Charlotte's Web

 

The early summer days on a farm are the happiest and fairest days of the year.  Lilacs bloom and make the air sweet, and then fade.  Apple blossoms come with the lilacs, and the bees visit around among the apple trees.  The days grow warm and soft.  School ends, and children have time to play and to fish for trouts in the brook.

Charlotte's Web

by E.B. White 2001

pictures by Garth Williams

 Summer is full upon us, so this blog may be getting a little sparse. These days we are swinging out on the hammock, biking to the playground, spending time at the beach and my parents' pool, and reading well into the night with fans humming across our beds. 

These warm lazy months are the perfect time to read "Charlotte's Web" to my own Charlotte. (I first read this to Madeleine when she was two but Charlotte's attention span is a bit shorter so we're reading it little by little at naptime and bedtime).  It has the pictures by Garth Williams that I remember from my own copy when I was a child.

Barefoot Days

How I love these barefoot days!

George and Martha

George and Martha

James Marshall 1974

George and Martha Encore

James Marshall 1977

George and Martha Rise and Shine - About Two Fine Friends, 5 Short Stories - Hardcover - 1976 Macmillian Children's Choice Edition

James Marshall 1976

George and Martha are our favorite hippos.  We've read through these books so many times I've lost count.  The kids loved hearing them and they were often some of the first books they learned to read for themselves.  I just love the pictures too (especially the peeping George one!).

Come Away From the Water, Shirley

We were recently at the beach with some visiting Tennessee cousins who couldn't get enough of the ocean.  Though I love to doze under the umbrella and bring a book or two, I also love to play.  I'm pretty good at making 'drippy castles', finding mole crabs and body surfing in the waves.

 

Come Away From the Water, Shirley (Red Fox Picture Books)

John Burningham 1992

I think this book is so funny.  It's exactly what kids think-  boring old parents just sitting on the beach while they are off having adventures.  Shirley's parents leisurely sit on the sand telling her what not to do, meanwhile she's out getting captured by pirates, walking the plank, fighting and running off with the pirate flag and finding buried treasure.