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By Mom Unplugged, June 5, 2007 8:31 pm

Jamichael Henterly’s sweet illustrations in this book are so lovely and detailed, you could spend quite a time studying them! The rhyming text is minimal but very pretty (Rose Fyleman wrote it in 1918!).

This is a simple book that teaches children the value of kindness. The fairy goes to the market four times. Each time she buys an animal, which she enjoys for a while then sets free; or once a lovely “winter gown” which she enjoys for a while then gives to a cold frog. The final illustration depicts the fairy surrounded by the four animals that she helped / set free.

I just stumbled upon this by accident at Amazon while searching for a fourth book for a 4-for-3 promotion order. It was a lovely find!

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By Mom Unplugged, May 16, 2007 2:04 pm

I have just started straightening out my garden, so this seems an appropriate book to feature today.

This is a simple book about the “life-cycle” of a vegetable garden. We follow a family and their garden through the seasons beginning with their eager springtime anticipation of the last frost, and ending with fall canning and the wait for next year’s garden. There is a certain comfort in this book as we follow the rhythm of the seasons, knowing that next year all will be the same.

The illustrations appear to be in colored pencil and are a nice complement to the simple happenings in the garden.

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By Mom Unplugged, May 6, 2007 9:32 pm

At a garage sale, we stumbled upon the original hardcover version of this story and one of the other stories in this series, Moongame. My 6 year-old girl, but particularly my 4 year-old boy love these!

Mooncake is the story of a bear who wants to taste the moon. He builds a rocket ship out of junk, falls asleep during “launch” and wakes up during the winter thinking he is on the moon (since bears normally hibernate, he has never before seen snow).

This simple tale subtly introduces the concepts of hibernation, bird migration, and the seasons. Plus, the relationship between bear and his little bird friend is sweet.

The illustrations are very basic and use only a few colors, but the story seems to captivate!

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By Mom Unplugged, May 2, 2007 3:06 pm

I believe that this is originally a Dutch story. The Apple Cake tells the tale of an old woman who, wishing to make an apple cake, sets off to the market with a basket of plums in the hopes of trading them for some apples.

The narrative follows the woman and her encounters on the way to the market. The kind lady trades her plums, and eventually other items, in order to help people she meets along the way. Of course, just when you think she will never get her apples, she makes a final trade for some apples!

Would she have gotten the apples if she had not been so kind to strangers? What would have happened to the strangers and their predicaments if the woman had not gone to the market that day?

Children learn the importance of kindness and generosity, as well as the power of positive karma! The story is a bit convoluted for really little children, but ages three or four and up should enjoy it immensely. I also love the pretty pastel illustrations. There is even a recipe on the back for a delicious-sounding apple cake. A “Kids Cook Night” idea perhaps?

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By Mom Unplugged, April 7, 2007 11:07 am

As an animal lover and a “sucker” for taking in strays and rejects (how do you think we ended up with eight cats?), I think this is a wonderful story! My kids and I really enjoy reading this over and over again.

This Caldecott Honor Winner is a true story of how a family discovers a stray dog while on a picnic and how that dirty little dog becomes part of their life.

The text is quite simple and minimal. The illustrations are wonderfully sweet and funny yet very effectively convey the emotions of the family members, and even the dog.

I guarantee that you and your kids will love this one, especially if animals are a big part of your life.

Awards: Caldecott Honor Book.