of K'Ton Ton.  

What to Look for in Autumn

 The final seasonal Ladybird Nature book we've collected and it's just as wonderful as all the rest.  Reading through it is like taking a gentle walking tour through England in the Autumn.  The descriptions are often just as lovely as the pictures and it's the kind of book that we are currently happily escaping into.  

What to Look for in Autumn

E. L. Grant Watson

illustrations by C.F. Tunnicliffe 1960

Other Ladybird Nature Books:

What to Look for in Winter

What to Look for in Spring

What to Look for in Summer

The Noisy Clock Shop

 Another fun book about sounds and noises accompanied by Art Seiden's colorful midcentury pictures.  Seriously, how wonderful are all the clock illustrations?!  

Mr. Winky, the clock mender, decides to leave his shop and go where there is no noise.   He travels all the way out into the countryside, only to realize that there are noises everywhere, and he's happy to return to the familiar tickity tick and dings and dongs of his clocks shop.

The Noisy Clock Shop

Jean Horton Berg

pictures by Art Seiden 1950

(I can't explain it, but I am such a sucker for faux bois!  I collect a lot of midcentury, vintage images because of it.)