Chimera Collage

Chimera, original collage on old children's primer cover

I read somewhere recently that September is National Literacy Month. We always have a couple of read-aloud books going with Lizzie in addition to our own individual books. This week we maxed out our 50 book limit at the library. hah! Guess that's the way it goes when you home-school. Patrick and Lizzie are reading the newly released Sky Pyrates Over Oz. Lizzie and I have just started Little Women (we're on chapter 4 of 47). Patrick and I are both trying to read this book (at the same time) and keep stealing it back and forth. Lizzie just discovered the historical fiction books published by American Girl (thus our maxed out library card!) and I've been listening to the original Grimm's Fairy Tales while I work in the studio at night. I'd love to hear what you've been reading!

Mended Pages

More often than not it is the imperfection of a thing that makes it special. When I'm browsing through old books for collage material the pages that have flaws are the ones that stand out to me. Whether they are mended, scribbled, torn or stained these blemishes are what I seek.

All images gleaned from The New Beacon Primer by James H. Fassett. Illustrated by Blanche Fisher Laite. Published by Ginn & Company, Boston, USA, 1921.

Puppet Master

Puppet Master, original collage on scribbled book cover

Two years ago Patrick and Lizzie were well into their Oz adventures. This week they are finishing up the 47th book in the series, Trouble Under Oz. It has been a fantastical journey and even though I don't sit in on the nightly readings there has been a bit of Oz seeping into my own work. I've dubbed it Oz-mosis ;)

The Oz Adventures

Last night Patrick and Lizzie finished reading the 14th book of the original series of Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They had begun the series this past summer and have continued reading a few chapters together every night. Today was Patrick's birthday and we celebrated with a fitting journey to the Oz Museum. They've now decided they will delve into more Oz adventures by reading the additional canonical books which I believe total a whopping 40+ volumes (thank goodness for Amazon Prime!).

And to Patrick....I just want to say thank you for instilling such a love of reading and adventure in our girl....Happy Birthday!

Back To School

Thought I would celebrate this back-to-school time of year by sharing a selection of vintage children's books/workbooks that I have in my collection. Happy Monday!

The Oz Museum

After living in Kansas for two years we decided it was high time to visit the Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas. It is quaint museum, chock-full of memorabilia from the movie and collectibles galore. I certainly enjoyed the museum as my mother had read all of L. Frank Baum's original 14 Oz books out loud to my siblings and me when we were kids. I'm still trying to decide if I want to tackle this same task with Lizzie! We're currently wading through Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Farm. Happy Monday!

Cabbage Moon

Another favorite in our collection of vintage children's books is Cabbage Moon by Jan Wahl with truly magical illustrations by Adrienne Adams. The book was published in 1965 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. If you can find a copy of this book it's a real treasure for any child or youth-at-heart.

Of course, the moon is a cabbage in this story.

The heroine, Princess Adelgitha (who walks on stilts), and her best friend Jennie are certain of this truth.

The villain in the tale is a miser named Lorenzo Squink (what a great name!) who steals the moon to make some cabbage salad.

Jennie and the Princess go to great lengths to save the moon from a bath of sour cream.

And yes....there is a happy ending.

A perfectly, perfect fairy tale for any age.

Reading Material

We traveled to see the grandparents this weekend. As Lizzie puts it..."we traveled by car and plane, NOT boat or train or hot air balloon." After we reached our cruising altitude I took a photo of each family members reading material of choice. Lizzie read her Frog and Toad book by Arnold Lobel. This book has added many new, silly phrases to her daily vocabulary such as "this is my sad time of day" and "oh, drat!".

Patrick read class notes. At least I think that's what these are.

I brought along a recent issue of American Craft. Hope you had a good weekend too.