The Moon is Going to Addy's House by Ida Pearle

The amazing Ida Pearle has another adorable book!

The simplicity of the plot, a little girl observing the moon following from a playdate to her house, allows readers to really sink into the illustrations. With a full, overblown moon hanging around, it is pretty easy to fall into them. 

Time to go home!

Meeting daddy. I love the enthusiasm!

Those braids!!

Watching the moon.

Hair blowing in the wind.

Oh my goodness! So much to love here.

After her bath, Ida goes out to bathe in moonlight.

The lighting was a little off, so just know that Ida makes it look way better than this! 

Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean E. Pendziwol & Illus by Isabella Arsenault

Isn't this an adorable cover?! 

Did you know Isabella Arsenault is from Montreal? So pretty much local. 

Once upon a northern night

while you lay sleeping,

wrapped in a downy blanket

I painted you a picture.

The things that happen in the night...

Once upon a northern night

a mother deer led her fawn 

around the silent birch

and traced

a wandering path

on my canvas of white.

They nuzzled the sleeping garden

with memories of summer,

then wandered off

ti taste the frozen fruit

still clinging to an apple tree. 

The poor fox who just wants to play with the hares....

Once upon a norther night

deep,

deep, 

in the darkest hours,

the snowy clouds crept away

and the stars appeared--

twinkling points of light

hanging in the purple sky. 

I knew by the time you woke

the sun would have chased them away;

so I set them like diamonds

on the branches of the willow. 

The writing is so poetic. The pictures so soft and gentle. 

Dreamy and fitting for talking of the things that happen at night in the winter. 

And then

I had the moon gently kiss you

and the wind whisper...

I love you. 

I am not entirely sure who the narrator is here--the earth? The night? The world at large? 

But whatever it is, it is gentle, kind, and loving. 

And then, the awakening. 

That first morning of waking up to a snow covered world..... 

Magic! 

Big Bear Ball by JoAnne Ryder & Illus by Steven Kellogg

This book is a riot of color and exuberance. 

I am sure I have already discussed my childhood obsession with Steven Kellogg. But if I haven't, he was a rockstar in my little kid library. Pinkerton! That wild sea monster! The tadpole that got too big! Paul Bunyan! Johnny Appleseed! 

He was kind of a big deal to us.

Those colors though!

This book is rhyming and lilting, one of those books that is sort of like a song without a tune.

Mostly, this book has a lot of bears getting together for a shin-dig.

And these bears do not stint on enthusiasm.

So much enthusiasm they get the other animals involved.

They even take on Gator.

And with the sunrise, they are away.

Until next time!

Seriously. Even though a lot of my favorite illustrators today use a muted palette and folk-arty style, Steven Kellogg will always have a place in my heart. 

Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow & Illus by Ted Rand

Listen my children, and you shall hear

of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

On the eighteenth of April in 'seventy five

Hardly a man is still alive who remembers

that famous day and year.

I loved this poem when I was a kid. As a history nerd, I loved the story of Paul Revere, but I also liked the rhythm and cadence of the words that seemed to mimic the galloping hoof beats of the horse.  

And then, I tend to be a fan of Ted Rand's work in general. 

A phantom ship, with each mast and spar

Across the moon like a prison bar.

And a huge black hull, that was magnified

By its own reflection in the tide.

Spying on the powerful British, outwitting the stronger nation, outfighting the best trained fighters in the world--the Revolutionary era is just chockful of romantic, beating the underdog stories. And Paul Revere's story is the linchpin to the successful begin of the war when we beat back the British in Lexington and Concord, inspiring pride and passion on the side of the colonists. 

Those redcoats

Climbing the belfry of the North Chapel

Paul Revere waiting for the light

One if by land, two if by sea

The fate of a nation was riding that night

And one was safe and asleep in his bed

Who at that bridge would be the first to fall

Who that day would be lying dead

Pierced by a British musket-ball.

That first shot "heard round the world" always interested me. No one could pinpoint who shot, which side was the instigator. They just know a shot was fired and a bloody six year long struggle was begun. 

As an adult, there is less romance and more agony in these stories. You understand the cost a little more--the children without fathers, the boys who would never grow up, the lives irretrievably altered by this political disagreement with the King of England. The abstract ideas of men's rights and independence having very real life consequences for a farmer's wife in the small town of Concord. 

So through the night rode Paul Revere;

And so through the night went his cry of alarm.

To every Middlesex village and farm,--

A cry of defiance and not of fear.

Moon Song by Mildred Plew Miegs & Illus by Garth Williams

Moon Song

Zoon, zoon, cuddle and croon--             

Over the crinkling sea,

The moon man flings him a silvered net  

Fashioned of moonbeams three.

And some folk say when the net lies long

And the midnight hour is ripe;

The moon man fishes for some old song   

That fell from a sailor's pipe. 

And some folks say that he fishes the bars

Down where the dead ships lie,

Looking for lost little baby stars               

That slid from the slippery sky. 

And the waves roll out and the waves roll in

And the nodding night wind blows,

But why the moon man fishes the sea          

Only the moon man knows. 

                                                                         --Mildred Plew Miegs

                                                                                                   From: The Tall Book of Fairy Tales

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! 

Day and Night by Bishop Heber and Tasha Tudor

God that madest earth and heaven, 

Darkness and light;

Who the day for toil has given

For rest the night;

May thine Angel-guards defend us,

Slumber sweet they mercy send us,

Holy dreams and hopes attend us,

This livelong night. 

                                                      --Bishop Heber

Hannah's Night by Komako Sakai

I have a new policy of not putting up way too many pictures per book. But it was hard with this book. It is just so gorgeous.

Komako Sakai is quite popular and well known in Japan, but this is the first of her books I have seen. Clearly I need to catch up!

This perfectly adorable little Hannah wakes up...

...to find it was still night.

Her sister wouldn't wake up.

So Hannah and Shiro went to have a pee.

Elsie loves this page. Pee! giggle, giggle.

Her parents were still sleeping.

So Hannah went to explore independence by eating cherries. 

Isn't she ridiculously cute, squatting there eat her cherry?

The moon.

Since her sister was sleeping, Hannah borrowed her doll.

And a few other prized possessions and took them back to bed with her.

Hannah couldn't help giggling because her sister didn't even notice.

Oh the delight of forbidden things!

Morning pigeon

And as the sky lightened...

...Hannah fell asleep.

Clover says there should be a sequel to this book called Sister's Morning, in which the sister discovers her prized possessions in Hannah's bed and has a fit. But we all know how that story goes, so it isn't strictly necessary.