Beneath the Moon

Beneath the Moon

Yoshi Yoshitani 2020

We recently took a little trip to Maryland to see my new baby niece.  The hotel we stayed in was within walking distance to a diner and a Barnes and Nobel.  Breakfast and books, perfect!  We spent a long time in the YA section suggesting books to Charlotte.  She's my pickiest reader but when she gets a book she likes she often reads it in a day and will re-read it over and over again.  I found this book and kept picking it back up again to see the pictures.  They're just stunning!  I ended up buying it just for me!  I like that the stories are condensed to just one page.  It's like a little "snack" of reading.  The collection is pretty diverse and includes some rather odd tales (but then aren't most fairy tales/myths pretty odd!).  "The Woman Who was Kind to Insects" was my favorite story.

This was a slightly different version of Tam Lin than what I'm used to.

I've always loved the Crane Wife (it also makes me think of the Decemberists' song).

Charles Mikolaycak's Peter and the Wolf

 I finally found a copy of Peter and the Wolf illustrated by one of my favorites- Charles Mikolaycak.   And the glorious illustrations do not disappoint.  That red gate!  Interestingly this version is pure story and no musical reference at all.  

Peter and the Wolf

translated by Maria Carlson

illustrated by Charles Mikolaycak 1982

(a Samovar!)

Peter and the Wolf Serge Prokofieff

  How I wish our copy wasn't so beat up!  It's a library discard from 1966 and has obviously been well loved.  We have some other versions of this story, but how wonderful are these illustrations?!

Peter and the Wolf

Serge Prokofieff

pictures by Frans Haacken 1958

The New Baby

 We too have a new baby in our family!  (Not mine, but my sister's, and we are all loving on her!).   I recently found this Eloise Wilkin Golden Book to add to our collection.  Written in the days when mom went off to the hospital and grandma came to stay (in this case it's "Aunt Pat"), it's fun to see all the outdated supplies needed for the baby.  While Wilkin's pictures are always so charming, there's some comical caricatures amongst the adults in this story!  And interestingly, not a single picture of a pregnant looking mom! 

The New Baby

Ruth and Harold Shane

illustrated by Eloise Wilkin

The Valentine Cat

A bit belated for Valentine's Day...

 Here's an adorable story illustrated by Leonard Weisgard about an artist who adopts an abandoned kitten.  Soon the little kitten with a heart shape on his fur is inspiring the artist to paint and draw again.  Through a series of misadventures and one wicked chimney sweep, the kitten ends up at the palace.  Despite the title, there's no love story here, but a happy ending nontheless!

The Valentine Cat

Clyde Robert Bulla

illustrated by Leonard Weisgard 1959