Fall of the Year by Margaret Wise Brown and Illustrated by Leo Espinosa

Fall of the Year

The world's on fire in the cold clear air

The world shouts Autumn everywhere

All the little animals began to grow more fur

All the summer birds began to fly away,

The little grey kitten came out of the wind to purr

And the leaves blew away. All in one day. 

Darkness came before the night

The air grew cold enough to bite

Chrysanthemums were shaggy yellow

The leaves turned red

The leaves turned brown

The tumbled all over the frosty ground

The worlds on fire in the cold clear air

The world shouts AUTUMN everywhere. 

                                                                      --Margaret Wise Brown

                                                                                             From A Celebration of the Seasons

Isn't she adorably pleased about the fall? I love this picture! 

A Celebration of the Seasons is a collection of Margaret Wise Brown's poems found in a trunk in a barn after she died. 12 artists collaborated on an illustration for each poem and then musicians composed tunes to go with the poems. My kids love it! 

The Littlest Family's Big Day by Emily Winfield Martin

Do you remember the Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams? Well this is a redo of the classic. I am always nervous about redos from authors/illustrators I love. Because there is no way you can improve upon some things and then I have to feel awkward because I really love the work of the person behind the travesty. 

However, this is adorably adorable! It doesn't feel like a copy, so I am not endlessly comparing it and finding it wanting. It is just revisiting some old friends.  

Aren't these animals delightful?

We see this family moving into their forest home, complete with a red door. Red doors make tree trunk homes more marvelous. 

I kind of want their little things. 

Then they set out on a wander 

to see what they would find. 

A wander!!! I love this family already. 

A cute little butterfly/moth watching progress. 

Woodland neighbors. Pretty much my favorite pages in the entire book. 

A snail with mail! Gnomes and their home! 

Squirrels with banjos!

Rabbits with lattice topped pies! 

And that is just the one page. 

Cuteness overload!

They found the wind.

Of course they did. 

Arching cattails. 

They wander on water in leaf boats.  

And all this cuteness is followed by a storm. Which is equally delightful in it's own way. 

They shelter under a toadstool, because where else would cute people shelter?!

But when you are Lost, 

it is the best time to be Found.

So poetical and wise. 

And if I was so cute and little, I think I would be a little more worried about the owl.  

When their wander was done--

after hello and goodbye.

and the breeze and the wind,

and the river and the wild,

and the rain and the warm, 

and after Lost--

they found they were....

Home. 

And just in case we hadn't had enough cuteness, we get a bedtime picture. This picture makes me wonder about the baby. It is a baby or is it a pet? I think baby, but why is it sleeping in a bowl in the middle of the floor? 

Interesting....

But isn't this book marvelously adorable? 

Love Song of the Little Bear by Margaret Wise Brown and Peter Brown

Love Song of the Little Bear

By the clear waters

One morning in May

A little bear was singing

In words that seemed to say,

"It's a long time that I've loved you.

Never, never go away.

"It's a long time that I've loved you

And if I seem to stray

It's only that I'm watching 

The flowers bloom in May.

"It's a long time that I've loved you.

Never, never go away.

"The birds are singing sweetly,

The robin and the jay. 

It's only you I'm loving

On this bright green day.

"It's a long time that I've loved you.

Never, never go away.

"Float little glass bottles

On waters green and gray.

Float little glass bottles

With messages that say:

"It's a long time that I've loved you.

Never, never go away.

That is the little love song 

Of the little bear today

Whose four fur feet are walking

Through these green fields of May.

"It's a long time that I've loved you.

Never, never go away.

This is my little love song

And all I have to say.

"It's a long time that I've loved you.

Never, never go away.

                                                             --Margaret Wise Brown

                                                                        From A Celebration of the Seasons

Song of the Little Cat by Margaret Wise Brown and

There was a cat--a magic cat

Who was so small, so small

That he was no bigger than a pussy willow!

He used a ladybug for a pillow

And on moonlit nights

In the early spring

When the peepers peep

You would hear him sing,

On bright moonlit nights

In the soft early spring. 

Winter Adventure by Margaret Wise Brown and

Winter Adventure

Once I followed rabbit tracks 

           Up to a hollow tree.

When I looked in                 

                        A rabbit looked out at me.

His ears were down,             

His eyes were bright,

And his nose twitched          

Constantly.

