Forever Books

You know you have them. I am speaking of books you like so much that you must own a copy. Ones that you'll save to share with your children, and then share with your grandchildren. Maybe they are temporarily forgotten on your shelf, but you'll remember them sooner or later. I have a list of books I recently rediscovered. I mean, I have the actual books in a stack, right here, beside me. I have been carrying them around so I can read them over and over and over. Let me tell you about them.
All Year - A Child's Calendar, by John Updike, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. This collection has a poem for each month. The author's lines, along with the expressive pictures, aptly captures each season. The March poem begins, "The sun in nervous, As a Kite, That can't quite keep, It's own string tight..."
January - All In A Day, by many authors and illustrators. It follows several people and cultures all around the world in one day - January 1st. It broadens your horizons and expands you mind to understand how many, many people there are on earth and how even though we have differences, we are the same.
February - Snowflake Bentley, by Jaqueline Briggs Martin, iillustrated by Mary Azarion. This book is about a remarkable man who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He loved snow so much he studied it and discovered many intricate and delicate qualities of snowflakes. He photographed much of his work and shared this with the world.
March - The Happy Day, by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Marc Simont, a Caldecott Honor Book. This is a joyous, welcoming book about the first signs of spring.
April - Grandpa, by John Burningham. I want to write like this author. His book is clear, simple and beautiful. This book never fails me.
May - The Gardner, by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small. This is a lovely book, set in the 1930's, written in short letters back home, from a lonely farm girl who has moved to the big city. It shows how she adjusts to a very different life and learns hoe to bloom no matter where she is planted.
June - Scrambled States of America, by Laurie Keller. This is hilarious and a good vacation book, since all the states decide to go on trips to trade places. They are tired of where they are at and want to see what it's like on the other side of the fence.
July - United Tweets of America, by Hudson Talbott. This is another state book and another funny book. This one gives facts about each state and each state's birds, as well.
August - The Relatives Came, by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Stephen Gammell. Cynthia Rylant is one of my favorite authors. She and the illustrator make a great team with this book about a summer visit. It really takes you back to an era when you seemed to have forever in front of you and were surrounded with love on all sides.
September - To Market, To Market, by Anne Miranda, illustrated by Janet Stevens. You know that rhyme "To market, to market, to buy a fat pig?" This book adds volumes to the simple talk. The lady who takes care of all the animals she unintentionally collects, reminds me of my granny from Florida.
October - Five Little Pumpkins - Any and All Versions
The Spider and The Fly, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. This is a famous 1829 poem written by Mary Howitt. It is always a must read for our spooky season.
November - Thank You, Sarah, The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving, by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner. I love this book because it is about a real woman who wouldn't give up. Her persistance, persuasiveness and her pen finally triumphed, when Abraham Lincoln agreed to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Our hero, Sarah Hale, also wrote books, for important magazines of her time, and the "Mary Had a Little Lamb" poem.
December - The Nativity, illustrated by Julie Vivas. Julie Vivas is my favorite illustrator, because she captures funny, quirky humanity, in her bright, optimistic, artwork. This is the BEST nativity book, in my opinion.
Going Home, by Eve Bunting, illustrated by David Diaz. It is such a poignant story, and it is part of most of us. Any of us who have immigrant ancestors or who have traveled far from home will identify with this book.
I hope you check some of these books out. And I would love to hear about some of your favorite books. Happy Reading!

I want to be Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!

When we were growing up, we didn't have a regular reading rime, but we did have books, always. Our mom seized every opportunity she could to spend time with us. She loved to play games - and she still does; She loved to hear about our day - She still does; and she loved to read - She still does.

I suppose she is the very one who put Mrs. Piggle Wiggle into our consciousness. I say that, because I don't really remember a time before this literary character. We always wanted to hear about Mrs. P-W, and about what children she had helped. There wasn't a time, when we weren't excited to learn about the bad habits she had cured with magic or with hard work, or the funny, self-important neighbors who had perfect children, or the wonderful post-depression era world Betty McDonald had created. Wow! How romantic to live in a time when the moms had tea parties, routinely, and planted nasturtiums in their yards, and served freshly baked cookies to their bright-eyed children, who rushed home from school, all pink-cheeked. And these same ladies managed to fix such good meals, keep such straightened houses, and all had second cups of coffee in their daily routines. In this world, you walked everywhere, because everywhere was just around the corner. I wonder if there were more hours in the day, back then? How strange and appealing it all sounds!

The Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books, are best read one chapter at a time, maybe before bed. Each chapter is a short story, that examines, in a humorous light, a bad habit or character flaw of a child - and how Mr.s Piggle Wiggles' wise advice or special magic helps cure them. These books are so excellent because they are timeless. The people she wrote about are the same, today. My sister Melissa observed it is still so true, that the mom will pounce on her errant child, fretting constantly over a solution until the situation is resolved, while the dad, if he is even aware of a behavior change, just takes measures to avoid the problem until it is worked out - just like the characters in the book. There are still overprotective, pompous, or prissy parents (and their children are exactly like them!) - and normal ones, too. It is the same today, as it was in the 1940's. Somehow, that is comforting.

The author, Betty McDonald, was a genius at capturing the foibles of human nature and relating them in a humorous, sensitive way. She was also a great writer. Besides her children's books, she wrote a few adult books, that were quite popular at the time. The most famous one is The Egg and I. It is about her time spent on a chicken farm during her first, unhappy marriage. I plan to read it, as soon as I can get a copy. This book was such a phenomenon, that it inspired the Ma and Pa Kettle films, during the 1940's. Her children's books were written during her second, happy marriage on Vashon Island. Sadly, she died at the early age of 49. Betty McDonald's own life seemed not so idyllic as real, with the some of the same problems all people have, but she faced them with bravery and humor and luckily for us, portrayed her experiences in her stories. If you are interested in learning more about her, read her books, and check out http://www.bettymcdonald.net/.

When I was young and growing up, I thought it would be so much fun to have a Mrs. P-W living nearby and now that I am grown, I believe I would like to be Mrs. P-W. I think I don't have to look far for an example -- I watch and learn from my mom. She has become Mrs. Piggle Wiggle to her grandchildren. Just ask my kids!