BOOKS BY CLAIRE BRANDENBURG, ABOUT MONKS AND PRAYER...

If you read my post about the book UNDER THE GRAPEVINE, by Chrissi Hart, then you've already been introduced to the beautiful artwork of Claire Brandenburg.  Claire, herself, has written and illustrated four beautiful children's books I'd like to mention today...



DANIEL AND THE LION (Conciliar Press) is a unique picture book, set in modern times, about an American boy named Daniel, who must face his own "Lion" - fear - brought on by a bully who has been picking on him at school.  Find out how Daniel receives help and comfort from not only his friends and family, but his guardian angel and the saints, in facing his fear.

"Jesus have mercy on me. I am really afraid of that Paul guy at school Help me.  Take away my fear"

THE MONK WHO GREW PRAYER (Conciliar Press)  I love this sweet, simple telling of a Monk who prays continually day and night as he goes about his tasks, such as working in his garden and chopping wood.

As he works, he is really growing prayer.

SONG OF THE TALANTON (Conciliar Press)  A visitor to a women's desert monastery is awoken early in the morning for prayer with the nuns by the rhythmic summons of the talanton.   (A talanton is a board used in monasteries for tapping out the call to prayer for different services during the day.)  This book comes with a wonderful audio CD.

THE TUMBLED STONE (New Varatec Publishing) In this beautifully told and illustrated tale, a pilgrim visiting Spruce Island (of St. Herman) in Alaska, finds a smooth stone that God uses to reveal to him the Saints of North America.

To learn more about Claire and all her books, visit her website.  Claire lives in Taos, New Mexico.

THE FUN AND SCIENCE OF BUBBLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How mesmerizing it is to look at a soap bubble, just a thin film of iridescent soapy water that somehow forms a sphere around nothing but air!  Blowing bubbles is such a carefree activity for children...I love watching their little outstretched hands trying to reach for the bubbles, barely floating up and out of their reach.  I love hearing their squeals of laughter, if they happen to touch one and watch it  - POP! - or better yet, land on those hands.

In our homeschooling years, I came across several books on the science of bubbles. There are also some cute picture books about counting bubbles and getting clean with them.  Blowing bubbles is just plain FUN for an afternoon in the backyard or at the park, at birthday parties, and of course, in the tub!


Picture Books:
CLIFFORD COUNTS BUBBLES by Norman Bridwell.  Clifford, the Big Red Dog counts bubbles.
BUBBLE, BUBBLE by Mercer Mayer.  A boy creates all kinds of animals with his magic bubble maker.
BUBBLES, BUBBLES by Kathi Appelt.  Bath-time bubbles!

Non-Fiction:

POP!  A BOOK ABOUT BUBBLES by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. (Ages 4-6)  Delightful color photographs accompany a text full of facts about bubbles.  Also, a page of experiments and a recipe for bubbles.
BUBBLES RAINBOWS & WORMS by Sam Ed Brown.  Science Projects for Preschoolers.
THE UNBELIEVABLE BUBBLE BOOK by John Cassidy, David Stein. (Klutz Press) Comes with instructions for using the attached "Bubble Thing" to create six-foot rainbow bubbles!  All ages.

THE UNIVERSAL STORIES OF SWEDISH AUTHOR, ASTRID LINDGREN

illustrated by Louis S. Glanzman

One of my all-time favorite chapter books as a young girl, had to be PIPPI LONGSTOCKING (published in 1945).  Have you ever met her?  She is the strongest girl in the world, has bright red hair done up in braids that stick straight out on each side, wears odd stockings with men's shoes, and lives all alone in a wacky house ("Villa Villekulla") with her horse and a monkey named "Mr. Nilsson".  She is completely independent and does things in her own, unique way:  she sleeps with her feet on her pillow and her head under the covers, she makes cookies on the floor, and takes on burglars single-handedly.   Her mother died when she was a baby, and her father was lost at sea.  She befriends her neighbors, Annika and Tommy, and they share many adventures with her.  (PIPPI GOES ON BOARD (1946); PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS (1948).   (Please don't waste your time on any of the adapted films - some things are just better left to the imagination!)

Illustration by Nancy Seligohn

Another series of books written by Astrid Lindgren is THE CHILDREN OF NOISY VILLAGE.  Think of Laura Ingalls Wilder's LITTLE HOUSE books, only set in Sweden.  Charming stories of a simpler time.  These delightful tales include CHRISTMAS IN NOISY VILLAGE and HAPPY TIMES IN NOISY VILLAGE, with quaint illustrations by Ilon Wikland.  There are three Swedish farm houses that make up "Noisy Village", named so because of how many children inhabit these homes!.  The story is told in first person by 9 year-old Lisa about the mischievous adventures of the children.  All the adventures are innocent and full of fun, and will be enjoyed by boys and girls alike.

A third set of books by Astrid Lindgren that I'd like to mention is THE TOMTEN and its companion story, THE TOMTEN AND THE FOX.  These two gorgeously illustrated picture books were favorites of my youngest son.  The setting is a quiet farmstead, deep in the forest:  "Here is a lonely old farm, where everyone is sleeping.  All but one..." a  little dwarf-like creature (think of a gnome*) from Swedish folklore, called a "Tomten" who guards the farm.  No one has ever seen him, but sometimes his little footprints are visible in the snow.  He checks on all the barnyard animals and talks to them in Tomten language (a silent little language they can understand).  He tiptoes to the house and peeks in on the sleeping children before going back to his cozy corner of the hayloft, where he dreams of the coming summer.

