The Magic Wood

I meant to post this months ago...

The Magic Wood

Henry Treece

painting by Barry Moser 1992

We've found that summer nights can be dark and mysterious and even a little bit scary.  Anyone familiar with the erlking folk tales will recognize his spirit in this poem by Henry Treece (first published in 1945).  I love to read the repeating refrain:

The wood is full of shining eyes,
The wood is full of creeping feet,
The wood is full of tiny cries:
You must not go to the wood at night!

I met a man with eyes of glass

And a finger as curled as the wriggling worm,

And hair all red with rotting leaves,

And a stick that hissed like a summer snake.

He made me a penny out of a stone,

And showed me the way to catch a lark

With a straw and a nut and a whispered word

 And a pennorth of ginger wrapped up in a leaf.

The illustrations and wording may be a bit sinister for younger folks.  I've read it to Charlotte a few times and she actually requested it the other night.  She called it the "scary night" book.

Pancakes for Breakfast

Pancakes for Breakfast

Tomie dePaola 1978

The other morning Charlotte picked this book out. So of course we then had to make pancakes for breakfast!  We didn't gather the eggs from the hen house, or churn our own butter but they still came out yummy.

There's no words to read, just nice Tomie dePaola pictures showing the story.  We watch the woman gather all her ingredients only to be disappointed by her dog and cat and she has to eat breakfast with her neighbors in the end.

When the Sky is Like Lace

A friend just recently pulled this off our shelf.  Another amazing book illustrated by Barbara Cooney.  I think it may be out of print, but it's worth tracking down. 

When the Sky is Like Lace

Elinor Lander Horowitz 1975

illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Elinor Lander Horwitz creates a magical story about a magical night when otters sing and slugs sulk and you can't scratch your nose and you eat spaghetti with pineapple sauce. It's a bimulous night when the sky is like lace and everything is strange-splendid and plum-purple.

There are some made up words in it that are perfectly believable and three fair haired girls walking barefoot on ground that "feels like the velvet inside a very old violin case."

One of my very favorites to read aloud. Charlotte kicked off her shoes and curled up on the couch to listen just now.

Because on bimulous nights when the sky is like lace, the trees eucalyptus back and forth, forth and back, swishing and swaying and swishing- in the fern-deep grove at the midnight end of the garden.

 

If you plan to go out on a bimulous night when the sky is like lace, here are some rules you must remember:

Never talk to a rabbit or a kissing gourami.

If your nose itches, don't scratch it.

Wear nothing that is orange, not even underneath.

Now Through the Dusk

School has started and we are up just after 6am.  These days I'm looking forward to sleep at bedtime.

And lovely Sleep

With long-drawn oar

Turns away

From the whispering shore

Loud Emily

Loud Emily

Alexis O'Neill 2001

illustrated by  Nancy Carpenter

We picked up this book while visiting the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton.  It houses beautiful wooden boats that my husband Chris drools over.   
I'm quite taken with these illustrations, they're meant to resemble American Folk art from the early part of the 19th century.  The story is cute, and reminds me of Madeleine and Charlotte.  Both of my daughters have loud voices.  Emily's parents and tutor are concerned that her normal "Emily" voice is so loud.  Only the cook appreciates it.  "How grand!  A lass who speaks up!" she says.

While on a trip to the harbour, Emily boards a ship where her loud voice is used to shout the captain's orders.  All the crew love her and on a foggy day she saves the ship from disaster.

Both the author and illustrator leave notes about the history and inspiration for the story.  And I liked how the end pages had scrimshaw-like drawings and lines from old sailors' chanties.

The Little Island

 The Little Island (Dell Picture Yearling) 

Margaret Wise Brown 1946

illustrated by Leonard Weisgard

 

Soon we leave for the Thousand Islands in upstate NY.  It's one of our favorite places and also where my dad's side of the family is.  So we'll get to see our country cousins and boat and swim.

There really are over 1000 islands in that stretch of the river and the whole area is very beautiful.  Chris and I always come home dreaming and scheming how we can afford to buy a house on an island up there (we can't!).  Some islands are quite big (even with a road or two), but most are smaller with only one or two houses on them and are accessible only by boat.  And I've seen plenty like the island in this book, with only enough room for a few trees and shrubs.

This little island is in the ocean (I always imagine someplace in the Pacific along the coast of California or Oregon).  It's a character all it's own in this story- a home for seals, and gulls, and even a visit from a kitten.  Nothing exciting happens, but it's a sweet story to read and the illustrations, like paintings, have won a Caldecott. 

Night came to the little Island
dark and still
And seven little fireflies
flashed in the darkness.
A bat flew around and around the pear tree
and woke up the owl.
The wind whistled.

If anyone is wondering about the author's name- Golden MacDonald was the pen name for Margaret Wise Brown of Goodnight Moon fame.

The Dark Emperor

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards))

Joyce Sidman 2010

illustrated by Rick Allen

There's something about a summer night.  We stay up late and listen to all the lush insect sounds, the sky gets dark and cool and everything smells sweeter.  How perfect then to sit out by the fire, or lay in bed and read such things:

Now
it is midnight,
the trilling hour,
and all I want
is to feel the thick heat
on the hard case of my body
and sing,
               sing,

Joyce Sidman writes some really wonderful poems about nighttime and the creatures that inhabit it.  No wonder this book won a Newberry award!  Each poem is accompanied by a column of information.  I even learned about trees and how they use the night to heal their bark and stretch their roots.  The block print illustrations by Rick Allen are fantastic.