FABLE: THE BABBOON'S UMBRELLA

HAPPY MONDAY

It's Laundry Day here at the cottage.

Weather is nice enough to hang things outside.

Rain coming at 5:00 this afternoon.

Have a good week.

xo

 

Beatrix Potter ♡ Four Illustrations Today ♡

We have a little garden,
A garden of our own.

Female rabbit entering her burrow.

Gentlemen came every day,
Till Cecily Parsley ran away.

... And this pig has none.

Illustrations from: 

Cecily Parsley's nursery rhymes

found here

Enjoy! xo

FABLE: THE LOBSTER AND THE CRAB

 

 

      THE LOBSTER AND THE CRAB

"On a stormy day, the Crab went strolling along the beach. He was surprised to see the Lobster preparing to set sail in his boat. "Lobster," said the Crab, "it is foolhardy to venture out on a day like this." "Perhaps so," said the Lobster, "but I love a squall at sea!" "I will come with you," said the Crab. "I will not let you face such danger alone." The Lobster and the Crab began their voyage. Soon they found themselves far from shore. Their boat was tossed and buffeted by the turbulent waters. "Crab!" shouted the Lobster above the roar of the wind. "For me, the splashing of the salt spray is thrilling! The crashing of every wave takes my breath away!" "Lobster, I think we are sinking!" cried the Crab. "Yes, of course, we are sinking," said the Lobster. "This old boat is full of holes. Have courage, my friend. Remember, we are both creatures of the sea." The little boat capsized and sank. "Horrors!" cried the Crab. "Down we go!" shouted the Lobster. The Crab was shaken and upset. The Lobster took him for a relaxing walk along the ocean floor. "How brave we are," said the Lobster. "What a wonderful adventure we have had!" The Crab began to feel somewhat better. Although he usually enjoyed a quicter existence, he had to admit that the day had been pleasantly out of the ordinary. 

Even the taking of small risks will add excitement to life.

I love that you can learn a lesson when you read a book to a child. One of the agents in my office welcomed her first grandchild two days ago and she's over the moon with her tiny granddaughter. xo

See the other Fables from this book HERE.

FABLE: KING LION AND THE BEETLE

FABLES Written & Illustrated by Arnold Lobel 1980

I found a great on-line biography of this author written by his daughter Adrianne Lobel with a delightful YouTube video about an unpublished work by her father that she illustrated and published. click link to read

Arnold Lobel ~ The life and literary works of American children's author and illustrator

text from the second photo

KING LION AND THE BEETLE

King Lion looked in the mirror. "What a beautiful and noble creature I am," he said. "I will go forth to show my devoted subjects that their leader is every inch a king!" The King put on his robes of state, his large jeweled crown, and all of his gold and silver medals. As he walked down the roads of his kingdom, everyone who saw him bowed to the ground. "Yes, yes," said King Lion, "I deserve this respect from my people, for truly I am every inch a king!" There was a tiny Beetle standing near the road. When the King saw him, he cried, "Beetle, I command you to bow low before me!" "Your Royal Majesty," said the Beetle, "I know that I am small, but if you look at me closely, you will see that I am making a bow." The King leaned over. "Beetle," he said, "you are so hard to see down there. I am still not sure that you are bowing." "Your Majesty, said the Beetle, "please look more closely. I assure you that I am indeed bowing." The King leaned over a little farther. Now the robes of state, the large jeweled crown, and all of the gold and silver medals had made King Lion very top-heavy. Suddenly he lost his balance and fell on his head. With a great roar, he rolled into a ditch at the side of the road. The frightened Beetle scurried away. From head to foot, every inch of King Lion was covered with wet mud. 

It is the high and mighty who have the longest distance to fall.

Have a great weekend.

xo

FABLE: The Ducks and The Fox

At times, a change of routine can be most helpful.

FABLES

Written & Illustrated by Arnold Lobel

1980

Have a great weekend

xo

I figured out how to copy text from a photo in case you are having trouble reading the photo. Let me know if this helps.

