Tom in the Middle by Berthe Amoss

This is another vintage little book. And vintage little books always get my attention. 

This one is all about siblings.

Tom is in the middle. 

His little brother John annoys him by following him everywhere and wanting to do whatever he does. 

Brothers!

He copies and stands in the way of the swing. 

And he flushes important pieces of games and sets down the toilet. 

John has spunk! 

So Tom left John in the dust and began to play with Mark. His older brother. Who is super cool. 

Except he calls Tom "stupid."

Tom decides that brothers are not worth the bother.

And has some alone time. 

However, alone time feels ever-so-much-more-so alone after dark. 

And brothers are okay to eat bread and butter with. 

Really, who else would you rather sleep in a blanket fort with than your brothers? 

Brothers have redeeming features. 

Berthe Amos (the authors) real life Mark, Tom and John. 

Favorite Nursery Songs by Phyllis Brown Ohanian & Illus by Marjorie Torrey

This is a book that has been loved to pieces. 

Literally. 

I don't know where the cover went to. 

Gilbert has a thing for song books. He used to get piano books and ask people to sing them to him. 

And this book not only has familiar, lovely songs that I can sing to him without making up a random tune that always peters out about the third verse, but it also has adorable little illustrations. 

Isn't this a sweet little woodland scene? 

Lazy Mary--I wouldn't want to get out of a bed that had such a cute quilt either. 

Every other page has minimal, black and white illustrations.

Bobby Shafto

I love these little geese!

Appalachia

This was one of my favorite pictures! Isn't it too impossibly sweet? I think my mom and dad used an illustration like this to announce one of our births. I seem to remember seeing it at some point. 

Jingle Bells

I love all of these busy little girls! 

The Very Little Girl by Phyllis Krasilovsky & Illus by Ninnon

This book is an adorable older book I found at a local library. For some reason, this particular library has a good collection of older books. I understand the principle behind removing older books (that generally aren't circulated) from the library, but I do love discovering older books like this! 

This one has sweet little illustrations with two-tone coloring. 

Once there was a very, very, very little girl. 

And we explore exactly how little she is. Smaller than her mother's workbasket!

Being little in an adult sized world!

The special accommodations little people need. Their own table, bed, and chair.

When I first read this, I wasn't sure if she was some magical miniature creature, all these special things she needs. Then I realized that little people do actually come with their own everything. As a mother, I can testify to the great quantity of stuff babies need because they are so little.

She was even smaller than other small people. 

But one day, she wasn't so small! She could do things all by herself.

And she kept getting bigger!

Let's discuss the color scheme--I adore green and pink together. All watermelon-y. 

These illustrations just kill me. So delicately adorable! 

Hello bedroom from my childhood dreams.

And we even have a winter scene. 

All this bigness got her ready for being a big sister to a baby brother who was very, very, very small. 

A Riot of Quiet by Virginia Siccote & Illus by Edward Ardizzone

This is such a sweet, darling, quiet little book. I found it at a local (ish) library. I love libraries that keep old books. 

A riot of quiet--I love that phrase! I am currently living in a riot of quiet. I am all alone this week.

Daddy headed out to Wyoming with the kids yesterday and I will fly out when school is done and meet them in Cody. 

Which is fun for them, but let me tell you, this house feels funny without them all here. 

This book is incredibly sweet and vintage-y and monochromatic. 

A mother is telling her child to listen, oh so quietly, to hear all these teensy tiny impossible sounds. 

Listen, list--

be perfectly still,

If you twitch your nose or wiggle an ear

You'll miss the sounds I want you to hear!

A minute turning into another hour

A slippery slug sleeping on a log.

A pollywog becoming a fat, green frog.

Bubbles popping in the air.

Tangles forming in your hair. 

A bean, sprouting.

A bee drinking nectar from a flower

A sleeping baby turning over. 

And then, the child is asleep, asleep in the garden, with all sorts of lovely, fanciful little images dancing through his head. 

This contrasts rather starkly with my preferred method of putting kids to bed, which involves a lot of noise, threats, and impatience. But I have read this book to them several times before bed, does that count? 

Misery by Suzanne Heller

Misery is a rainy, soggy Monday in March when it really ought to be full of spring sunshine. 

And hawthorn branches.

Interesting side note--We have a ton of hawthorn around here and apparently a good bit of it was planted because the power and telephone companies thought planting hawthorn under power lines would keep taller trees from growing there. But the hawthorn grew tall-ish and was also covered by thorns which was pretty miserable to move through.

ANYWAY, back to this book. I found this in a library book sale and it is a delight. It is the kind of book that gets little kids. Every person that has read has completely identified with at least one page. And the pictures are so completely dejected and perfect. 

The struggle is real.

I love this kid. Life is hard. 

I have a terrible memory, but I do remember the incredible importance of who lost baby teeth when and where. School was always better because--tooth necklace!

This is pretty ageless. 

Oh yes. 

My brothers identified with this one.

No matter what happens, this is just not a joyful situation. 

#northernchildhood

Or the tie on the back of your dress....

This one just really cracks me up. Because all the people with nose plugs look like they have weirdo mustaches, so who wants them? 

Better to look weird with everyone else than to look normal by yourself. 

#powerstruggle

Crayons were a big deal to my sister. She definitely identified with this one. Because sharp crayons are important. 

Or when you are the adult who has crammed a child into a snowsuit only to have to take it all off in a ferocious hurry knowing there is a 50/50 chance that you will have to deal with a soggy snowsuit. 

WHY?! Oh the humiliation. 

This one is not really funny, but it makes me laugh every time. 

("I'll just doodle over here.....")

YES.

Most of the miseries in childhood are not rational. But they are such a BIG DEAL to the child going through it. And I know I am guilty of You'll-be-fine-ing situations that are very real to who ever is going through them. 

Because I am a heartless adult and am all wrapped up in the things that are such a BIG DEAL to me that kids wouldn't give two cents about. 

Wasn't this a lovely book? I mean as lovely as misery can be. But looking back on childhood from a decade or two distance, all these things do seem funny. 

Thankfully!