A Peaceable Kingdom

A Peaceable Kingdom

The Shaker Abecedarius

Illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen 1978

The Shakers were a religious group that envisioned an egalitarian community devoted to a simple way of life.  Although they had some flourishing communities, they didn't believe in marriage or procreation and eventually they dwindled and died out. As austere as their beliefs might have seemed, they managed to produce this whimsical animal alphabet rhyme as a tool to teach children to read.  Alice and Martin Provensens iconic illustrations have made it a classic.   

I have also happen to have a clean paperback copy for sale on my Ebay shop.  

The Treasury of Egyptian Mythology

Charlotte was studying ancient Egypt in school last Spring.  I found these books on our shelves and read a little to her but, though very interesting, they aren't exactly kid friendly.  I confess I know very little about Egyptian gods and mythology.  So this big book was a treat for me as well.  I absolutely love the illustrations.  And the writing is quite good too as the creation myths and and various gods and goddesses are told.   

The Treasury of Egyptian Mythology

Donna Jo Napoli

Illustrations by Christina Balit 2013

As a final treat (while the world was in Covid lockdown) we "toured" the Egyptian rooms at the British Museum.  It was really neat!

The Man in the Moon as He Sails the Sky

The Man in the Moon as He Sails the Sky

and Other Moon Verse

collected and illustrated by Ann Schweninger 1979

Absolutely lovely collection of moon verse.  Mostly from Mother Goose but with some Wordsworth, Blake, Stevenson, and Lear included.  (The dedication "To Uri Shulevitz" is fitting.)

(How sweet is this fox and raccoon having tea by the light of the moon?!)

Tonight the color

Of the moon

Is amber tea

In a silver spoon.

Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush

 Tree and Dab never had time to find out about the past, they had so little of the present.  

Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush

Virginia Hamilton 1982

I found this book in our church's children's library years ago.  When I tracked down my own copy I had to have the Dillon's cover (man I love their artwork!).  Part ghost story, time travel, family story and coming of age, it has a haunting storytelling quality that I just loved.  It's more of a teen YA fiction than Hamilton's "The House of Dies Drear" (and I liked it better).

A Band of Angels

A little blending of fact and fiction, this book introduced us to the Jubilee Singers and the story of their origins at Fisk University.  I always like books that lead us down a rabbit hole of research and new information like this.   Raul Colon's warm golden illustrations are like sepia photographs.

A Band of Angels

Deborah Hopkins

illustrated by Raul Colon 2002

 

The People Could Fly

The People Could Fly

American Black Folktales

Virginia Hamilton

illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon 1993

 I can't think of a better pairing than Virginia Hamilton and Leo and Diane Dillon. Hamilton's collection of folktales are rich with dialect, clever animals, supernatural characters, exaggerated situations, and stories of freedom from slavery.   I really appreciated her notes at the end of each one, explaining the historical significance or language or expounding on the story. 

" Remember that these folktales were once a creative way for an oppressed people to express their fears and hopes to one another.  They lend themselves well to being read out loud, as they were told out loud so long ago....These tales were created out of sorrow.  But the hearts and minds of the black people who formed them, expanded them, and passed them on to us were full of love and hope.  We must look at the tales as a celebration of the human spirit."

The Snow Speaks

This is actually a Christmas book.  But we tend to get most of our snow in the months of January, February and March.  And we've had a couple snow storms recently that have left the world around us white and magical.  

In Nancy White Carlstrom's poem snow speaks, "Here Here Here", "Cold Cold Cold", "Blow Blow Blow".  And two children listen and watch waiting for other secrets they know the snow has in store.

The Snow Speaks

Nancy White Carlstrom

illustrated by Jane Dyer 1992