Snowed In by Barbara M. Lucas & Illus by Catherine Stock

This past weekend we were rather snowed in--not for months on end, but for a full 36 hours, which felt dramatic enough. 

This is the story of Grace and Luke. At first you think they are just waving goodbye like a regular day. 

But then they go to the store and pick up a lot of supplies. 

And they get boxes filled with books from the library. 

Snow is just beginning to fall as they reach home. 

By the next morning, they are snowed in for the rest of the winter. 

As a child, that sounded enchanting. As an adult, it sounds a little petrifying. I like staying at home as much as the next person, but.... I can leave when I want. I can imagine feeling a little boxed in if I couldn't leave. 

They do their chores. 

And read. 

I have always had a bit of a love affair with the west, so a book combining the west and a love of reading is going to win me over pretty easily. 

Apparently this story came from a cowboy Barbara Lucas talked to once--he showed her some of his own writings and they talked about his schooling, since his writing showed an incredible depth of literary knowledge and intelligence. He said he got to school when he could, but was often snowed in for the winters, so his parents always made sure there were a lot of books around. 

Aren't these pictures great? 

Imaginary wanderings.

Heart eyes!

And then it was spring again and the way to town thawed out. 

As long as the supplies held out, no one got incredibly sick, the house didn't burn, and no wolves/bears/murderers came to call, I could see this being an idyllic time. 

Basically, I would like to be a pioneer, but with no inconveniences. Sounds reasonable. 

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

This book. 

I heard so much about this book in the lead up to the Caldecott awards. And being contrary and not particularly in love with the art in the past few Caldecott winners, I was pretty ambivalent about this one, assuming it wouldn't really be something I would love. 

BUT I DO. 

This gorgeous book is multilayered, detail oriented, and full of love for children and books. 

My heart! 

The illustrations are amazing. Just really, truly amazing. 

In this illustration, childhood drawings of the artist/author are overlaid with a perfectly adorable illustration of the artist as a child. 

These pictures are reminiscent of the intricate embroidery and flamboyant colors of Central American traditional clothing.

Everything in the illustrations is carefully thought out and meaningful. The pathway here is a photograph of the road in her hometown in Mexico. As she is moving across the border to be with the American father of her baby, she is followed by other famous Central American-American migrants: Monarch butterflies and swallows. 

This new land, with a new language was difficult to navigate and make sense of. 

But armed with a stroller and backpack, Yuyi and her baby explored their new world.

One day they stumbled upon a public library. 

They were told they could just take books home without paying. How could that be?! 

I ADORE that actual books are pictured here. 

Worlds and words began to open up to them through the books they brought home. 

Walking with loads of books. I feel like Yuyi and I are kindred spirits. 

When my first two kids were tiny and we were living near Lake Placid, I had a double stroller that I would push one mile to the public library and a nearby thrift store. The number of days I pushed that stroller uphill overflowing with books are hard to count. 

We are stories.

We are two languages.

We are lucha.

We are resilience.

We are hope.

We are dreamers, 

soñadores of the world. 

At the end of the book, Yuyi shares her and her son's story of coming to America. 

There is a list of books that were beloved by her and her son. 

I LOVE reading people's list of books that they love or care about. 

Bunny's Book Club by Annie Silvestro & Illus by Tatjana Mai-Wyss

This is such a darling little book. 

The endpapers. A pretend library card pocket! Could it get any cuter? 

This is bunny. Bunny is a big fan of books and stories. 

When stories are read, he lurks in the background so he can hear. 

Summertime story hour at the library is held outside, delighting our story hungry bunny. 

When fall comes, his story hours disappear....

Back into the library. 

A librarian with red cat eye glasses! A library with a gigantic window seat! Cushy seats for the library users! (That last is the school librarian in my coming out.)

Of course, bunny couldn't hear stories being read inside. This worried him. How could he find a way to hear stories again?

He went to the library at night and tried to find a way to break in. 

Unfortunately, it seemed impossible. 

Until he found the book drop. Wiggling through the book drop was nothing to a wee little bunny. 

He was in the kingdom! 

He reversed the usual use of the book drop and took home a large stack. 

Do you SEE how delighted his little face is while shoving books out the book drop?! I love this bunny. 

He goes home and reads. And reads. 

He repeats the take out procedure several times. 

His friends begin to wonder why bunny isn't hanging out with them anymore. 

They come to inquire and bunny takes them to the library. 

 "Whoa," said Porcupine.

"I know," said Bunny.

 "Do you think there is a story about balloons? I have always wondered about balloons."

"Most definitely," said Bunny. 

Porcupine finds his book about balloons. 

I literally can't even with how cute this book is. A porcupine hugging a book about balloons with a rapturous look on his face! 

The two friends went home to carrot cupcakes, tea, and companionable reading. 

I need more carrot cupcakes, tea, and companionable reading in my life.  

Soon other friends became curious. Bunny invited them all in to his book filled house. 

You do have to feel a little bad for the librarian in cat eye glasses who was clearly missing a lot of books by this point. 

All the animals have to go see the library for themselves. Bear going through the book drop was not easy.

Since they were all so excited about the library, they stayed a little too long and were... 

...caught!

Instead of being angry, the librarian (who now has adorable shoes and a spiffy retro dress. Can I be this librarian? She clearly has style.) tells them about library cards. 

And now the friends have unlimited access to the library and the story treasures contained there in. 

Bunny's Book Club is born. 

With plenty of carrot cupcakes .

I know I just gave you the whole story, but this book is so cute that you simply must go look at it. Now! 

The Library by Sarah Stewart & David Small

(Yes, that is the same pink hydrangea. I like it, okay?)

This book is lovely! And it is written by a husband and wife team. I always love thinking about husband and wives working together. Not sure why, I just like thinking about it. 

These are pictures to warm the cockles of a book-lover's heart. 

How perfectly springy (or fally) is this picture?

Elizabeth Brown--

She didn't like to play with dolls,

She didn't like to skate.

She learned to read quite early

And at an incredible rate.

This book is all rhyming and rhythmic. (And for some reason I always have trouble spelling those two words.) It is a fun book to read!

#bookgirlproblems

Midnight raids for her friend's library books. 

Elizabeth Brown is rather relentless in her pursuit of books. 

Elizabeth Brown 

Preferred a book

To going on a date. 

While friends went out

And danced till dawn

She stayed up reading late. 

She gets lost one day, so buys a house where she is. 

Squeak!!

 I love this picture! All things cozy....

When volumes climbed the parlor walls

And blocked the big front door, 

She had to face the awful face

She could not have one more. 

So she did what any bibliophile would do--she donated the books and her house to the town for a library. 

And settled down to living with her cats, her friend, and more books. 

A life well spent amongst books!