Acorns and Stew, too

 



Kane Miller

Ruth Orbach 

I was initially attracted to this book because of the vintage style illustrations. They remind me of a few of the treasured picture books from my childhood. Then I read that this was originally published over twenty-five years ago as "Acorns and Stew." This is a revised edition with original illustrations, but updated contemporary text. These are not vintage style illustrations, but the real deal!

Lenore loves living in her beautiful row house, with its sunny yellow door and a giant tree right growing right outside her front stoop. She adores curling up in her cozy room, the fuchsia comforter spread neatly across her big yellow bed. Her cat, Sam, follows her everywhere, sleeps in her bed, and curls up under the kitchen chair while she eats breakfast. Most of all, Lenore loves the ducks who live by the lake. She feeds them every day and they love her right back. With all this happiness, why is Lenore worried?

Cold weather is coming and Lenore knows her ducks will have to fly away for the winter. Cut to illustration of the little girl and the ducks with tears running down their cheeks (and beaks). Lenore brainstorms and comes up with an idea she believes will work. She gathers up the materials and starts sawing, hammering, painting and sewing right there in her cozy house.   

On the first day of winter, Lenore treats the ducks to a banquet table loaded down with a feast, which includes acorns and stew (book title!), porridge, biscuits, and plums. Then she buttons each one into the winter coats she stitched up, and directs them to the tiny, colorful houses she built. The ducks will be able to stay all winter long!

This book cracked me up. Ducks enjoying acorns and stew, wearing overcoats and living in brightly colored homemade houses. Completely illogical ... and wonderful. Black and white drawings punctuated with splashes of bright pinks, oranges, and yellows give the book such a happy feel. Now you know that if you happen to see a duck wearing an overcoat this winter, feel free to offer him an acorn or a dish of stew.

Review copy provided by Kane Miller. 

More free printable bookplates!

Helen Dardik of Orange You Lucky designed and offered these bookplates as a token of appreciation for her blog readers. Cute internet stuff is always better when it's free, right?

Helen mentions that she likes to use these in her "ever growing collection of unique and interesting vintage books." I like putting them inside children's books that we receive as gifts, so we can add the giver's name and date. It's just a nice reminder each time you read those books. These are especially good because they have that second line for extra writing room.

The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister

Flashlight Press

Linda Ravin Lodding; Illustrated by Suzanne Beaky

Ernestine Buckmeister leads a life that few of us would envy. For starters, she is saddled with one heck of a name. Worse, her parents seem to live by the adage that "idle hands are the devil's handiwork" and schedule Ernestine's life accordingly. This kid is as busy as if she were holding down a full time job! Actually, it's more like two full time jobs - Nanny O' Dear is around to keep Ernestine on track.

Ernestine has a different after-school activity every day of the week. Her week is comprised of the following: sculpting, water ballet, knitting, tuba lessons, and yodeling. The weekends are neatly wrapped up in karate and yoga. In between school, homework and her rigorous extracurricular activities, Ernestine has zero free time. She does however, have a gigantic white board spanning an entire wall in her room for her schedule. Ernestine is sitting in bed one night, staring at this very thing that represents her over-scheduled life ... when she has a revelation.

The next day, Ernestine casually announces to Nanny that she will be skipping yodeling for a new activity in the park. The two spend their afternoon running through the trees, making daisy crowns, and building a twig fort. Meanwhile, the parental Buckmeisters are alerted to Ernestine's yodeling absence and are desperately trying to locate her. They frantically run from class to class, but knitting, karate, water ballet, sculpting, yoga, and tuba all yield the same result - no Ernestine. Exhausted, they finally bump into their rosy-cheeked daughter in the park on their way home. Once the Buckmeisters realize how greatly Ernestine benefits from not having every minute of her day scheduled, the whole family slows down.

I like all the little details and bits of humor tucked in here. Most obviously, the author links names with activities, with Mr. Oompah teaching tuba lessons while Mrs. Pearl Stitchem handles knitting. You'll have to look a bit closer to notice the post-it note accidentally clamped to Nanny's hat, the yodeling teacher's goat gnawing on anything he can reach, or the lump of clay stuck to Mrs. Buckmeister's bottom. Overall, extremely cute and a nice little reminder for overzealous parents.    

Review copy provided by Flashlight Press. 

How to be the Best Bubble Writer in the World Ever!

Chronicle Books

Linda Scott

Ah, bubble writing takes me back! If you live under a rock, bubble writing is hand-drawn letters that are so round and puffy that they look as if they are made from bubbles. It is also big FUN (once you learn how) and will enable you to make super sweet posters and design awesome logos. In short, it is the key to popularity. Okay, not really. But it is super fun and makes you feel artistically superior to the kids who live under rocks. Plus, Linda Scott guarantees it will make you happier.

You might think you master the basic bubble letter and you're done. Not so fast. There are 40 hand-drawn typefaces featured here, including robots, lightning strike, caveman, and ribbons. I like that she includes a font for darn near every season/holiday. It is hard to pick favorites, but if pressed, mine would be summer cakes (where every letter is covered with a small cap of sprinkles) and cactus.

Each font page has the entire alphabet written out, so you can see how to make every single letter. Directly above that are several inches of neat lines - space for practicing that font. Tucked in between all those fonts pages are goofy little projects: pages to make your own comic book, bookmarks, door hangers, holiday cards, party invitations, and much more. Scott does a wonderful job of not only presenting the fonts, but also demonstrating creative ways in which to employ them.

In this age of technology, you may be surprised to discover how cool your kids think it is to learn handwritten fonts. I distinctly remember someone showing me how to make bubble letters when I was in seventh grade, and immediately set to impressing my friends. I would have been a rock star with this book!

 Review copy provided by Chronicle Books. 

Inkblot

 

Boyds Mills Press

Margaret Peot

What would you say to an activity that will help you tap into your creativity, but requires no particular artistic skill? Let me add that it will be fun and you get to dabble around with art supplies. Margaret Peot explains how creating inkblots can help you overcome creative blocks, inspire ideas and open up avenues for creative expression. All that from blobs of ink and your imagination!

Simply put, just drop, brush, or swab ink on one side of a creased paper. Add a few drops of water. Fold the inked paper in half, and press firmly to make a symmetrical image. Unfold the paper to check the image and add more ink if you are not satisfied with the result. The types of paper and inks that you use will make all the difference in the quality of the finished product.

All right, so we know the steps to create a proper inkblot. Chapter 2 shows us how to add lines and colors to the blob to make it more recognizable. This is as simple as drawing around what you see in your blot and then coloring it in. It's a lot like lying on your back, looking at clouds and picking out shapes. If you having trouble getting started, try thinking of the inkblots as puzzles where you are looking for hidden images. They are there, just cleverly disguised.

I think this book is so inspiring. Before reading this, I had never known about the world of inkblots. It's so neat that the ink is just waiting on the paper for your interpretation. The final outcome is unique - what do you see? Check out Margaret's Subway Inkblog Blog to view the projects that others have made. Or visit the Inkblot Book's Channel for dozens of cool videos. What a wonderful and unique book this is!

Review copy provided by Boyds Mills Press.