There is nothing I enjoy more than story-time with my daughter at bedtime. I love curling up the floor with her on my lap reading the stories I grew up with to her. She never gets tired of “Little Red Riding Hood”and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. My favorite lately is “If You Give a [...]

The holidays are a time when I get extremely sentimental and nostalgic. My favorite childhood memories are of Christmas and the holiday season. My favorite part is getting ready for Christmas, the decorating, the baking, the Christmas songs. We start decorating the house the day after Thanksgiving and don’t stop until the week before Christmas. [...]

I pulled out a wonderful book from my ’snowy day’ shelf. The Birchbark House takes place in 1847. It follows the life of a 7 year old Ojibwe girl named Omakayas, which means Little Frog. She and her family live on an Island in Lake Superior. Through their experiences you learn of the
Ojibwe culture and [...]

This is one of those cases where although I didn’t love the main character, the plot and intriguing writing style kept it interesting and entertaining. The Goose Girl is very loosely based on the Grimm fairytale of the same name, which I happened to have read a few years ago and completely forgot about in the [...]

This entertaining picture book’s original plot involves a classical singer, her talented Siamese cat, and, of course, hijinks. I loved the detailed watercolor illustrations, and while some aspects of the storyline are a bit unrealistic, I suppose that shouldn’t be too surprising in a children’s book. Cat lovers and/or opera enthusiasts in particular shouldn’t miss this one.

When I was an obsessed-with-horses kid I read just about every story Marguerite Henry had ever written, and I’m shocked at how little of the plots I retained 20-25 years later. I suppose I should be happy for my poor memory, though, as it makes it that much more fun to rediscover these vintage works. One [...]

Mr. Pusskins is back—and this time his complaints are legitimate.  The small white kitten recently adopted by his owner Emily is nothing but a troublemaker, yet only Mr. Pusskins sees her true nature.  Wrongfully accused of perpetrating the mischief, Mr. Pusskins is summarily banished from the house.  Will Little Whiskers confess?  If you’re looking for [...]

I thought I would have lots of time to catch up on some reading during my maternity leave…. silly me. I have not picked up an adult book in months. Books have become a world I can share with my daughter as she sits on my lap with wide eyes and a big smile on [...]

I’m a huge folktale fan, so I found this unusual picture book combining snippets of the popular fairy tale told in 17 different geographical regions to be very original and appealing.  Gouache illustrations depicting the plot’s details as told in countries including Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Iran, Poland, and Zimbabwe make one curious about other world [...]

I tend to view books and articles about Arctic exploration to be dull, but I found The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish to be very interesting and suspenseful.  This amazingly- and intricately-illustrated picture book written following extensive research is based on a true story and includes black and white photos of the Inupiat family [...]