Children on a Farm

Encylcopaedia Britannica released a bunch of these "True-To-Life Books" which used photographs to tell the story.  Published in 1962, this one has some nice photos and illustrations of a bucolic life on a farm throughout the seasons.   Because of the cover I like to display this in the Fall.

Children on a Farm

Jory Graham

illustrations by Hildegard Lehmann 1962

When their mother gets sick and "needs a long rest" siblings Jerry and Joan are sent to live on their Aunt and Uncle's farm.  It's so unlike their small apartment in the city!  The pictures take us through the year as the children learn to fish, pick blackberries, and collect apples and walnuts.  Just when it is time to pick out a Christmas tree, Jerry and Joan's parents are ready to take them home.  (I guess their mother needed a LONG rest!)

(I love the dresses!)

Whobody There?

I uncovered this unique book at the thrift store.  It was popular to tell stories or teach children through books that had photographs.  They seem very dated to me now, but I love the old photos!  

Whobody There?

Charles and Ann Morse 1971

This book was a way of explaining relationships and having friends in the terminologies of "anybodies" and "who bodies".  

 

Children Just Like Me

 This was a popular book in our house when Madeleine and Henry were little.  They loved looking at the photos of the children from around the world and all the different ways that they lived.  In each child's showcase we see photos of their families, their homes, their best friends, the food they eat, the toys they play with, where they go to school and even how they write their name.  Some of the differences are glaring (especially to privileged American children!) but the whole book is celebratory of these children's lives and their individuality.  A beautifully done project by UNICEF.  (There's a newer version available now.)

Children Just Like Me

Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley 1995

Children and Their Mothers

Children and Their Mothers

Hans Reich 1964

"The Heavens seem as near as our mother's face is..."

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

This beautiful book combines photos of mothers from around the world and a few quotes and poems. I love the multicultural and universal view of motherhood... playful, tender, nurturing, and hard work.  And I adore this from Elizabeth Barret Browning...  

Mother and Child

I took a photography class years ago and a fellow student mentioned this book.  And since I have always loved portraiture, old-fashioned clothing, the subjects of women and children, it makes sense that I would be drawn to these pictures.

This is Dorr's introduction:

The Story is from everlasting to everlasting.  Yet when it happens to you, that your new-born child is laid for the first time in your arms, it is the whole miracle of creation and your heart cries out as did Mary's"  "My soul doth magnify the Lord."  You know without being told that you are as near to touching the divine mystery as one may come in this life.

Here are pictures of my children, my children's children and my god-children.  These are our rooms, our houses and our lands in the States of Connecticut and New Hampshire where we live.  Our story begins on the day of Bet's wedding and speaks of these last years.  Sequence is of no importance here.  A day is remembered for itself and the picture is all that we finally keep.  I am here with my children.

Mother and Child

Nell Dorr 1972

A remarkable bit of trivia is that Dorr was good friends with the artist Tasha Tudor and these photographs were in collaboration with her and her family.