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.
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!
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"!)
Another version of Pilgrim's Progress that I didn't know existed! Illustrated beautifully by Robert Lawson and adapted for an easier read for children. I was delighted to find this at the thrift store (especially on $2 Tuesday!) and add it to our collection. Maybe not as engaging as Joe Sutphin's animal version, or as nostalgic as The Dangerous Journey, it still has a charm of it's own. And this story of the burdened pilgrim Christian and the cast of allegorical characters and adventures that he meets never gets old.
There's still a part of me that wants to be an entomologist. I've never lost my love of bugs since I was 10 years old. Apparently Elise Gravel hasn't either! Her adorable bug pictures accompany facts and interesting information about the most populous creatures on earth.
