Bing Bang Boing

The other day when Charlotte came home we sat out on the back step with our after-school-snack and this very silly book of poems.  Some were so funny I had to call Madeleine out to hear them too.  They are in the same vein as Shel Silverstein, sharp, witty, a little bit irreverent, and playful.  They're accompanied by illustrations so Charlotte picked out the ones she wanted me to read based on the pictures.

Most of them are short and sweet and I'll probably copy a few to put as notes in the kids' lunches.

Bing Bang Boing

Douglas Florian 1996

From a Railway Carriage

In keeping with the train theme, here's a splendid poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.

From a Railway Carriage

Robert Louis Stevenson

illustrated by Llewellyn Thomas 1993

What a glorious way to describe racing along on a train and the sights that pass by "in the wink of an eye".  The illustrations show a little girl peering out of the carriage window and all that she sees- a child, a tramp, a cart run away in the road, each a glimpse and gone forever.

An Engine's Story

Somewhere in Illinois there is a magnificent train museum.  Not the kind of train museum filled with scale models, oh no.  This museum is filled with large old locomotives, collections of trolly cars, dining and sleeper cars you can walk through and the most beautiful industrial designed machines.  We visited this place and I was quite impressed- and I'm not even "into" trains!  I particularly liked the smooth, rounded art deco styled engines from the 1930's-1950's.  What a golden age of mechanical design!   

Look at this beauty!

Here is a simple little book with the best vintage train pictures.  Published in 1928 I'm pretty sure we saw this very same engine at the museum.  The text is straightforward and describes how a train runs and all the parts and people working on it.  It was originally a school book (a Social Science Reader).  Really I just love the illustrations.

An Engine's Story

Helen S. Read

illustrated by Eleanor Lee 1928

Children playing "train".

The King of Kennelwick Castle

The King of Kennelwick Castle

Colin West

pictures by Anne Dalton 1990

This type of rhyming is called a cumulative tale (I'm a nerd so I find this so interesting!).  It's when the story is told in a chain, each line being repeated and built on the last.  The House that Jack Built is another example.   Sometimes these can be fun to read, and sometimes they're just tedious!  I like the pictures in this one.  And don't worry, you find out what's in the bundle the boy is carrying to the king in the end!

Of Swans, Sugarplums, and Satin Slippers

Of Swans,  Sugarplums, and Satin Slippers

Ballet Stories for Children

Violette Verdy 1991

illustrated by Marcia Brown

Today is Charlotte's first day of ballet class.  She's very excited.  We have her black leotard, pink tights and ballet shoes all ready.  This summer we read this book over several nights at bedtime.  After each story we looked up the ballet on youtube and watched some of the dances.  I think that really made it come alive for Charlotte.  The stories included The Firebird, Coppelia (which I think was Charlotte's favorite and the ballet we saw performed was amazing), Giselle, Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker of course.