It's Milking Time by Phyllis Alsdurf & Illus by Steve Johnson

This sweet little book is mostly just a nostalgic delight for me. Dairy farms were my childhood. 

Cow hide! 

A little farm girl heading out to get the cows.

Coming into the barn. 

We had one machine like this at some point, but it wasn't the typical kind. 

One thing I loved about farm life was working with my dad and brothers and sisters. We didn't always have deep conversations at 5 AM. But there is something about working together, being part of a team that makes you close somehow. We didn't dwell on that, since we weren't prone to heart to heart chats, but it just was. And I think it is part of the reason we are still close today. 

This book works through all the different parts of farm life, but older farms. Living in Amish country, we see those cans still in use everyday, but most non-Amish hasn't used them in ages. 

Feeding the calves was generally my job as the milker. Sometimes it was really obnoxious and dirty, but sometimes, it was calm and delightful. 

Calves are rather lovable. Or at least some are. There were a lot of dumb cows that came through our barns, but calves are so big eyed and excited it is hard not to love them. 

Swooping swallows and sunsets.

The washing up

And the heading back in. 

I loved walking from the barn to the house. The lights on, knowing there was supper, warmth, a shower, and bed. 

Homeplace by Anne Shelby & Illus by Wendy Anderson Halperin

I fully intended to have an amazing array of women's history books for March, but.... that didn't happen. I am a little behind things! 

This book isn't strictly women and it isn't nonfiction, but I love thinking about the women who have come before me. Those farm women on the Canadian shield, the Irish immigrants in 1920's New Jersey, the Scottish potato farmers in New Brunswick.... 

All the amazing things women have done to break down barriers is more important to my everyday life, but the stories of my women is much more personal and deeply felt. 

A little girl learns about her family history from her grandmother. 

All those years ago, this person whose blood runs in your veins conceived of the very house you are living in. The summer before last, I visited the farmhouse all those farm wives lived in on the Canadian shield. I saw the tools and creations used by all those generations and it was incredibly moving. I had expected to be interested, but I hadn't expected to feel so much. 

I think that connection to the past, that rootedness is something we are losing in this global, transient world of ours. Sometimes that is good--we don't want to be stuck in one place just because someone before us couldn't go anywhere else. Yet, I think that feeling of belonging, of a deep connection to a certain place can be very steadying influence in life. Even the pioneers, as they headed west, it was always with the intent of making a new family homestead, a place where future generations would come to. 

There is no denying that history can be a burden at times, but there is something in me that feels nostalgic for that feeling of belonging. Maybe that has something more to do with not having grandparents around when I was little--my mother's parents died when she was young, and my father's grandparents were older and died when I was 3 (grandfather) and 9 (grandmother).  

As the grandmother tells about each generation, we get a sense for what they were doing, how they were living, and what the tools they had. 

I adore this kind of day-to-day history. 

Much more interesting to think about how women cooked 200 years ago than how some men argued and got into wars. 

SHEEP. I also feel very nostalgic about owning sheep. Mostly because my husband thinks sheep are a scourge on the earth. One of these days, I am going to buy some. I am sure he just has confused memories from his childhood year on a sheep farm... 

Family love. This makes my heart happy.

The illustrations are just jammed full of details. So much to look at. And look at again. 

Mother love

Women on tractors

And then to the grandmother's personal life. 

I love the connection between the grandmother and child

And now, here you are, growing like a melon in the patch, like tulips in the springtime of the year, like a young tree coming up from old roots deep down in the ground. 

And those deep roots help you stand strong and tall. 

I LOVE THIS BOOK. 

Spring for Sophie by Yael Werber & Illus by Jen Hill

Happy Spring!!

It is not very springy here in Northern New York--below zero temperatures the past three mornings and 2 feet of snow on the ground. But it IS spring, so the cold and snow can't last much longer. Already I can feel the increased strength of the sun--icicles dripping even at 20 degrees--the roads clearing off faster than they did in January. 

I am ready for warmth and sunshine!

This is an adorable book.

Sophie apparently has a spring like ours--it seems like it will NEVER come. 

These pictures! Love, love, love.

Have I already discussed my prejudice for northern things? I have always lived in northern-ish places, (Alaska, NY, and Colorado--which is a little northern feeling on the Western Slope where we lived) and who doesn't love books you can identify with? 

I want this house. That window! The fireplace! 

Sophie is full of questions--how can she tell when spring is coming? 

Her mother tells her to use her ears--she will begin to hear birds chirping.

She finally begins to hear the birds!

So more questions--how can you tell besides using your ears?

Use your feet. When the ground begins to feel softer, that is spring. 

Then Sophie learns that she must use her eyes and nose to tell when spring will come.

Those spring happenings and spring smells!!

I love this idea of connection with the natural world. Observing, feeling, and talking about. 

I am of the opinion that people, kids in particular, need a LOT more outdoor time than they are currently getting. So I am a little biased towards any book that encourages interaction with nature. 

Now you know about a few of my biases. Outside in the North. Any book with that focus is going to delight me. Well, probably. 

Singing Away the Dark by Caroline Woodward & Julie Morstad

This book? I adore it. My reasonings:

1. Julie Morstad--she could illustrate practically anything and I would love it

2. Peace River Valley of British Columbia--the author is from here, so theoretically, this little girl is too. My dad drove the Alaskan Highway a lot in the 1970's, so I grew up here phrases like, "When we were passing through the Peace River Valley..." and things like that. Nothing major, just part of the collected, random things of childhood that leave an impression. 

2. b. Canada in general--my mom is a Canadian. So I tend to like Canadian things. 

3. I had to wait and wait and WAIT for this book. I pre-ordered it for May, but for whatever reason, didn't get it until late summer. Deferred pleasure is always sweeter, right?

4. Singing. Singing makes EVERYTHING better. 

The thing about Julie Morstad is that everything she illustrates just looks instantly precious. The book hasn't even BEGUN here and already, I am smitten. Mittens! 

A young momma in a flannel shirt. Yes!

The basic story is of a young girl, having to walk across lots (or farms) to get to the bus stop. 

It was a long way to the bus stop, and in Northern BC, it doesn't get light until later in the day

This picture brought to mind that part of Anne of Green Gables where Anne and Diana let their imagination get away with them, making it practically impossible for them to walk through the woods alone without fearing greatly for their lives. 

But, she has to get through the woods. 

So she sings. Which lightens the darkness.

Once the dark is vanquished, there is a new worry--cattle. But she is not to be daunted. 

This neighbor looks like an interesting person to have a cup of tea with.

Finally! 

And school! 

I seriously, seriously love this story and art!!