THE DUCKS AND THE FOX 

 Two Duck sisters were waddling down the road to the pond for their morning Swim. "This is a good road," said the first sister, "but I think, just for a change, we should find another route. 'There are many other roads that lead to the pond." "No," said the second sister, "I do not agree. I really do not want to try a new way. 'This road makes me feel comfortable. I am accustomed to it." One morning the Ducks met a Fox sitting on a fence along the road. "Good morning, ladies," said the Fox. "On your way to the pond, I suppose?" "Oh, yes," said the sisters, "we come along here every day." "Interesting, said the Fox with a toothy smile. When the sun came up the next morning, the first sister said, "We are sure to meet that Fox again if we go our usual way. I did not like his looks. Today is the day that we must find another road!" "You are being just plain silly," " said the second sister. "That Fox smiled at us. He seemed most gentlemanly." The two Ducks waddled down the same road to the pond. There was the Fox, sitting on the fence. This time he carried a sack. "Lovely ladies," ' said the Fox, "I was expecting you. I am glad that you have not disappointed me." Opening his sack, he jumped upon them. The sisters quacked and screamed. They flapped and flopped their wings. They flew home and bolted their door. The next morning, the two Ducks did not go out. They rested at home to quiet their nerves. On the following day they carefully searched for a new and different road. They found one, and it took them safely to the pond. 

At times, a change of routine can be most healthful

The Crocodile in the Bedroom

Moral of the Fable: 

Without a doubt, there is such a thing as too much order.

Three pages from one of my books.

FABLES

Written and Illustrated by

ARNOLD LOBEL

1980

My plan is to post one fable until I have shown you the entire book.

xo

Earliest Published Nursery Rhymes Book c.1744

Mary Cooper, whose two-volume Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (1744) is the first known nursery rhyme collection, featuring early versions of well-known classics like ‘Bah, bah, a black sheep’, ‘Hickory dickory dock’, ‘London Bridge is falling down’ and ‘Sing a song of sixpence’.

The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765) has a good claim to be called the first children’s novel. It tells the story of a poor orphan, Margery, who makes a career for herself as a teacher before, like a less glamorous Cinderella (with no fairy godmother, balls to attend, or glass slipper), she marries the local landowner whom she has impressed by her honesty, hard work and good sense.

Isn't this a much better story than Cinderella?

Click to enlarge the images found in a great article 

ORIGINS OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE 

in the archives of The British Library

Enjoy.

xo

Jane Allen Boyer illustrations: So Charming

Making toast looks very dangerous, doesn't it?

 I stumbled on the first photo of the young girl sewing and I had to know more. That was my childhood -- in the sewing room -- my favorite room in the house and we always had one wherever we lived. 

Jane Allen Boyer (1875-1940) was from Riverton, New Jersey. She illustrated several WWI era books for girls. See the article I found here written by the Historical Society of Riverton NJ. It shows the book covers of her five books. Enjoy.

UPDATE: Here is a link for used copies of The Mary Frances Sewing Book

"The Mary Frances Sewing Book 100th Anniversary Edition: 

A Children’s Story-Instruction Sewing Book with Doll Clothes Patterns for American Girl and Other 18-inch Dolls"

You can refer to the link for the Historical Society above for all the other titles of the Mary Frances books and search for them HERE.

Happy Hunting

XO

Cat Sleeping with Seagull Teddy

So adorable. Do you think Santa brought this stuffed seagull? Don't you love photos of animals with their stuffed toys? via

xo

After reading the comments about this photograph I learned there is a children's book THE STORY OF A SEAGULL AND THE CAT WHO TAUGHT HER TO FLY by Luis Sepúlveda 

A cat. A seagull. An impossible task. A worldwide bestseller and the subject of a feature film, THE STORY OF A SEAGULL... is finally out in paperback! Her wings burdened by an oil slick, a seagull struggles to the nearest port to lay her final egg. Exhausted, she lands on a balcony where Zorba the cat is sunning himself. She extracts three extraordinary promises from him: that he will watch over the egg, that he will not EAT the egg, and that, when it's time, he will teach the baby gull to fly. The first two promises are hard enough, but the third one is surely impossible. Isn't it?

Interested? Search for a copy using my favorite book search HERE.

PAPA SMALL: Repairing a Leak Under the Sink

myoldbooks on Instagram

See post here

Papa Small fixes the kitchen sink. 

The small Smalls watch. 

"Papa Small" by Lois Lenski, 1951

Isn't this adorable? 

I need to know more about Papa Small.

You can borrow 2004 reprint from OPEN LIBRARY here.

Enjoy!

xo

I borrowed the book online and read it.

It is an absolutely charming story about a family who works together. This story tells what they do every day of the week. The children help with every chore cheerfully. I read this copy at the Internet Archive All you have to do to join is enter your email and think of a password. Here is the link to read the story and be thrilled with it. They allow you a little over one hour to read this book. You can arrow click through every page. You are never too old to enjoy a children's picture story book 

xo

Robert Louis Stevenson Verse

Maybe this will make you feel a little cooler. We had 20 minutes of a nice rain yesterday and today I mowed my front yard. I haven't mowed it in 5 weeks because it hardly grew because of the heatwave. I have always loved this image paired with the Robert Louis Stevenson verse.

image found here

xo

Why the Bluebird is Blue

I found another 1920 storybook digitized by Guterberg.org

The illustrations are by Harrison Cady. The first story is about a brave little gray bird who was rewarded with a blue coat. Enjoy all the stories.

