Father-Son, Daddy-Daughter Literary Match-ups...

Books teach us a lot about Father/Son and Daddy/Daughter relationships.  Here's a look at some of my favorites...

FAVORITE FATHER-SON BOOKS
Picture Book:

Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino. All week long, a boy and his father look forward to their Friday ritual - breakfast together at their favorite diner. The leisurely walk through the neighborhood is just as good as the pancakes at the end.

Chapter Book:

Little Britches, Father and I Were Ranchers by Ralph Moody.  My favorite chapter book Father/Son relationship. The main theme of the book is the deep love and trust between a father and son, with some humor, lots of hard work, school mischief, a tornado, horses, cowboys, and roundups thrown in. Boys, especially, will love this book. (Go here for my full review.)

FAVORITE DADDY-DAUGHTER BOOKS
Picture Book: It's a tie between two picture books about Dads who would do just about anything to get something their daughters really want...

Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me by Eric Carle.  Monica's father finds a way to get her the moon.  Great book (written by Carle for his own daughter) - with a little science lesson thrown in!

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems.  In spite of Trixie's babbling, her Daddy doesn't give up and finally discovers where she left her precious bunny.  He becomes her hero.

Chapter Book:

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Pa loved all his daughters, but had a special with Laura, his little "Half Pint".  Maybe because they both had brown eyes?

ALL-TIME GREATEST LITERARY DADS (FOR BOTH SONS AND DAUGHTERS!)

Picture Book Winner:

The picture book father I want to highlight today isn't even human!

Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle.  A daddy seahorse swims around with his egg babies in his pouch belly, waiting for them to hatch and meeting lots of other caring fathers along the way.

Chapter Book Winner:
My favorite chapter book father will always be linked to Gregory Peck, who brought him to life for us all in the film...

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  Widowed father, Atticus Finch is a very exceptional Dad and humble example to his children Scout and Gem.

source

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

PAST FATHER'S DAY POSTS:

• Picture books honoring Military Fathers - here.
• "A Father Who Loved Trains" - here.
• Board Books - "Hugs for Dad" - here.
• For Dads (and Grandpas) who love Baseball - here.
• Favorite Literary Fathers - here.

One Special Day for Big Brothers, Prince George Included!

Since my grandson just gained a new little baby brother, I was so excited when my daughter showed me a book written about sibling boys!  It's One Special Day, by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Jessica Meserve (published in 2012, best for ages 2-5).

I absolutely love this endearing book! Because it's told from the perspective of a boy, it's perfect for boys who have just experienced the birth of a new sibling and are making that important transition into big-brotherhood.

It's a story about Spencer... 

One Special Day really captures the essence of what most boys are.  Spencer's actions are all compared to different animals - and as you read aloud this story with your boy (or girl), he (she) will love to "fill in the blank"...

Yes, Spencer was loud, strong, fast, funny, messy, and wild...

Until one special day, when suddenly all Spencer's energy is intensely concentrated into gentleness (at least for a few minutes) as he holds the new baby (who also happens to be a boy).

...Spencer was a brother!

We've taken tons of photos of my grandson with his new brother, and the pictures look just like the illustration in the book, which captures the look of love and protection Spencer, as a new big brother, suddenly feels for his little new-born sibling.

I also couldn't help but think of some photos of another (more famous - and royal) sibling couple that just hit the press - how cute is Prince George (those blue knee socks!!!!) with his baby sister Princess Charlotte???

HRH THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE/@KENSINGTONROYAL
source

Back to One Special Day -- Make sure you don't miss the front and end inside cover pages, which show a bit more of the story...

At the front of the book you see Spencer by himself in all kinds of typical boy poses (climbing, doing handstands, jumping, etc.)  And on the back end pages he's doing more fun things -- only now he is joined by his little brother, who is no longer an infant, but a little boy himself!

I recently posted about the book Bringing Home the New Baby, which my grandson also loved.  We wanted to buy him a little "Baby Brother Dolly", like the doll the little girl in the book has, so he could feed and change his doll while his Mommy fed and changed his baby brother.  Books about boys and new babies may be hard to come by - but try finding a boy gender baby doll! There were mostly girl dollies in frills and pink, but we finally found one that simply looked like a newborn baby, with a neutral colored sleeper on.

