On our recent trip to Philly we also stopped by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. So much fun to be had in this space -- I could probably write several thousand words about how well curated their collection is and how much fun it would be for littles to walk through! Instead, though, I'll write several hundred about some of the fun books we found in the gift shop and took home to read.



Kid Artists: True Tales of Childhood from Creative Legends by David Stabler. I brought this back as a souvenir for Anouk and we've been reading a chapter or two every night before bed. Who ever imagined Picasso of Van Gogh as a little kid? But it makes these greats seem very accessible and gives a hint into why they focused their art the way they did. For instance, knowing Beatrix Potter was the lonely child of rich and inattentive parents makes you really appreciate the tiny animal friends she created for herself. Knowing Theodore Geisel (AKA Dr. Seuss) was bullied mercilessly at school makes you understand why he would want to escape into a world of fun and silliness. There's a Kid Athletes and Kid Presidents volume in the series, too.




The Game of Patterns by Herve Tullet: Tullet of Press Here fame has a whole series of books that we got to play with at the museum's play area. The Game of Patterns, The Game of Finger Worms, The Game of Shapes. They were beautifully done like all of Tullet's works and a nice break from ducks and rabbits and traditional board book fare.



A is for Art Museum by Katy Friedland. Alphabet books are nothing new but this one highlights a masterpiece seen at PMA for each letter. The text also helps children begin to understand how to see and talk about art. (Next to Picasso's Three Musicians: "M is for music. Three men dressed in costumes play music. Can you see the circles and lines of their musical notes?") Friedland's other books is Art Opposites which also focuses on the PMA collection.

I wish we could go back to Philadelphia Museum of Art soon because their Wild: Mike Nichols exhibit opens at the end of June with tons of photographs of the natural world and creatures in it. If you can't make it either, see a trailer for the exhibit here.

Anouk has a lot going on lately -- new sibling on the way, new school schedule, new sports and friends and responsibilities -- so much so that she's become sometimes a little skittish about taking on new things. I can't -- I don't think I can -- I'm not sure I'll like that. So when we got the opportunity to review Ed Vere's new book, Max the Brave, I jumped at the chance, thinking it would be the perfect opener to talking about doing new things, even ones that seem a little daunting.


The fact that the main character is a cat didn't hurt (you know we're cat people over here). And the fact that the story reminded us of some of our old established favorites was good, too (there are hints of the classic The Monster at the End of This Book and of Jon Klassen's This is Not My Hat). But most of all, I enjoyed the fact that when Max the kitten first sets out to chase a mouse, he has no idea what he's doing, or even what a mouse looks like (leading to the story's hijinks). But he's determined to do it nonetheless.

And now, for the first time ever on the blog, here's A.'s review in her own words: "This book was good because it was silly. My favorite part was when [ED: spoiler alert!] the mouse played a trick on Max. The pictures of Max were cute and I want to read about him again tomorrow and the day after that."



Yay, little A.! Look for her to be eviscerating popular fiction in the New Yorker in 25 years or so.

To win a copy of Max the Brave for yourself, enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below! 5 copies will be given away (plus a snazzy red cape like Anne's) and you have until October 31st to enter. Good luck!


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Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. The thoughts and opinions in this post are my own. 

Mr. Tweed's Good Deeds: Mr. Tweed is like a less obnoxious Where's Waldo (I don't know why I find Waldo obnoxious but I guess I do?) I think because it starts out slowly (he finds one kite, then two fish, then three etc...) or the message that you should do your best to help people even if it inconveniences you. This book is actually kind of hard -- Anouk and I never found that last gift-wrapped present before our library due date.



Beautiful Birds by J. Roussen and E. Walker: Anouk is definitely too old for another alphabet book but this one is SO BEAUTIFUL.


Tell Me What to Dream About by Giselle Potter: Why don't you dream about eating teeny tiny waffles with teeny tiny animal breakfast guests? Or wearing clouds like sweaters? Delivers on the whimsy and more beautiful illustrations.



Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson: A Press Here knockoff in which you can make trees grow and blossom and change throughout the seasons. Anouk cannot resist this type of book (though J & I are kind of sick of them to tell the truth).


Cecil the Pet Glacier by Matthea Harvey: Maybe because I'm pregnant, but this one made me teary. A little girl is adopted by a pet glacier on a trip to Norway -- at first she wants to be rid of him but then she learns that true friends will always be there for each other. Nou thinks it's hilarious how they feed the glacier pebbles. :)


The Cloud Spinner by Michael Catchpool: A fairytale/morality tale about learning to live simply, and about wants versus needs. Love the message, and the art.



Red Knit Cap Girl to the Rescue by Naoko Stoop: This adorable heroine and her adorable friends go on a journey to return a polar bear cub to its home. One in a series of three so far.

Lately Anouk has been really interested in family relationships, how we are connected to all of the people in our family. "What is a cousin?" she'll say, or else, "Tell me again how I'm related to Aunt Bonne/Aunt Judy/Uncle Mike?" And so we set off untangling the thread of our family in a way that an almost-four-year-old can understand.

