Halloween by Ivy Eastwick & Illus by Hilary Knight

Halloween

The sky was yellow,

 the moon was green,

     and the little old Witch

whispered:              

"Halloween!"            

and, at the word,     

from an ivied tower

thirteen black bats   

  in a black bat shower 

    came fluttering through

 the pea green gloom  

 and rested there         

          on the WITCH'S BROOM!

    (And a Witch's Broom--

pray not forget--        

   is a million times faster

than any JET!)           

        So they went to the moon, 

  and they circled about, 

              then they swept and they swept

 till they swept it out;    

  they swept up the moon

        and they made their flight--

THERE AND BACK  

in a single night.        

                                           --Ivy O. Eastwick

(From Side by Side by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Illus by Hilary Knight)

Yellow Time by Lauren Stringer

I got this book in the library last year and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It is about fall, but it seemed almost too simplistic. 

However, I have since decided I like it. A lot. I don't know what was the matter with last year me. 

Our yellow time is coming to an end here. We had a gusty wind the other day that took a lot of the leaves off--starting to look a lot like November! 

While we do have a lot of yellow, but other colors too. 

It has been weird warm, but also beautiful this fall!

But back to the book! 

I love books about nature. 

And kids that are happy in nature!

And this kid is reading books while in nature. 

Swoon!

The wind! 

Blowing every which way

Shower of yellow

I love all the visual movement in this book! 

I feel like it captures that feeling you get when you are walking along, thinking of things and all the sudden the wind comes up and the leaves are all swirling around you. And you have to stop and look and feel because it is just so magical. 

I ALWAYS tried to press leaves. But it never really worked out well. Generally I forgot about them for a few years until someone opened up the book and said what are all these brown crumbles? 

Whoopsie! 

But I still always wanted to try. 

A Small Thing...but Big by Tony Johnston & Illus by Hadley Hooper

This is an incredibly sweet little book about a little girl overcoming her fear of dogs. 

This book has been castigated in public opinion because this little girl walks around the park with an old man with a dog. Creeper, much? Yet when I reread this book through that lens, I think the mother knew exactly who the old man was and was keeping an eye on both of them the whole time. See her cheery wave to the old man? Perhaps they ran in the same social circle. 

I refuse to think that this book is about a creeper old man and a neglectful mother.

There is Lizzie, running around the edge of the fountain. And there is her mother, reading a book on the bench. 

And there, is the dog! 

Aren't they both adorable??

Cecile the dog was very kind to little children.

Lizzie patted her. 

It is a small thing to pat a dog, but a big thing if you are scared. 

The old man invited Lizzie to go for a stroll around the park with them. 

Lizzie was nervous. But a reassuring wave from her mother gave her the confidence to try it out. 

Promenading.

And then, wonder of wonder!! Lizzie is walking Cecile all by herself!!

She who was nervous around dogs was doing it by herself. 

It is a small thing to walk a dog, but big if  you happen to be a teensy bit scared of dogs. 

Note the mother following along at a distance--keeping an eye on what is going on, but not crowding Lizzie's bright moment of bravery either. 

Lizzie and Cecile walked around the park.

Hesitantly at first, then springingly, oh springingly. 

Oh the delight of suddenly finding yourself to be brave! And at the end of the book, we find that the old man came over a fear of his own. 

I guess I am just not that worried about the old man. I see plenty of evidence that the mother had her eye on Lizzie the whole time. That wave on the first page seems to indicate that the mother knew the old man in some social sense. And really truly, I love that the mother kept her distance and let Lizzie have this moment of independence and bravery all to herself. This pretty much encapsulates my parenting style.

So here is to all quasi-free range kids and parents.

One Amazon review begins with "Maybe there is a more dangerous book to read to a four year old, but I can't think of one off the top of my head..." 

And here is to parents, like me, who read their kids dangerous books.

Have a happy Monday! 

Wind by Shirley Hughes

I adore Shirley Hughes' artwork! 

And wind. I really like the wind. It makes me feel extra alive. 

Wind

I like the wind.                        

The soft, summery, gentle kind,

The gusty, blustery, fierce kind.

 Ballooning out the curtains,      

Blowing things about,             

 Wild and wilful everywhere.    

I do like the wind.                  

                                    --Shirley Hughes

                                             --From Out and About

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Werewolves are so not my thing. I am boring, prosaic. I like real people and realistic fiction. I was almost an entire decade behind on the Harry Potter bandwagon. I never felt the need to squeal over Twilight. Dystopian novels are not my gig. I read mid-century girl lit for fluffy, thoughtless reading. (Betty Cavanna-Anne Emery-Janet Lambert devotees unite!)

