The Right Word

The Right Word

Roget and His Thesaurus

Jen Bryant

illustrated by Melissa Sweet 2014

Melissa Sweet's collage illustrations are a maximalist's dream!  And so appropriate to telling the story of Peter Roget's maximalist collection of words.  Roget was a list maker from a very young age.  Lists of weather, elements, the garden, lists of words.   I really didn't know anything about him before, but the breadth of his interests and curiosity paired with his love of language and words make him fascinating!

Clothing

Clothing

Piero Ventura 1993

We have a great selection of reference books about the history of clothing.  They've come in very handy as a vintage clothing collector/seller myself and for various school or art projects.  In this one Piero Ventura's illustrations are fun to look at as he walks us through the timeline of humans creating coverings for themselves.  (Just an FYI there is some historical nudity in some of the drawings.) 

Some of our other books and vintage materials relating to clothing...

Watership Down

Watership Down

Richard Adams

adapted and illustrated by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin 2023

Full disclosure, I've actually never read the novel Watership Down by Richard Adams.  But I was pleased to find this beautiful graphic version adapted by James Sturm.  Appropriate for older children (there is some violence and blood, but nothing too gory),  I think it's a great introduction for young readers who might want to go on and read the full sized novel someday.  It has kept the thought provoking themes of loyalty, freedom, oppression, and bravery.  Joe Sutphin does a particularly wonderful job with the illustrations.  (We've already loved his rendering of animal characters in Little Pilgrim's Progress.)

The Happy Forest

 Oh my goodness how beautiful are these 1968 illustrations by Susan Aspey?!  All pastel blues and pinks and browns.  The stories about the animal characters take place in the Happy Forest, a place where "you just can't help feeling happy while you are there."  There's Tommy the Toad with his pipe, and Chatter the Squirrel who can't seem to keep a secret, and Billie the Beaver who has no inclination to be busy.  Each story even comes with a song!

The Happy Forest

Eric Winstone

illustrated by Susan Aspey 1968

The Sunflower Garden

The Sunflower Garden

Janice May Udry

illustrated by Beatrice Darwin 1969

 Beatrice Darwin's prints accompany this story about a "Algonkian" girl named Pipsa who not only saves her little brother from a snake, but also brings sunflowers to her village.  While Pipsa works hard taking care of her baby brother and helping her mother, her father doesn't seem to notice her.  It's not until she kills a dangerous snake that her father comes to see what has happened and notices the incredible field of sunflowers she has been planting and tending.  Not only does her father tell her he's proud of her, but the whole village praises her for bringing a "new plant and new ideas to her people."