READ HERE  

I have been enjoying being back in the saddle again. My tractor was expertly repaired by a man and his son who repair mowers in their garage. They picked up my little John Deere riding mower on Tuesday and brought it back on Friday. I am thrilled. They live very close, only just down the road about two miles away. It's so nice to have someone I can call who is reasonable and fast and so nice. New best friends♡

Have a great Sunday tomorrow. xo

Peter Rabbit Book 1914 Story by Beatrix Potter Illustrated by Virginia Albert

I HAD NO IDEA BEATRIX POTTER BOOKS WERE EVER ILLUSTRATED BY ANYONE ELSE! This book was published in 1914 and we are so thankful it has been digitized by Project Gutenberg as an eBook. It appears to be a very large children's book. See every page and read the story. Most are full page color illustrations but some are black and white. READ HERE.

See a video of a bookseller holding and talking about Beatrix Potter's 1902 first edition HERE.

Have a great Sunday. 

XO

Chiaki Ogada Children's Book Illustrator

Japanese children's book illustrator, Chiaki Ogada.

I found the image above here and looked around for more on google images for those below. All of the books are in Japanese so you will have to use your imagination when viewing the pictures.

Chiaki Ogada, Encounter

Chiaki Ogada, Soon to Come

Chiaki Ogada, Stuffed Doll

They are all wonderful, aren't they?

xo

The Toadflax Children in WINTER STORY by Jill Barklem

Winter Story is a 1980 children's book, the final of the four seasons of Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge series. In the book the biggest snowstorm in years leaves enough snow for an ice ball. The Economist review of books described the book as a "Beatrix Potter through Brambly Hedge", "mousy little tales with beautiful, busy drawings". via

Book About Cats Trying To Be People

"Little purr-purr people, and how they tried to be folks"

Published in 1887

This charming children's book has been digitized. 

You can read it online. 

https://archive.org/details/littlepurrpurrpe00bozp/mode/2up

Enjoy it yourself or read it to someone! 

xo

Santa's Problem With Old Houses

I honestly never thought about how hard is for Santa to land on the roof and get to the chimney of an old house like this one. Click to enlarge this delightful image is by illustrator Jan Brett in the 1998 edition of "The Night Before Christmas"

Wonderful Interior Details in A Children's Book published in 1900

A delightful wood engraving by Hans Tegner. Denmark. 1853-1932. It appeared in a book of fairy tales and stories by Hans Christian Andersen published in 1900 in the collection of The New York Public Library. It seems so sophisticated for a children's book and could easily be in one of today's Interior Design magazines or coffee table books. The room's decor is timeless. An adult reading to a child would have enjoyed this artwork and the idea of the story is perfectly illustrated for a child to enjoy and understand too! I love it, don't you? 

Photo source here.

UPDATE: I JUST DISCOVERED A LINK FOR THE ACTUAL BOOK OF FAIRY TALES AND STORIES BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN PUBLISHED IN 1900. IT HAS BEEN DIGITIZED BY THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

There are 524 pages. 

Who knows what else you will discover!

ENJOY! xo

https://archive.org/details/fairytalesstorie00ande/page/n19/mode/2up 

Christmas Books to Read Starting December First

I found a blog you will want to bookmark called TYGERTALE: A BLOG ABOUT BRILLIANT CHILDREN'S BOOKS. https://tygertale.com/

The illustration above is for reading on the 8th day of December:

Brambly Hedge: Winter Story by Jill Barklem 

There is even a delightful 25 minute animated movie of this story to watch at the end.

The entire blog post about Christmas stories to read each day in December leading up to Christmas Day is: https://tygertale.com/2020/12/25/the-best-christmas-ever/ 

Each recommendation has a link leading to the book with numerous illustrations. You will love it!

Enjoy and share. 

PS: It's okay to start early🎄

Beatrix Potter Kitty in Boots

I found an interesting New Yorker article about a new book being published based on a “lost” Potter work about a cat: “The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots,” which she had begun and abandoned two years earlier, in 1914. Several manuscripts of the story were discovered in 2013 in the Potter archive at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Read more here. Beatrix Potter complained to her publisher, "I do not draw cats well." I disagree and think her original drawing is quite charming.