We got My Family Tree and Me at just the right time because it does a lot of this explaining in a really simple way. I love the author's whimsical drawings of both sides of his family (one European, one Japanese) and showing how they came together in him. One side of the book shows the members of his father's family -- and then, when you start from the back and move toward the middle, the book shows the story of his mother's family. The middle is a family portrait, with every member clearly labeled.
 

Anouk loves this book so much that it makes me wish I had the drawing skills to put together one for our own German/Dutch/English/Irish/Lebanese clan! Although honestly, I'm not sure that the page would be big enough to fit so many people...

Note: I was sent a review copy of this book by the publisher. The opinions in this post are all mine. 

Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio: So this might be the most adorable book ever. Two dog families find out that it's not what looks right that makes a family, but what feels right. We love the little Parisian touches, ooh lala.



I'm Not Bobby by Jules Feiffer: Rather than do what his mother tells him, a little boy imagines all the other things he could be besides himself (a rocket ship, a lion).




Gobble Growl Grunt by Peter Spier: My friend J. mentioned the other day that she searched high and low for a copy of this book when her kids were born -- A. and I came across it at the thrift store and brought it home for something like 10 cents. It's been worth 10 times that in the time we've had it. We love the whimsical way the animals are illustrated and the way they are grouped together on the pages according to the types of noises they make. I also like a lot that the quiet animals are represented, too.



Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier: Anouk loves reading this book, which is not one book but a bunch of little books sandwiched inside each other, growing progressively smaller like a literary matrioshka doll. We especially love Giant's teensy book right in the middle.




Hide and Seek Fog by Alvin Tresselt: This book is written by the author of White Snow, Bright Snow, one of our other favorites. I love so much the beautiful and descriptive writing of how a little village looks with the fog rolling in off the water and how it affects all the people who live in that village.



Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein: I never ran across this Shel Silverstein when I was little. The poems are all the same kind of funny ones you're used to -- but the words have switched letters. It's a hilarious challenge to read.




The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen: A town in Maine helps the animals that escaped off a circus ship hide from their mean owner. A. loves turning the pages and spotting the giraffe cleverly disguised as a clothesline or the elephant posing as a rock in somebody's garden.




Beach by Elisha Cooper: This is probably the most beautiful kids' book I've come across, with the watercoloresque illustrations of the beach. It looks so much like our beaches here in HRVA! The story is simple, basically describing what a day at the beach looks like, but that feels familiar too, and is probably why we love it. It scratches that can't-wait-for-summertime itch.

(to see vol. I of our favorite kids books, click here).

When we visited World of Mirth in Richmond a few weeks ago, we left with a book for Anouk that has become one of our new favorites. A "bedtime shadow book," this book is made up of pages that you shine a flashlight through to project the illustrations onto the ceiling. It's been a big help in getting A. excited about going to bed and for that I am very thankful.


The book we got is called Nighttime Fairies, but there was also one on constellations and one about sea creatures that looked fun (but maybe slightly scary for bedtime, for a toddler?) Anyway, the series includes a version of The Night Before Christmas! The perfect thing to add to our Picture Book Advent Calendar when we break it out for a few weeks, right?

What are your kids' bedtime favorites? Please let me know -- anything that would help smoothe that process would be great. :)

PS: You can find the complete list of Bedtime Shadow Books online here, but World of Mirth also takes phone orders if you'd rather support a great independent business!

It's October, so we finally broke out the Halloween stuff, including some of our favorite vintage Halloween books. We wait all year for our Halloween books! Most of these we found while out and thrifting, but a few are leftovers that my mom saved from when me and my sister were little. It's only the second week of the month, but we've already read through most of these once and are looking forward to reading through them again and again. Below is a description of the titles (with affiliate links to where you can find them, but really, coming across them in a thrift store or secondhand shop is the most fun!)

The Big, BIG Pumpkin: Bear thinks of a creative way to use a big pumpkin from his garden.

Gus and the Baby Ghost: I remember this one, about a ghost and a museum director who adopt a baby ghost, as my favorite from when I was growing up.

Georgie's Halloween: A little ghost wins best costume on Halloween night.

The Pumpkin Smasher: The terrible Turner twins outsmart a Pumpkin Smashing witch who wants to ruin Halloween. Another one from when I was a little girl.

Clifford's Halloween: The big red dog and Emily Elizabeth reminisce about past Halloweens and some of Clifford's best costumes.

The Rabbi and the 29 Witches: This one is really a Jewish folktale and has nothing to do with Halloween but we break it out this time of year. A rabbi and a village run 29 angry witches out of town using nothing but their wits.

What are your favorite Halloween books? Have you made any good thrift store finds lately?

All year long, as my sewing skills matured, I've been pinning more and more elaborate DIY advent calendars that I planned to recreate. But of course procrastination got in the way, and here it is, mid-November, and I haven't started on one. Usually procrastination doesn't pay, but in this case, it did, because I'm in love with the advent calendar we ended up with, featuring Christmas (and Hannukah, and Solstice)-themed picture books, 25 in all.

