The Voyages of Captain Cook

The Voyages Of Captain Cook - Adventure Stories

Mulder and Zoon, Amsterdam 1971

I actually got this book to cut up for the pictures (old book pages can make great envelopes!)  But when I started reading it I got sucked into the journey of Captain Cook.  I knew a bit about his travels and how he was killed in the Hawaiian Islands, but there's a whole story of adventure here, complete with maps documenting his travels.

We're reading this chapter by chapter at bedtime.  Henry's really enjoying it, but then he likes ships and sea-adventures anyway.

The Gardener

Another city garden book told through letters and wonderful pictures.

The Gardener

Sarah Stewart 2007

pictures by David Small

Lydia, a country girl, goes to stay with her uncle in the city and brings her love of plants and gardening with her. Set during the Great Depression she writes letters home about her new friends and the surprise she plans for her Uncle.   I'm not going to lie, I've been known to tear up while reading this.

The Curious Garden

It's that time of year, when our thoughts are turning to gardening.  Our spring bulbs are up but we still have so much to do in our garden. 

We just bought this lovely book for a birthday present for an awesome 3 year old.  It's been read repeatedly in our house for the last few weeks.  It's one I don't mind reading over and over because the text is short and the pictures are magnificent.

The Curious Garden

Peter Brown 2009

A curious boy finds plants growing and decides to help them along. Soon his "curious" garden is spreading and the city is transformed into something remarkable.  It was inspired by the Highline park in NYC that's on an old unused elevated train line. (How I wish Philadelphia would copy this!)

The garden was especially curious about old, forgotten things.

Blow, Wind, Blow

My mom (aka Gram gram) spent the afternoon with us the other day.  She brought soup and cheese for lunch and doughnut holes for the kids.  Charlotte was so happy to have her here that she asked if she was coming over again the next day! 

Blow Wind, Blow

written and illustrated by Janet and Alex D'Amato

At one point Charlotte sat on my mom's lap while she read her this book, changing the girl's name to "Charlotte".  It was quite appropriate since the first sentence is "Once there was a little girl who just couldn't sit still."  We thought it was neat that even in 1960 (when the book was published) this line appeared:

That's how little girls are, you see, all wiggles and twists.

The little girl meets the wind who doesn't sit still either but blows all about.  She follows it as it rushes through the town, along her mother's laundry on the clothesline and lifting high some boys' kites.  It's a cute simple story. 

Poems

How to Eat a Poem

Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.
                             -Eve Merriam

My friend Margaux recently requested some poetry recommendations.  We read poems pretty much every day- either at naptime or bedtime.  I even sometimes copy poems to put in Madeleine and Henry's lunch.  Besides the fact that I personally love poetry, I think it's important for children to experience it.  They hear rhyme and meter and rhythm and beautiful ideas strung together through language.  I'll read from any of the books of poetry we have (and we have many!), but here are a few that are particularly for children.

A big collection of Walter de la Mare. Every one is a gem!

Rhymes and Verses: Collected Poems for Young People

Walter de la Mare 2002

Madeleine first brought this home from her school library.  When I saw that it included Gerard Manly Hopkins (one of my favorites) I knew we had to get our own copy.  This book also contains more contemporary poets

A Child's Anthology of Poetry

compiled by Elizabeth Hauge Sword 1997

.
I started collecting everything Eugene Field that I could get my hands on. One book has pictures by Maxfield Parrish (reprinted from a 1904 edition) and Lullaby Land is beautifully laid out with illustrations.

Poems of Childhood First Edition

Eugene Field 1996

illustrated by Maxfield Parrish

Hush, little one, and fold your hands-
     The sun hath set, the moon is high;
The sea is singing to the sands,
     And wakeful posies are beguiled
By many a fairy lullaby-
     Hush, little child- my little child!

Lullaby land. Songs of childhood, by Eugene Field. Selected by Kenneth Grahame and illustrated by Charles Robinson.

Eugene Field

illustrated by Charles Robinson

I love that Christina Rosetti's collection of Nursery poems (from 1872) is "dedicated without permission to the baby who suggested them".  Some of her verses also deal with the death of a baby which was often written about and romantacised at that time.

Sing-Song

Christina Rossetti 1968

illustrated by Arthur Hughes

What are heavy?  sea-sand and sorrow:

What are brief?  to-day and to-morrow:

What are frail?  Spring blossoms and youth:

What are deep?  the ocean and truth.

Another library find that I had to track down for myself.  Really fantastic collection of poems.

Magic Casements

compiled by George Carhart and Paul A McGhee 1931

At every used bookshop I look for Sara Teasdale. I can't get enough of her. This is a thin volume, but has wonderful black inked drawings.

Stars To-Night : Verses New and Old for Boys and Girls

Sara Teasdale 1930

illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop

And of course I've already mentioned this wonderful book.

Crinkleroot's Book of Animal Tracking

Yesterday we spent a few hours at the park along the creek.  We brought our nets and Henry brought a wooden boat he made to float along the current.  It sounds like more fun than it was because Madeleine and Henry decided to bicker the whole time and make everyone miserable.  No matter, we found a tiny, baby crayfish and some deer tracks.  In the summer we've spotted frogs and lots of fish there.

At one time there must have been otters and beavers and all sorts of wild life along the creek.  Sadly we mostly found bits of glass and other trash. 

Crinkleroot's Guide to Animal Tracking

Jim Arnosky 1989

In this book the naturalist narrator, "Crinkleroot" teaches about different woodland animals, their behaviors and how to identify their tracks.