Hiawatha's Childhood

 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous poem (commonly memorized by school children in years past) gets a gorgeous retelling with Errol Le Cain's pictures.  Each full page spread is just beautiful.  This is a nice version for little ones because as you read Longfellow's lyrical words there's plenty for them to look at in Le Cain's art.

Hiawatha's Childhood

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

illustrated by Errol Le Cain 1984

 

Rumpelstiltskin by Paul Galdone

 Paul Galdone of Anatole fame retells this fairytale and illustrates it with some wonderful pictures.  I always thought the story of Rumpelstiltskin was odd because it's never explained who he was or where he came from, or why he wanted the baby.  It also bothered me as a little girl that the king only married the miller's daughter because she could turn straw into gold, not because he actually loved her!  And also because her father put her in such an awful position.  But then, fairytales are sometimes like that.

Rumpelstiltskin

retold and illustrated by Paul Galdone 1985

Marguerite de Angeli's Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes

Marguerite de Angeli's Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes

illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli 1954

Marguerite de Angeli is popular for her historical fiction, especially stories taking place in the area around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she lived.  In this book her darling illustrations, including some full page color ones, accompany all the familiar nursery rhymes.   

The Little Golden Mother Goose

The Little Golden Mother Goose

Another Feodor Rojankovsky from our collection.  We must have dozens of versions of Mother Goose!

16 Words

  Since our house is filled with books of poetry, I appreciate the children's biographies that are about the poets themselves.  16 Words is a lovely imagining of what inspired William Carlos Williams and led him to write poetry that seems short and simple but gave such a sense of the moment and emotion.

My friend, Margaux, and I are currently writing a poem a day to send to each other.  It's a pretty fun practice!  A lot of our poems are inspired by our daily life and the world outside our back door.  (Much like Williams Carlos William's inspiration).

16 Words

William Carlos Williams and "The Red Wheelbarrow"

Lisa Rogers

illustrations by Chuck Groenink 2019

    

Tales from the Arabian Nights

Tales from the Arabian Nights

told by Margaret Soifer and Irwin Shapiro

illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren 1957

Look at these glorious pages by Gustaf Tenggren!   He's another Golden Age Illustrator that I greedily collect.  Since most of our books are found at thrift stores and flea markets and used bookshops, his books are buried treasure indeed!