A Trio of Picture Book Treasures

A Trio of Picture Book Treasures

Picture books
I am realizing that I am erring on the side of adult in my book
choices. (Think this has anything to do with graduate school?) Today
to try for a little balance I'm offering up a trio of picture books
for my mentor, Jodi, and all the other parents of very young children.

The Seeds Of Friendship
Although he misses his former home, Adam loves his new
apartment. But the world beyond his window seems bleak and grey. His
first snow leads to friendships as he shows some other kids how to
build creatures like rhinos and lions.
At his new school, as spring arrives, Adam loves the garden.
His teacher gives him seeds to plant in the window boxes at home...
...and this is only the beginning.
The Seeds Of Friendship can be a wonderful inspiration for
children and families wishing to add a touch of home or beauty to
their environments.

The Night World
When I was a child during the day the basement of my house was
familiar and cozy. It was a place for storage, laundry, and play. We
had a huge wood table dedicated to messy crafts. I had a little play
house with blanket walls, a comfy chair, and all kinds of books and
good things. (My first studio). When night fell, however, it was not
a place I wanted to be--sinister shadows, ominous furnace noises...
Heck, when I was in undergraduate college the president's
residence was set off in the woods, accessible by a path. In addition
to being hired for social events put on by the pres and his wife, I
was best friends with classmates who rented there and often slept
over. I have fond memories like the president's wife appearing in
bathrobe and slippers to invite us for snow day pancakes. The woods
path was pretty and scenic in the day, but six times as long after
darkness fell, seemingly full of creatures from Stephen King's
imagination.
When Mordicai Gerstein was four he woke up needing to pee. He
and his father stopped in the kitchen on their way back to bed. They
looked out a kitchen window into a very transformed back yard.
Readers of The Night World will see that that experience stuck
with him well into adulthood.
A cat, whose green eyes are the only touches of color in a
shades of grey world, wakes a sleeping child. The cat wants to go
out. The child thinks it's too late. The cat persists. Cat and
child tiptoe through a sleeping house to a shadowy, star studded dew
wet outside night world...
...where something special is on the way.
A lot of kids have night time fears. If any live in your home
The Night World will be a fine investment.

Wolf In The Snow
Matthew Cordell's Wolf In The Snow is a wordless book with a
timeless message.
A bundled up child walks away from a school in a snow storm.
Trudging through thickening flakes, that little one finds a lone baby
wolf too young to survive on its own. The child picks up the cub and
searches for its mother, collapsing in the snow from exhaustion after
the reunion takes place...
...and the wolves find a way to help their new friend. Read the
book to see how that happens.

On a purrrsonal (Joey is sprawled out on my legs) note, I had a good
week. I was not a fan of the two really cold days when my commute was
a real challenge. (At work I talked to a lot of students about the
importance of dressing to prevent frostbite.) My best day was Friday,
my dress up day. I decided to assess people's reactions to my
strawberry ice cream pink angora sweater which I wasn't sure I liked.
(I had people, on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 the ugliest thing you've
seen today, 5 beautiful, and 3 meh, rate the sweater. All 5s. It's a
keeper). It was first Friday bagels and coffee at the commuter
lounge. Wonderful tradition! I found enough articles for my
annotated bibliography just in the nick of time. More homework I
can't do at home. I unexpectedly saw my good friend, Mazie. I got to
do a craft at women's resource center. We collaged notebooks.
Everyone's looked amazing. It's an easy and useful craft. All you
need is a notebook, magazines with pictures, glue, stickers, and your
imagination. You can have a fancy journal at a notebook price.
That's what mine will be. And I saw Jodi for the first time in two
weeks. We went over my progress in the new GROW (guided reflections
on work) program she chose me :-) for. I had lost my watch. She gave
me one with cats on it. She also gave me a ride home which was an
excellent way to start my weekend. This coming week I'm both nervous
and eager to find out how I did on my survey final draft. I'm very
excited for the work training scheduled for Saturday on stuff like
customer service and food safety. I am going to bring a notebook,
pens, and my listening ears.
Great big shout outs go out to Mazie, the Women's Resource Center gang
who will make this Women's History Month memorable, Jodi, and Anna who
is arranging the training opportunity.
jules hathaway



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