Another - really funny - "new sibling" book (for kids a little bit older) is Julius, The Baby of The World, by Kevin Henkes.  It's told from the perspective of a very precocious little girl mouse named "Lilly", who reluctantly gets a new brother - "Julius".  Hilarious help for sibling rivalry. (4-8 year olds)

Do you have any favorite books that deal with new siblings/sibling rivalry?  I'd love to hear about them!

My Annual Happy Birthday Post for Richard Scarry (But who's counting?)

I've posted Birthday Blogs to honor Richard Scarry (June 5, 1919 - April 30, 1994) several times, but I've got to do it again because really - who's counting??

Find a vintage copy here, on Etsy!

Scarry once said, “I’m not interested in creating a book that is read once and then placed on the shelf and forgotten. I am very happy when people write that they have worn out my books, or that they are held together by Scotch tape. I consider that the ultimate compliment.”

Well, hats off to you, Mr. Scarry, because that is definitely the case around my house.  (You can read about my taped-up childhood copy of Scarry's Busy, Busy, World here.)  

Lately my two-and-a-half year old grandson can't get enough of Scarry's Best Counting Book Ever.   We've lost count of how many times we've read it!!!

My grandson actually dialogs with the story's main character, "Willy Bunny", who - at the suggestion of Father Bunny - walks through the book counting everything that comes across his path.

As a child, what I remember loving most about Richard Scarry's books was all the detail and things going on with all those animals characters!

These days, I read it to my grandson before his nap, and sometimes he wakes up asking for it again! It's really gotten him into counting all his favorite things - planes, buses, ships, bunnies, mice...

When we're done reading, we close the book and say "good-by" to everything on the back cover: Willy Bunny and the mice in the plane, the owl and little bugs in the tree, and the other animals marching along with Willy (my grandson is actually watching me type this right now, looking at this photo, and asking, "Willy Bunny, what're you doing??"  and "That Willy, Grandma.  Willy Bunny." It just melts my heart.  Thanks, Richard Scarry. sniff.)

Supertruck to the Rescue!!!!!!

Among my grandson's favorite things right now is a set of matchbox cars and trucks that belonged to my own sons when they were his age.

Ironically, my daughter found the matchbox cars the same week she checked out a new library book that has become another of my grandson's current favorites: Supertruck, by Stephen Savage...

The city is full of brave trucks who help put out fires and fix power lines.

But the garbage truck?  He just collects the trash (and bears an uncanny resemblance to "Clark Kent" - must be the glasses).

When the city is hit by a terrible blizzard, only one superhero can save the day..."Supertruck", who emerges from his secret garage transformed!

Author/illustrator Stephen Savage's simple and colorful style is so much fun!  We love his illustrations for Margaret Wise Brown's The Father's Are Coming Home (which, by the way, is perfect for Father's Day, coming up at the end of this month.)

A few mornings ago, I had to laugh as my two-and-a-half-year-old grandson greeted me with,

 "Hey Grandma - look at my Bucket Truck!"  

Not quite sure what a "bucket truck" was, I looked questioningly at my daughter, and she pointed to the new library book.  Right there in the story was a bucket truck - green like my grandson's - one of the characters in the book!

Lately Supertruck's friend, Bucket Truck, has been accompanying my grandson everywhere: while eating, doing crafts, building "power lines" with his blocks, riding in the car... everywhere!

Great rescue, Supertruck!  Your story is keeping my grandson's imagination alive and his little hands busy!  (Hmm, I guess I'll have to edit my previous post about "Planes, Trains, and Things that Roar" to include "Trucks", too!)

Czech? Check!

Following my previous post about Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's poignant musical composition, "Goin' Home", I think I'll continue on with my admiration for Czech artists by sharing a fun children's book by a talented author/illustrator from Prague! 

The book is The Mouse Who Ate the Moon, by Petr Horacek.

When my daughter brought this charming book home from the library for her son, she astutely observed, "The story and illustrations are like Eric-Carle-meets-Krtek".  

Not surprisingly, the author/illustrator Petr Horacek relates (here) that growing up in the Czech Republic, he loved the cartoon character Krtek ("Little Mole"), created by Zdenek Miler.  

Krtek

Our family knows about Krtek because my oldest son David studied film in Prague, where the Little Mole has been a beloved character since the mid-1950's.  (Sadly Zdenek Miler, Krtek's creator, died while our son was there in 2011. We're so happy David brought home a little stuffed Krtek and a couple of cute Krtek books, which my grandson loves.)

