Ships: A Pop-Up Book by Robert Crowther

I got this book at a thrift store in Burlington last fall. Pop up books are not something I normally buy, since my kids are not all old enough to treat pop up books with the care that they absolutely require. But I loved this one, so I took a chance. An hour after we were home, something was ripped out. 

Sigh. 

But it is still a really awesome book and the kids are much more careful after Mummy hooted and hollered about being careful with pop up books.

This book has incredibly good descriptive pictures and a load of information on every single page.   

(Note the bent up oar.)

There is a ton of information on every page.

Isn't that an awesome ship? It is a Greek Biremes, the fastest ship on the seas around 500 BC.

Sailing ships. 

 This is the HMS Victory, commanded by Admiral Nelson in the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) and is still in the service of the British Navy today. 

A blurry picture of a pull out tab describing the different sailing rigs and their names. 

Flaps

And a folded map! 

SO. MUCH. ON. A. PAGE. 

Steamers

With a flap about the decks of the Queen Mary. There are 14. Wowee, wow, wow.

Fighting ships

And the Modern Port.

This is a terrible picture, but isn't it cool? 

This same author has two other pop-up books, one about trains, and the other about airplanes. I think I need to check them out!

The Whales by Cynthia Rylant

This is a simple and profound book. Or at least it seems that way to sleep deprived me. We have been out of cell service for a few days of loveliness and recharging and we came home to a lot of terrible things in the news. And reading this book about whales and their world was quietly reassuring. Even when humans get up to some pretty crazy things, whales are still just doing their thing in the ocean. 

Cynthia Rylant is a very prolific kids book writer, but I have never seen her illustrate any of her books yet. These pictures are simple, bright, and fun. 

Love the vibrant colors.

In the blackness of the Black Sea,

the whales are thinking today,

Thinking of those things

that matter most to them:

friends, family, supper.

A song they used to know.

Whales sound like good people.

They swim in places with beautiful names.

Past Cape Farewell, they say good-bye.

At the Cape of Good Hope, they make a wish. 

Whales love their children, and when they are born,

the babies are gently pushed 

to the top of the water

where they take their first breath

and see their first sky and gasp

at the loveliness of living.

Isn't that gorgeous? ..gasp at the loveliness of living. In our over connected and over knowledgeable world, it is easy to forget to feel the wonderment and excitement that is everywhere around us if we are looking in the right place with the right eyes. 

Humpback whale songs change as the whale ages. 

I am picturing an old humpback whale singing in a barber shop quartet in a quavery old man voice. 

Whales

And whales do not know, 

as they rise up for a big breath of air,

that someone is standing on a shore

and his heart is filling up.

Filling up and ready to burst.

Whales do not know how they change people,

how they make them better,

how they make them kind.

Like angels appearing in the sky, 

whales are proof of God.

Oh, the joy and amazement bursting out of those lines!

This is a lyrical poem/book. 

I hope you find something to make you gasp at the loveliness of living today! It is there somewhere on this busy Monday. Keep looking 'til you find it!

Happy Monday!

Small things that have no words Illus by Eloise Wilkin

My mother used to quote this poem to us kids. Being gentle and tender to little things that can't stand up for themselves--such an important concept. And a concept that has stood me in good stead throughout my life. Or I like to think it has.  

Have a lovely weekend!

A Little House of Your Own by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers & Illus by Irene Haas

I picked this up at the book sale simply because it is shaped differently. I like tall skinny books. But once I read this, oh! how much I love it! This book is all about having a space all of your own and people respecting that. Being slightly introverted, it is really easy for me to get behind an idea like that. It is also an adorable and sweet book. And even for kids who aren't introverted, this addresses an important concept--that you should be allowed privacy and other people should respect that and let you have privacy. 

And what little kid doesn't love having their own little space where they get to make the rules? 

(The pictures are less than stellar, but time is short this morning, so can't go back and retake.)

The drawings are lovely too. I love pen and ink drawings. As I think I have mentioned. 

Written in secret meadows at Tuilauvent.

Happiness!

Everyone needs a little house of their own.

And not just the house you live in with your parents. But your very own, tiny house.

The author favored under the dining room table and the tablecloth.

Then she had a tree house.

Nobody could see me 

in my secret house in the tree.

When people looked up in the tree

they couldn't see me at all.

All they could see were

 he many many leaves. But

I could look down and see

everyone if I wanted to.

That sense of power and control over a situation or space are important for kids to experience. Not all the time, but sometimes. 

Observing the world from her tree house.

And you can invite friends into your little house. But they can only come when  you say they can. 

Her friend Martha had an actual little house! With a fireplace and two chairs.

Lucky duck Martha.

But a little house doesn't have to be fancy. 

Just as long as you have one.

Love, love all these pictures of kids in their little houses.

Of course you don't always

want to be in your own

little house by yourself.

Not even most of the time. 

Just sometimes.

Most of the time

it is fun to be with

other children. 

I love the author reinforcing the idea that you shouldn't be on your own all the time. That isn't the point of little houses. 

Kids are awesome to be with!

Grown ups too!

The elementary librarian of me just adores this picture.

But sometimes you just

want everyone to leave you

alone.

No children.

No grownups.

You just don't want anyone

to bother you.

Then it is a good thing 

to have a little house

of your own.

Various forms of little houses.

Parents and grown ups need their own little houses too. 

A little house in your father's arms.

Oh the sweetness!!!

Or your mother's arms!

The safest, snuggest house of all.

And at the end of the book, we are reminded to respect other people's quiet houses. 

Give other people their space. 

Such an awesome book!

Have a lovely Thursday!