Yellow Cottage with Dandelion Lawn

Goodness.Gracious. Have you ever heard of the book Dandelion Cottage? If this isn't it, I don't know what is!! via

1908 Children's Book Illustrations

A step back in time with a wonderful illustration by Margaretta S. Hinchman.

When children learned the names of flowers from their stories. Verse by Edith Barnes Sturgis. There is no mention of the garden fairy that is in the picture above.

Book Cover. Published in 1908. Large folio Children's book from my collection. 

All photos in this post are mine.

Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd [Video]

 

OMG---this is too fabulous for words. View this parody of 'Goodnight Moon' full screen if you can. Click here if you can't see this AMAZING video. I'm sure everyone will be able to relate to this modern bedtime story!!! It's not for kids anymore...it's for all of us. Hardcover book available here.

Jessie Wilcox Smith illustration

This looks like a good idea. Hope you had a good weekend. Goodnight. via

Great Quote for the Disorganized | A .A. Milne

                                                                                                 I made this.

dis·or·gan·ized/disˈôrgəˌnīzd/
Adjective:
Not properly planned and controlled.
(of a person) Unable to plan one's activities or surroundings efficiently.


Listen to A. A. Milne himself read from Winnie-The-Pooh in 1929 on a gramophone recording. This video is delightfully illustrated with family photos and illustrations from the book. Click here if you are unable to view.

Knitting Mouse | Beatrix Potter

I love discovering new drawings by Beatrix Potter that I've never seen before. This knitting mouse delights me. Signed lower right H.B.P. for Helen Beatrix Potter, her full name. via

Back Then - DANDELION COTTAGE

I downloaded my first audio book yesterday and had a delightful time listening to Dandelion Cottage.

It is a free download -- here is the site if you DON'T have an iPhone.

I never read this book as a young girl and I would have loved it back then. It's never too late to catch up, is it? The free app for iPhone and iPad is called Audiobooks -- The list of free books to download is wonderful. You can also read Dandelion Cottage online or on an eReader here.

440 East Arch, Marquette Michigan

Dandelion Cottage has historical significance for its association with a prize-winning Marquette (Michigan) author who made the house famous in her book of the same name. In 1904 local writer Caroll Watson Rankin wrote a popular children's story of four young girls who earned the right to occupy the cottage as a play house over the summer months for the rental price of ridding its yard of its dandelion crop. The cottage was constructed about 1880 and donated to Saint Paul's Episcopal Church by Marquette pioneer and philanthropist Peter White in 1888 as a rental property. The house was moved from its then-current location adjacent to the church on High Street to a site two hundred feet away on Arch Street. To avoid demolition of the disintegrating structure, then-mayor of Marquette, William Birch and his wife, Sally, agreed to purchase and move the cottage in order to maintain the noted structure's presence in the community. source

Real people still live in this delightful cottage. Read about them here: Back Then - mmnow.com

Dandelion Cottage by Caroll Watson Rankin -- Carroll Watson Rankin is the pen name of American author Caroline Clement Watson Rankin (1864–1945). She began writing the story one August day in 1903 when her young daughter Eleanor proclaimed she had read all the books in the world for little girls.

Maurice Sendak | RIP

Maurice Sendak June 10,1928 - May 8,2012 via

Cupcakes and Tea in Mother Rabbit's Kitchen

I love this painting by Susan Wheeler. I've always been fascinated by animals and how they live and decorate their homes in the fantasy world. 

Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds

click photo to enlarge

This iPhone photo snapped from my third floor window doesn't even begin to show the number of blackbirds flying into the woods. What a sight to behold at my cottage this afternoon. Blackbird pie is not on tonight's menu.

click photo to enlarge

This happy family appears to be thrilled to see such a pie on their dinner table. Here is another Randolph Caldecott drawing from one of my antiquarian books illustrating the nursery rhyme Sing A Song for Sixpence.

After Dinner Drinks at Mousey Hall

After a pleasant dinner with Miss Mousey, Froggy and Mr. Rat enjoy drinks and pleasant conversation. Froggy appears to be doing a little courting too. Don't you love the wonderful fireplace wall? Randolph Caldecott's illustrations always gave the animals small mansions with fine antiques and he dressed them in the finery of the day. 

Randolph Caldecott Illustrations are So Charming

This was photographed from one of my antiquarian picture books by R. Caldecott (1846-1886). It is a scene from 'A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go' that couldn't be more charming. Mr. Rat and Froggy are on their best behavior while being entertained at Mousey's Hall by Miss Mousey herself.

New Year's Eve

Will you be able to stay up until midnight tonight? I found this delightful Maj Lindman illustration on Flickr and loved it so much I put it in my sidebar. I love the red orange and white striped pajamas, don't you?

Girl and her Friends Writing Letters

 

This letter seems to be a real group effort, doesn't it? The girl and her dolls, teddy bear, and pets are very deep in thought and are putting their best efforts into good penmanship.

Illustration for The Christmas Letter circa 1905-07 by Wuanita Smith, American, 1866–1959. Black chalk, red and black wash on illustration board. In the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. via from here

Cats at Home

 

I absolutely love illustrations of animals doing people things in domestic surroundings. These cats have a real eye for interior design and they have such varied interests. I especially like the kitchen under the stairs; totally charming. This split level could work very nicely for people too. ©Franco Matticchio, illustration for "Gioia Casa" 2006 via Flickr.

From The Hundred Acre Wood To Midtown – Winnie The Pooh at The New York Public Library

From The Hundred Acre Wood To Midtown – Winnie The Pooh Exhibit in New York Somehow it never occurred to me that the characters in Winnie The Pooh were real [stuffed] animals. They are in New York now. Have you seen them in their own little room?

The one and only original Winnie The Pooh

1950 - author A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin, sitting at home with his teddy bear. Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

The original Piglet

The original Tigger 

The original Eeyore

The original Kanga

All of the Original Pooh Characters Together At Last in New York City in their permanent home at The New York Public Library. These are the very animals Christopher once played with in Ashdown Forest (inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood), patches, rips, dirt, and all. Some characters, like Rabbit and Owl, were made up for the stories, while little Roo was lost long ago. Read more.

The Children's Book-Shop and Library Vintage Bookplate

"Infinite Riches in a Little Room" C. Marlowe

Are you following this chicken story?

"Inside her own private cup, Pigeon settles down to pecking and nibbling and talking to herself."

Lauren Scheuer is an illustrator, children's book author and chicken mom. She has been sharing the tales of her flock of five which includes one special needs chicken, one mean girl and one who gets tormented daily.  Read today's installment and then click on the link Lauren provides to catch up on what you have missed. Scratch and Peck: EVENING RITUAL

Baobab Trees from The Little Prince

Baobab Trees

Now that I see what these trees truly look like I can see why Le Petit Prince was so worried about them. The Little Prince spent his days caring for his "planet", pulling out the baobab trees that were constantly trying to take root there. The trees would make his little planet turn to dust if they were not removed. Throughout the book he was taught to be patient and to do hard work to keep his "planet" in order.

The Little Prince

The Little Prince Drawings on Automobile

I so love Le Petit Prince drawings on this little French automobile. ©Muddy LaBoue Le Petit Prince, published in 1943, is French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s most famous novella.