The Enchanted Schoolhouse by Ruth Sawyer & Illus by Hugh Troy

Since it was just St. Patrick's Day and this book is all about a wee Irish fairy, it seemed appropriate. 

Mom bought this little red guy for my kids, but I love him! 

The pictures are similar to Garth Williams, so totally adorable.

Brian Boru is a young Irish lad who is told stories of the little people that populate Ireland from his grandfather. 

His uncle Seumas in America had recently written to say that Brian Boru could join him over there and had sent the fair. 

Brian felt a bit self conscious about going to America without being able to bring something to show American kids how terrific Ireland was. Since there wasn't a lot Brian could take with him, since life was pretty austere with his Da and Granda, Brian wondered if maybe he could catch a Irish fairy and bring it to America with him.  

Unfortunately, Brian Boru is told by Old Timothy, his grandfather, that there has not been any fairies seen for 50 years. 

Brian talks to his teacher about this and his teacher gives him some potential pointers for catching a wee man and keeping him.  

Brian Boru follows his advice and..... 

....through careful planning, catches a wee man. An angry wee man. Angry because Brian Boru had taken his little red cap. Without a red cap, he has to do everything Brian Boru tells him to do.

Brian keeps him in a teapot tied with string on his journey to America. Where Brian is introduced to ice cream and discovers that the wee man has a sweet tooth. 

Showing him America

Disaster almost struck when a custom's official spots the teapot and asks questions about it. Brian Boru narrowly avoids losing both the teapot and the fairy man.

The wonders of an American grocery store

And finally, they arrive in Lobster Cove, Maine, where Uncle Seumas and his new wife have a house.  

Brian Boru asks the wee man what he thinks of America--

'Tis not any of it I'm liking. You can have it all to yourself. My ears are exploding with noises, my shins are blue with dandering about--and were it not for the ice cream I would be afeard to live through another night, into another day. 

Meeting his new aunt. 

Geraniums on the windowsill! 

Exploring their new home. 

Fishing with Uncle Seumas

For all of America's finery, the school was in terrible disrepair. Which Brian doesn't understand. His school back in poverty stricken Ireland was a beautiful and gentle stone building. 

His new teacher finds some slides of Ireland and Brian Boru shares a little of his homeland with his class. 

But magical things are afoot with the wee man in attendance. One day, each time the student's turn their page, a little lamb's tail whisks all the words off the page. 

Finally the class sees the wee man.

Brian uses his big wish to try to get the people of Lobster Cove to improve their schoolhouse. The wee man organizes a flock of birds to fly the schoolhouse away to an abandoned island. 

Where the children are tucked in by the birds and spend the night. 

The animals all become bewitched, including the cows, who walk through town with flower collars and mooing softly about...

Moo! Moo! A poor lot of humans, you!

Not a quart of milk will we let down

Till there's a new schoolhouse in this town. 

Moo, moo, moo! 

And you will have to see how it all works out by reading it for yourself.

But suffice it to say, that no kids could ever make fun of Brian Boru or Ireland!

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill

I think it may be the long winter, but I am feeling incredibly thankful for the existence of tea right now. 

So here is a book. About tea. Growing on dragons. 

Yeah, sort of of bizarre, but it is a cute book! 

But first. Check out this super cool bowl and plate I found at Salvation Army in Anchorage. It has thin spots that let light shine through. It makes me really happy. 

I didn't plan on schlepping them back to NY from Alaska, but... I did. 

See the dots? I don't even know what this sort of thing is called, but it impresses me greatly. How does that even HAPPEN? 

Magic. That's what. 

Okay, back to the book.

The characters are an interesting blend of species, but are all pretty adorable. 

The illustrations are amazingly cute. 

Blacksmiths getting some press time! 

Once upon a time, blacksmiths were as important as medicine.

Goblin blood. And a nose ring. And blacksmithing.

That is one tough mama!

This book has been praised for breaking gender stereotypes, for obvious reasons.

On a trip to town Greta hears some nasty wolves/coyotes cornering some pitiful creature. 

So she gives them the meat she just bought and scoops up the pitiful thing.

Greta takes the wee thing home. 

Her father tells her the pitiful thing belongs to Hesekiel who owns the tea shop near town. Greta returns it to its owner and learns it is a small tea dragon. 

Tea dragons grow a wonderous tea on their horns. 

Greta is invited to come back to learn more about them. On the way home she meets a stranger. With cotton candy pink hair and her own tea dragon.

She invites her home

And they become friends.

SO COZY

Greta starts blacksmithing for real.

The tea dragon society, dedicated to preserving tea dragons is born.

And they have picnics under blossoming trees. 

I want a picnic under blossoming trees.

At the end, there is an entire tea dragon handbook, which is very detailed and intricate. Pretty sure this is just the beginning of The Tea Dragon Society. Because why not?

And I see a second book is on it's way this fall, so.... 

If you want to read this book in it's entirety, it's online! And free! Super cool! 

The Morning Chair by Barbara M. Joose & Illus by Marcia Sewall

We love this book so much!!! Originally I wanted to read it because it is written by Barbara M. Joosse, who also wrote Mama, Do You Love Me?  But then I saw the illustrations, in a soft, graphic style and primary colors and I loved it even more. And the story...! 

This story is based on Barbara Joose's husband's own story. It is rather sweet to think of Bram being a real little boy, adjusting to America. 

Bram lives in a seaside town in Holland. 

The first part of the book explores all the things he loved in Holland, all the little rituals he enjoyed as a boy--raw herrings on Sunday walks with his father, his own bed with a sweet smelling straw mattress and his grandmother's quilt.

And most especially, the morning chair. A special chair he and his mother snuggle in to discuss life while she drinks tea from her blue china teapot and he drinks from his tiny little cup. 

Isn't that delightful? Elsie, our four year old, glommed onto the idea of a morning chair and often asks for a morning chair snuggle. 

Oh my heart!

But things were not easy in Holland after WWII. So Bram's family emigrated to America

One thing I found interesting was the family's preoccupation with green olives as symbols of American-ism. Bram hates green olives, but his father tells him all Americans eat green olives, so he better eat them. 

"But I am not American. I am Dutch," said Bram. 

National identities were not something to just shrug off, to Bram.

It is hard starting out in a new country. Their furniture takes longer to get to them, so they have a strange and empty apartment to live in. And everything is so new and confusing that Mama doesn't have a lot of time for talking to Bram. He feels everything moves too fast and he is lonely for his old life. On Sundays though, they go for walks in the park. And instead of raw herring, they get hotdogs. Similarities, mixed in with the differences. 

Finally the furniture crates arrive. That night, Bram sleeps on his sweet smelling straw mattress under his grandmother quilt. And in the morning...

There is the blue and white teapot. And the morning chair.

"Bram," Mama said, "Do you know what time it is?"

Bram pulled his breath in from the soles of his feet, and let it out slowing.

"It's time for the morning chair," he said. He crawled into the morning chair, jiggled his legs, and waited.

Isn't that a great description of a little boy getting his heart's desire? 

Mama makes Dutch cookies and they talk about things. All the good and bad of America. Mama agrees with Bram that green olives are rather icky and there is room enough in America for people who do not like green olives. 

They both agree that policemen on horseback were worth coming to America to see.

Their cozy, snug apartment with all their Holland things. Bram feels such enormous relief at being among his things again. As a "thing" person, I can understand his relief. There are just certain things that represent the best of life. Odd little things. My certain blue oatmeal bowl, my special work bag, my particular kind of peanut butter, my flannel sheets... 

I try to not be materialistic, but I do sympathize with Bram.