I know! I. Am. Boring. The thing is, I had a depression/anxiety problem when I was a teen. (I still have it to some extent if I don't exercise/sleep/eat right. In other words, after each and every of my four pregnancies. Postpartum OCD. I didn't know it was a thing, I thought I was just bizarre. But it is legit and turned my world upside down each time.) Reading about uncertainty and never before conceived of things to worry about was not my idea of a good time. I wanted realistic things with problems that could be solved in a mostly happy way. I didn't want sugar sweet, I just wanted some sweetness somewhere. I wanted hope. 

So the depths of dystopian and fantasy themes in today's YA genre were left unplumbed by me. Until I had to take a Young Adult Literature class last spring. I didn't have high hopes, but I figured I could slog through the book list. 

As it turns out, I may not be keen on fantasy, but I do make exception for masterfully executed fantasy. JK Rowling is a genius. I adored the Harry Potter books. But the fact that everyone said Rowling was incredible made me even more convinced that I wouldn't enjoy lesser authors attempts. 

Enter Maggie Stiefvater. 

I am not sure I would go so far as to say she is on the same level as Rowling. But I loved this book. 

There was a bit of angst. There were mystical happenings. There are inter-species longings that were a little weird. 

But they all combine in a marvelous way. Things make sense. Inter-species longings are justified. The entire werewolf thing is believable. (If werewolves living in a brick house in a Minnesota suburb is believable.)

And there is romance. Love that transcends all the weirdness. And best of all, there is hope. 

Sam is a werewolf who is more human than wolf. Grace is a 17 year old human who is really drawn to the wolves in the Minnesota woods behind her home. One wolf in particular stands out--the one with yellow colored eyes. 

As the town demands the death of all the wolves for the suspected attack of a high school student, Sam suddenly finds himself wounded on Grace's back door step in human form. Fortunately, Grace's parents are completely non-involved. She can invite him in and care for him without worrying about her parents finding a teenage boy hanging around in her room. (Despite the werewolf thingy, this was one of the most unbelievable parts.) Of course, they fall in love. There is a connection between them. But why? 

Time is limited. The cold makes Sam turn into a wolf again. And it is October in Minnesota. How long will they have together before he turns? And will he ever turn human again or is this brief time their only shot at happiness? 

Angst. Love. Werewolves. Hope. 

They are all there in glorious technicolor. 

(Of course, there are additional books in the series, if you get hooked.) 

Storm Bringer by Jan Yolen & Illus by Ted Lewin

Storm Bringer 

  It was a dry fall          

 and the corn stalks     

                    thrust through the crumpled earth

  like posts                    

  in a deserted palisade,

        The farmland felt beseiged

  And the kildeer came, 

by ones, by twos.      

                   They settled down in the furrows

  and walked the rows, 

  brown heads nodding

   over their striped bibs

  like satisfied farmers

  counting the harvest.

After they left,        

it rained.                 

                                                                          --From Birdwatch

All Ears, All Eyes

This is a rather gorgeously fall-ish book! 

With rich and vibrant colors, it goes through all the things you might hear or see in the woods. 

And then I got distracted by my owls in a pile of flowers from yesterday's pictures. 

Raccoon at sundown, romping

Another, her brother, he's chomping.

It has a simplistic rhyme structure that is just right for the 2-5 year old range.

I looove this picture. So much color and imagery...

I am pretty partial to anything that focuses on walks in the woods. 

These pictures....

...are glorious! 

Locomotive by Brian Floca

This book is INCREDIBLE. Just don't try reading it to anyone under 10. Because... they will be impatient with it. 

There is so much in this book. The pictures are glorious (that IS a Caldecott Medal on the front, 2014) and the detail packed into this book is incredible. This is a like a historical textbook in picture book form. If you are interested in America in the 1860's when railroads were spreading like wildfire, and railroads in general, you need this book. 

Floca doesn't even waste the endpapers. So. Much. Information. 

Have I mentioned how much I love the pictures? 

All the different people that helped to build the railway. 

Once the railway is complete, linking the east coast to the west, we see a family setting out to meet their father in California. We follow their journey on this brand new marvel. Across the country in less than a week...! Unheard of!

I love the illustrated fonts. And the antlers on the front of the engine.

The people who make the train work.

Details

These illustrations...!

Heading across the prairies

What travel was like. I thoroughly enjoy the "convenience" details. The kids have been listening to Ramona the Pest lately--where she asks her kindergarten teacher how Mike Mulligan went to the bathroom that long busy day he was digging. These are important (and interesting) things to know, but are so rarely mentioned. 

Turntable, switching out the engine.

Heading through the night.

The wealthy traveler's beds vs. the poorer travelers.

Rickety trestles crossing gorges. 

Things that could happen to trains if they aren't expertly handled. But fortunately, the engineer on our train is brilliant, so we don't need to worry about these events. 

Landmarks

Floca is really good at getting so many different perspectives.

Truckee, CA. The air is cooler again

Finally, finally they get where they need to be. 

Endpapers being put to good use again. 

This is an awesome book!