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By Mom Unplugged, September 11, 2007 8:33 pm

My children and I just adore the sweet tale of how a stray cat makes himself a part of a lonely lady’s life. The illustrations are as delightful as the story.

I like to consider this book both a story book and a find-it book because in every two page spread, the kitty is hiding somewhere in the room. This adds a little element of fun to a nice bedtime read.

It seems that Amazon might be doing away with Where Is That Cat?. I don’t know if it has gone out of print or if it is just harder to find. My advice: grab this one while you still can! Also try shopping around: Ebay and Half.com are good sources for hard to find books at reasonable prices.

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By Mom Unplugged, September 3, 2007 9:54 pm

My 7 year-old daughter won’t sleep without one of these under her pillow! I bought these as a stocking stuffer two Christmases ago for my daughter (then 5) and they have become part of her nightly ritual ever since.

After I tuck her in, she picks a card and looks at the picture while I read the back. Lately she has started reading the back herself. Some nights, my 5 year-old son even asks for one.
These cards have gorgeous Victorian illustrations on one side (with plenty of fairies and many images of children in fantastic, magical surroundings). The other side presents a soothing poem to put sweet thoughts into a child’s head before sleep.

These are not “children’s” poems but are works by such poets and authors as Rumi, Oscar Wilde, John Keats, Emily Dickinson, as well as many lesser known and anonymous writers (there is even one Navajo saying). The art work is dated and attributed to it’s illustrator, when known.

Some of the poems are quite sophisticated and at times it is difficult to find a quick and simple pre-bedtime answer to the question “what is that about.” The language of many poems can also be a bit archaic and complex, but my daughter does not seem to mind this.

Her favorite card is “Hope Is The Thing With Feathers” by Emily Dickinson and she likes to recite this one by heart. The cards are well-laminated and still look new after one year of loving use (except for the one that my son cut with scissors and we had to tape back together - oh well!).

When asked for a quote for this blog, my daughter says that I must tell people: “These cards make you have really good dreams!”

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By Mom Unplugged, August 31, 2007 8:02 am

One of the wonderful things about living in the Southwestern US is that there is a whole unique genre of regional literature, including children’s literature. There are not many other parts of the United States that come to mind with such a strong regional literary presence.

After finding my review of their book Baby Animals of the Southwest, publisher Rising Moon (Northland Publishing) asked me if I would be interested in reading and reviewing other books. I am very interested in Southwestern and multicultural children’s literature and I loved the idea of helping support a local publisher (Northland was based in Flagstaff, Arizona, not far from me).

Unfortunately, I heard on the news last night that Northland has just been purchased by a large East Coast publisher and has already closed its doors (which explains the lack of response when I requested some high resolution images of the book to add to this post).

Just when I was feeling like a “cool blogger” for having been asked to write a book review, “my publisher” goes out of business! Maybe I should have written my review sooner?? Oh well. They were kind enough to send me the book, and it is a great book, so I will write the review anyhow!

I was interested in Southwestern bedtime stories, so they kindly sent me Bedtime in the Southwest, by Mona Hodgson, illustrated by Renee Graef.

The southwestern animals in this story resist bedtime in ways that all parents will recognize (bouncing on the bed, ignoring Mama, begging for juice, etc,)… but at the end, the animals demonstrate the proper way to go to bed “scoot into bed and snuggle in tight, and offer big hugs and then say goodnight.”

The text is very simple so that it will appeal to younger children. The illustrations are humorous and very cute and depict such animals as prong-horned antelope, skunks, hummingbirds, and coyotes for example.

I gave this book the test of all my children (ages 7, 5, and 19 months). They all enjoyed it, but my 19 month-old actually made me read it twice more. She loved the story and for some reason, she found the skunk page absolutely fascinating!

If you are looking for an unusual, quality children’s bedtime story with cute art, give Bedtime in the Southwest a try. This might be a really fun one to read to a reluctant sleeper too!

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By Mom Unplugged, August 24, 2007 7:47 pm

I found this hardcover picture book at Tuesday Morning for $2.99. Even at Amazon, this hardcover is only $7.95 (and part of their 4-for-3 Promotion)! I don’t know why it is in everybody’s bargain bin, because I think it is totally cute!

This is the simple, classic story of Snow White recounted with no literary embelishments. The characters however, are dogs.

The photos are very cute and of good quality. The dogs are dressed up in costumes and are acting out the story (I know dogs can be cooperative animals, but I still suspect that a certain amount of photo manipulation is involved here).

I love the choice of the “cast.” Snow White is a lovable and innocent Golden Retriever, the wicked and vain Queen is a Poodle, and the Huntsman is played by a Rottweiler! The Seven Dwarfs are beyond cute (all small breeds of course).

Perhaps this is vaguely reminiscent in an odd way of that bizarre old painting of the dogs playing poker. Is that why no one wants to buy this one? I don’t know. But I do know that my kids and I read it again and again. I see this as a hidden treasure for any animal loving family!

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By Mom Unplugged, August 15, 2007 7:53 pm

I have to review this one since it is the current absolute all-time favorite of my 19 month-old. She wants it over and over and over again.

The book consists of a series of photos of babies and their Moms (and one Dad) doing the things that babies do: look at Mom, wave to Dad, eat, etc. Not exactly at the top of my list of fascinating books, but when you are 19 months-old, this is all pretty exciting.

Each baby/parent section is displayed on a background and with accessories of a different color, so I suppose that might become a topic of conversation eventually too.

This is a large-format book, so the photos are large too. They are clear and interesting.

There are some complaints on Amazon as to the rather stilted nature of the text, for example:

Hey, baby!
Look at you, looking at me,
looking at you, looking at me.

No, this is not how I talk to my little one. It is not “natural” speech, but it is very repetitive and rhythmic and my baby seems to love it, probably for that reason. Personally, I have no problem with the flow of the text.

My only comment would be that I wish this book could come in a board book format. It has been so loved at our house that I am just waiting for the pages to be torn to shreds with enthusiasm since my little girl even loves “reading” it by herself!