I scouted these books over the past few months from various thrift stores and used-book shops. (All in all, for a total of 24 books, I would estimate that I spent roughly $12). I wrapped each book individually in Trader Joe's bags, tied some with bakers twine, stamped others, labeled each with a number decal, and put them all together in a basket. Come December 1, Nou will have one to open every night, and James and I will read it to her before bed. By Christmas, she'll have a whole collection, and after Christmas, they'll all go back in the attic to wait for next year (prewrapped, to cut down on prep time). As she gets older, we can replace some of the more toddler-appropriate books with books for big kids or even chapter books and YA.



The winter holiday season is definitely already heavy on the sugar and material goods, so it meant a lot to me to be able to find a way to offer Anouk a holiday treat that was fun without being unhealthy, and also offered us a way to spend time together as a family. Anne has already been poking around the book basket, asking, "Mama, WHEN can I open them?" The anticipation builds. I can't wait for December, and our first holiday season with our big girl. :)

For a complete list of all the books we used in this project, click here or visit the tab at the top of the page.

What are your favorite holiday reads? For grownups, too? For some reason I always think of Gone With the Wind as a Christmas book, not sure why. It's definitely the opposite of heartwarming.

I picked this adorable Japanese mid-century children's book at the thrift store recently during a Christmas-book buying binge. As soon as I saw the delicate water-colored cover, I knew I'd be taking it home. Yes, I totally judged the book by the cover without even a thought to what was inside.

Luckily, as Anne and I soon found out, the story is just as charming as Kazue Mizumura's illustrations. A basic overview of the plot: After a tofu vendor gives him too much change, young Taro has to decide whether to return the extra money or not. Of course he decides the right thing (spoiler alert), and everything ends happily.



This book was written in 1962, and it's fun to see little glimpses of what the Mad-Men era was like in Japan. I love this scene of the father reading his paper in his kimono with the little ashtray in front of him. And the old radio on the chest of drawers, and the Eames-ish-ness of the table...



Reviews I've found of Taro online seem to exclusively support it as a childhood favorite with a sentimental value that lasted into adulthood. More than a few reviewers even mention passing Taro down to their children and grandchildren. A potential family heirloom for 25 cents? Not bad. Not bad at all. Taro is out of print, but used copies can be found all over the internet.

What have you added to your book collection lately?

Chalk by Bill Thomson

On a rainy day, a group of friends finds a bag of magic chalk at a playground. Everything they draw comes to life, which leads to sometimes sticky situations, and the friends must scramble to draw new pictures to deal with the ones they've already drawn. Not only are the drawings in this book amazing, but the premise is a good way to introduce complicated concepts like problem solving and actions and consequences to kids who might not yet have the vocabulary to follow a verbal lesson on the subject.




Tuesday and Flotsam by David Wiesner

The beauty of Wiesner's works is that he tends to sets unfamiliar things in familiar places -- frogs floating over quiet suburban streets in Tuesday, an antique camera washed up on the beach in Flotsam -- and encourages you to go from there. Wiesner has several other books, but these two are our favorites, and I tend to buy them again and again to give as birthday presents for the kids in our crowd (spoiler alert for the few of you reading whose little ones' birthdays are upcoming). Funny, sweet, haunting and strange. A good mix.


Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole

The concept of slavery is still way beyond Anouk's pay grade at the moment but I brought Unspoken home as an experiment because I wanted to see how her little mind would interpret the complicated story of a white girl helping a runaway slave hide from patrolers. Unspoken is designed (it feels weird to say "written" when there are no words) well enough that she was able to get pretty close, pointing out the "bad men," understanding that the runaway character was hiding from them. I will note that she did seem to find a couple of the (beautiful, graphite) images a little disturbing, namely one of a pair of eyes peeking out from a haystack. So maybe this one isn't for the very youngest readers, but I think 4s and up should enjoy it (when we're reading it to A., we just skip that page and have no other issues).



Wave by Suzy Lee

This one is charmingly simple: A little girl and a wave play with each other at the beach. At first the two are separated, with the girl on the left pages and the wave on the right, but slowly as they jump, dance, and roll toward one another, they are drawn into the same frame. This was a fabulous book for helping A. overcome some of her fear of the ocean and just really cute overall.



You Can't Take a Balloon into the National Gallery by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman

A boy and girl visit the National Gallery of Art with their grandmother, and the little girl leaves her balloon outside with a bystander, who accidentally lets it go and must scramble to find it. The balloon takes him on a chase through Washington, DC, encountering all sorts of people and famous landmarks, while the children and grandmother study paintings that reflect the balloon's movement through the city. (My favorite is a George Bellows painting of a boxing match juxtaposed with an argument on the floor of the US Senate). The National Gallery was one of our favorite places to go when we lived in the DC area, and it was nice to see it again, even in book form. Plus, we also really love the fun, Eloise-y vibe.


Have you read any of these books with your kids? What are some of your favorite wordless picture books?