The second story is much the same with it's moonlit scenes - as the Tomten sees a fox, Reynard, who is prowling around the hen house.  He shares his porridge with the hungry fox and the chickens are kept safe... for another night.  The restful watercolor illustrations were done by Harald Wiberg.

* THE GNOME CRAFT BOOK The Gnome Craft Book includes instructions for making Astrid Lindgren’s classic gnome, the Tomten. 

"Childhood is not age, but a state of mind".  Astrid Lindgren

JUST FOR FUN: SOME ENTERTAINING READ ALOUDS WHEN KIDS ARE SICK

I recently came across two very entertaining books. They are perfect choices for reading aloud to a sick child, who is bored in bed and needing some cheering up.

The first book is an older classic - one of those "just for fun" books that sparks the imagination.  Like the boy in the story, your child may want to get busy with A BIG BALL OF STRING (written and illustrated in 1958, by Marion Holland, grades K-3)

Told in rhyming text, it's the story of a boy who starts collecting pieces of string...  "I had a little string.  It was no good at all.  I went to look for more string to make a string ball."  When he comes down with a cold and finds himself sick in bed, he keeps himself occupied by thinking up things to do with the string:  "I can look at my book!  I can shoot with my gun!  I make my bell ring! I can make my train run!" 

Who knew what a fun investment a ball of string could be?

The second "just for fun" book I'd like to mention, was recommended to me by a friend and her avid library-going preschooler.  It's a newer book:  RHYMING DUST BUNNIES, written and illustrated by Jan Thomas,  and wasn't around when my kids were little. But if it had been, the laughs we'd have gotten from it would have made allergies and all the efforts we made against them more bearable!  

This is one of the silliest and funniest books I've ever come across.  It's about three Dust Bunnies who are having fun rhyming.  A fourth friend, "BOB", just doesn't quite seem to catch on.   They don't understand his offering of, "Look!", in their attempt to rhyme, "far, jar, and tar" with "car".  And when they try to rhyme "bug":  "rug...hug...mug", his response is, "Look out!"  Assuming he's just rhyme challenged, but not realizing he's simply warning them about an approaching "monster with a broom" (a vaccum), they get swept along and...well, you'll have to go find the book to see how the hilarity ends! 

Jan Thomas has written and illustrated several other picture books that are just as fun!

FINDING PEACE...

Who better to follow my last post about animal-lover James Herriot than St. Francis of Assisi and St. Seraphim of Sarov?

Painting by Marilyn Moyes

THE GOOD MAN OF ASSISI by Mary Joslin, with illustrations by Alison Wisenfeld, for ages 4-8, is a perfect introduction to the story of the life of this peaceful saint of the West and his love for all - but especially, for animals.  It very simply explains how Francis turned from a life of knighthood and war and parties, to a life of poverty, prayer, and devotion to Christ.  The restful watercolor illustrations portray the medieval Italian countryside and St. Francis as its peaceful inhabitant perfectly.  His prayer, "Lord make me an instrument of your peace..." is printed on the last page.







SAINT SERAPHIM'S BEATITUDES:  BLESSINGS FOR OUR PATH TO HEAVEN, by Fr. Daniel Marshall, illustrations by Paul Drozdowski  (Based on the life of the Wonderworker of Sarov).  Ages 4 & up.    Some may not be familiar with St. Seraphim.   He is one of the most renowned Russian monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church.  To many he advised:  "Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved".   He died in 1833.  This book is lavishly detailed and full of the Saint's sayings and events from his life.

Wild animals—bears, rabbits, wolves, foxes and others—came to the hut of this ascetic. 

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL, ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL...

Yorkshire dales

I was reminiscing while looking through an old scrapbook with my daughter, of a trip my family made to England the summer after I graduated from high school.  We came across some peaceful pictures of the rolling green hills (dales), divided up like a patchwork quilt by rough stone walls...my daughter immediately said, "Like from James Herriot's books!"


If you have never read any of James Herriot's stories, put them on your list!  Even if you are not a huge fan of animal books, you will not be disappointed.  The stories are contained in several semi-autobiographical books about his early career as a country vet in Yorkshire, during the '40's.  The inspiring recountings are full of humor and compassion.

James Herriot was his pen name - he was born James Alfred ("Alf") Wright in 1916, in England.  He grew up in Scotland, eventuallly ending up in Yorkshire after graduating from Glasgow Veterinary College.  At the age of 50, challenged by his wife, Herriot began his writing career in 1966.  His now famous memoir, ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, was originally titled, If Only They Could Talk.  Herriot died at home in 1995, at the age of 78, from prostrate cancer.


Other books in the series by James Herriot include: ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL, ALL THINGS WISE AND WONDERFUL, and THE LORD GOD MADE THEM ALL. (for advanced readers) 
Also by the author for older readers: JAMES HERRIOT'S DOG STORIES and JAMES HERRIOT'S CAT STORIES.

JAMES HERRIOT'S TREASURY FOR CHILDREN: WARM AND JOYFUL TALES is a beautifully illustrated collection of all Herriot's stories for children.  Many of the tales are adapted from ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL.  There are 8 stories in all, with illustrations by Ruth Brown and Peter Barrett.  For ages Kindergarten and up.