Back to Petr Horacek: he also said in an interview that Eric Carle is a favorite illustrator of his [source].  The drawings and storyline in Horacek's The Mouse Who Ate the Moon do remind me a lot of Eric Carle's Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me.

Eric Carle's Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me.

I love the bright and colorful Eric-Carle-style images that Horacek painted for his Mouse book, which also involves two other very Krtek-like characters: a mole, and a rabbit...

One evening, a mouse, peering out of her hole, looks at the moon and wishes she could have a piece for her very own.

The next morning, when she sees something she has never seen before - a yellow banana - she thinks a piece of the moon has fallen from the sky and that her wish has come true!

Before she knows it, she's eaten half of it and is regretful, thinking the moon won't be round anymore.

His friends, Rabbit and Mole assure the Mouse, "Nobody can eat the moon,"  and they take her to the top of a hill and show her -- "slowly, something shiny appeared behind the trees."

It was, of course, the moon. Relieved, they go and sit under the stars and eat the other half of Little Mouse's "moon", while the real moon lights up the sky behind them.

This sweet story is a great way to introduce the concept of moon phases to young children.  Great for ages 2-5.

Go here to see other picture books by Petr Horacek. 

Blog-iversary Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to all my winners...
The first 12 people who left comments are going to receive some special tea and a Cavallini and Co. "Tea for Two" notecard. Caitlin, Mary, Taylor, Hannah, "Unknown", Joshua, Danzel, Michele, Michelle M., and Christina - please email me your addresses!  (You can contact me at wendyb[spam]1963@sbclgobal.net with your information.)

The five winners of my Five Year Blog-iversary Giveaway, as chosen by list randomizer, are as follows:
Gift #1, necklace:  Christina

Gift #2, bookplates:  Aelwyn

Gift #3, rubber stamps: Poetryinleaves

Gift #4, memo notepads:  Dalia Fam

Gift #5, book:  Joan

Again, contact me at wendyb[spam]1963@sbcglobal.net with your mailing addresses, so I can get your gifts to you as soon as possible.  Congratulations and thank you for reading!

A Little Memorial Day Tribute

Today marks the home-going of many fallen U.S. soldiers.  I can't think about it without getting a pit in my stomach, but there's an even bigger pit if I let myself imagine what our lives might be like today without their sacrifices!

I spent a lovely Memorial Day morning with my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons at The Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, watching a beautiful wreath-laying ceremony in the Rose Garden.

At the closing, after a solemn prayer offered by a Navy Chaplain, the Marine Band played  "Going Home", followed by Taps.  The soft strains of music floating through the air definitely communicated a longing and yearning for home...heaven, a final resting place.

When we got back to our house, I did a google search about this haunting piece of music...

Czech composer Antonin Dvorak's famous "Largo" theme from his New World Symphony was first performed at Carnegie Hall in 1893.  "Goin' Home" was later adapted and arranged from the Largo theme by one of Dvorak's pupils, William Arms Fisher, who added his own words.  Here is what Fisher said about the piece:

The Largo, with its haunting English horn solo, is the outpouring of Dvorak's own home-longing, with something of the loneliness of far-off prairie horizons, the faint memory of the red-man's bygone days, and a sense of the tragedy of the black-man as it sings in his "spirituals." Deeper still it is a moving expression of that nostalgia of the soul all human beings feel. That the lyric opening theme of the Largo should spontaneously suggest the words 'Goin' home, goin' home' is natural enough, and that the lines that follow the melody should take the form of a negro spiritual accords with the genesis of the symphony. 

 -- William Arms Fisher, Boston, July 21, 1922.

Going' Home

Goin' home, goin' home, I'm a goin' home;

Quiet-like, some still day, I'm jes' goin' home.

It's not far, jes' close by,

Through an open door;

Work all done, care laid by,

Goin' to fear no more.

Mother's there 'spectin' me,

Father's waitin' too;

Lots o' folks gather'd there,

All the friends I knew,

Morning star lights the way,
restless dream all done.
Shadows gone, break of day
real life just begun.

There's no break, there's no end, 

Jes'a livin' on; 

Wide awake, with a smile 

Goin' on and on.