The Cat in the Hat
"Look at me!
Look at me now!" said the cat.
"With a cup and a cake
On top of my hat!
I can hold up TWO books!
I can hold up the fish!
And a little toy ship!
And some milk on a dish!
And look!
I can hop up and down on the ball!
But that is not all!
Oh, no.
That is not all ...
Little did know that when I wrote the Hereville contest entry qualifier—posting your favorite children’s books— that I would receive a chorus of interesting responses. Honestly, I worried a bit. Did anyone read blogs over the winter holidays? My blog? Would anyone reply? A hearty thank you to those who took the time to share. The contest isn’t over until January 22, so keep your replies coming in.
The wonderful book list that’s growing on the Hereville post got me thinking about my favorite book, The Cat In the Hat, who turned fifty in 2007. Random House left up their The Cat in Hat birthday website, with all the bells and whistles, cool music, and coloring card page still in working order. If you are a Doctor Suess fan, be sure to check out Suessville, the complete Dr. Suess site. Of course, nothing beats holding The Cat in Hat in your very own hands and reading it aloud.
Happy Holidays and Hereville Giveaway
Let's celebrate with a contest! Thanks to the generous folks at Abrams, I have a copy of Barry Deutsh's Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword to give away. All you have to do is name your favorite children's book in a comment on this post before January 22nd, 2012. I’ll pick a winner at random.
In case you missed the buzz about this wonderful middle grade graphic novel, ignore the tongue and check cover claim. Hereville's heroine, Mirka, is not "yet another troll-fighting 11 year-old Orthodox Jewish girl." But Hereville is what the respected and very perceptive children's book reviewer Elizabeth Bird wrote --"A remarkable little book and, I guarantee, like nothing else you have on your bookstore, library, or personal shelves. "
Good news! Barry Deutsh is working on Hereville, Book Two.
Read Elizabeth Bird's complete Hereville review.
Listen to School Library Journal's Interview with Barry Deutsh
Visit Barry Deutsch's Hereville website.
School Glue in Glass Jars
I didn’t see any at Dick Blick when I was there the other day. They did have Martha Stewart glitter. I’m told it sets a new standard for glitter. Pens were in abundance, too. I snagged a couple Coptic Multiliners, which come in the most amazing colors- wine, sepia and sky blue. Blank books, ones I dreamed they would make back in the day when sketchbook choices were limited, filled display cases. I bought one of my favorites, a Beinfang hybrid called NoteSketch book, which pretty much defines how I will use it. I scanned the glue aisle, studying the offerings, hoping I might find it there. But even in this age of reverence for all things vintage, a glass jar of glue remains a memory.
Back in the 60’s, our school glue, the consistency of today's Elmer’s school glue, came in glass jars, with a brush conveniently fit in the center of the lid. Used for all our grammar art projects, we lathered it on construction paper leaves and feathers. The plastic jars, and the plastic spatula replacing the brush, came later. They contained paste. A sticky concoction that had a distinctive sweet smell. Sweet enough for a subclass of the student population to indulge in more than just a taste. The glue eaters. They probably got hooked early on with school glue’s close cousin--play dough.
Glass jars of glue. Brush in lid. Perhaps somewhere, in a cosmic corner of our new global retail structure, there’s a stash. Till then, we are stuck with glue sticks.
Notes:
Googling hopefully about for this product from the past, I did find a source for glue jars with brushes. Plastic, of course. But they are sold by the dozen, and you could make your own glue and pour it into the jar. A sweet hand drawn label on the front, a block of construction paper and some decent scissors would make a nice holiday gift for a young and old alike. I know I’d like one.
Mittens Lost in the Woodlands
They have started to appear again. Rescued, they are hung on a branch, slipped into a fence post opening, or draped on a park bench. Sometimes a scarf, but more often than not, it's mitten. Usually child sized. Tossed from a stroller, dropped from a back pack; there are many ways to lose one.
Children's book writers and illustrators like to imagine what happens when woodland animals find a wooly curiosity. In The Mitten, Jan Brett's re-telling of a Ukrainian folktale, Nikki's new white mitten lands on the snowy ground. In Pobble's Way, a book by Simon Van Booy and illustrated by Wendy Edelson, Pobble's fuzzy pink "cloud" mitten, slips out of her pocket. In both books, knitters will delight to see how their hand work is pondered by woodland creatures.
Knitters will also delight to know that after reading the mitten books, there's more fun to be found.
Jan Brett offers many great downloads, on her website.
Flashlight Press is celebrating Pobble's Way with a mitten pattern and a contest. Written by Bev Qualheim of Bev's Country Cottage, the two needle mitten pattern is an easy one to master. Give it a try. And when your mitten is finished, send a photo of it to the friendly folks at Flashlight. You could win your very own copy of Pobble's Way.
Updates: Red Scarf almost done. A few more rows, and then, blocking.
My new essay, Fledgings, in this week's Lion Brand Newsletter. Happy Reading!