I put an apple there            

For his delight

Then I stepped back--          

One step,      

                       Two steps,

                                              Three--

He shot like a bullet 

                From out of that tree. 

Leaving tracks in the snow, 

                       And the apple there for me.

                                                                 --Margaret Wise Brown

Snowfall by Margaret Wise Brown and Frank Viva

Snowfall

In the soft mysterious fall of the snow

The bell buoys ring                             

The whistles blow                               

    While boats go slowly through the snow

Over the river, to and fro.                  

Slow, slow                                                              

In the soft mysterious fall of the snow

Walking in wonder                               

The children go                                    

Home from school, their laughter low

  Catching falling flakes of snow.           

Slow, Slow                                                      

In the soft mysterious fall of the snow

Light in the air                                    

And drop below                                   

Through the trees all white with snow

The lights of evening softly glow.       

                                                                   ---Margaret Wise Brown

Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown & illus by Garth Williams

This is such a cozy sort of book. And this is a terrible picture.*

Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams are a dream team for children's books. When I was younger-ish I thought a lot of Margret Wise Brown's books were... I am not sure if I had a coherent thought about them, I just didn't like them. But as an adult and cozy aficionado, I am revisiting or visiting them for the first time. And they are super. I find that I need to read them a few times before loving them. Don't ask me why. Just one of those facts of life. 

*Sometimes I feel like I might be better off just doing one or two blog posts a week and make them really good. But knowing me, I would then think they had to be so great that I would feel too pressured and my blog would languish and die. So I make myself take pictures and post (almost) every day. In theory I like to think that this will make me a better photographer and writer. And then some day every day will be perfect. 

In reality, it just results in some bad pictures. 

Do you see his furry little tummy to rub? Apparently there was an edition of this book that involved a real rabbit fur cover. As in an animal died for your cover. This was back in a time when fur was still acceptable. It wouldn't fly today.

See? the furry cover. And when you are done with it, you slid it in the nifty little book box and the fur pokes out his wee tummy. It must have been so delightfully soft. You can buy your very own one for... between $500-$1000. 

That is a lot to pay for softness.

The little fur boy is contemplating the squirrels. 

Those are not fur animals. Why is someone attempting to pass them off as a fur family? 

The Fur family.

Part of the reason I didn't like MWB books when I was little is because they are sometimes jarring. If there are two rhyming lines, I expect more rhyming. And there isn't. Maybe that is why it takes me a few reads to really get the rhythm and enjoy the book. 

Fur Daddy.

His mummy washes him up and sends him out to play.

Look at the wildflowers and teensy door!!

He goes to see his grandfather, who sneezes. 

Then he checks out the fishies. 

I love this little fur child sitting there watching them for a long time. So contemplative of him!

Up close and personal.

Then he sees a little tiny fur animal, which is a smaller version of himself.

Then he caught a little tiny tiny fur animal, 

the little fur animal in the world.

It had a warm silky fur and even a little fur nose.

So he kissed it right on its little fur nose

and put it genly back in the grass

and the little tiny tiny fur animal 

ran down a hole into the ground. 

Any book with tiny, tiny delights Elsie. And me. 

As the sun sinks lower, the little fur child heads for home. 

Where his tummy is filled with warm food.

And his Daddy piggy backs him up to bed.

Where his mummy and daddy sing a little song to him. See that last line? This is a song. That is another jarring thing. It seems slightly random and pointless. 

But Elsie, my four year old loves this book, so one line clearly doesn't make or break it. Or maybe it is a brilliant line and I just don't get it. Entirely possible. 

My World by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd

This book is the lesser known younger sibling of Goodnight Moon. A few years ago, I saw this mini library of three books in TJ Maxx. It was a must buy. I had read Goodnight Moon (who hasn't?) and Runaway Bunny, but not My World. It is very sweet. particularly in a mini version.  

I love little book sets in a little box. 

This is the first page. Kids are really amazed at seeing the cover of the book they are reading inside the book. 

Like Goodnight Moon, and many other books of the time, My World alternates between a colored spread and a black and white spread. 

Throughout the book, the little bunny compares his little things to his parents bigger version. 

Love this kitchen, with the odd pop out table. 

This picture in the little book was the reason I had to buy the bigger version. I love this little bunny working with his Daddy on car things. 

The colors are great. All those clear cut, straight forward colors.

Mother reading in a rocking chair as the sunsets... Life is good!

Oh, the simplicity of a child's world!