June 15, 2013

I'm old so I get to say this: Where has the year gone? It's already the middle of June, and even though school has been out for barely over a week, the end of the summer seems so close. During the summer months we have Grandy Camp around here. Lots of fun, some chores (money-making opportunities), some adventures, and some learning. Bet no one is surprised that READING is big on my list of favored activities. Yup. We read and we log and we win prizes. (Grandy especially loves the places that reward the kids with books rather than fast food coupons!) In the past Grandy Camp has had "theme days"; this year we're doing an overall theme of the USA. Part of our planning and learning for the summer comes from Dan Yaccarino's Go, Go America! book. He's a favorite author. This past week, our first official week of Grandy Camp, we learned about Maine, Arizona, Hawaii, and New Mexico. And, Grandy coup! I found THE perfect book: Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin. Why was it perfect? Well, you see there was a request for Knight Day this summer. There aren't a lot of knights, princesses, castles, or dragons in America. But ... there is London Bridge ... and it did come from England ... and it is in Arizona. So in a convoluted way, Grandy worked in Knight Day on Wednesday when we "visited" Arizona. And other than just about any street corner in Houston, where are you likely to find tacos? New Mexico! Hence, Dragons Love Tacos was the perfect book for the week. Super funny too--Aidan read it twice and laughed a lot both times. I have it on my books-as-gifts list now. (Coincidentally, one of the books mentioned below was appropriate for this week's Grandy Camp. We all read One Morning in Maine on Tuesday.)

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On Thursdays my granddaughter and I go to our neighborhood library for toddler storytime (did this with her big brother also). Today was a disappointing day, not just because our favorite children’s librarian was home sick. Granted, with a 2 ½-year-old to keep in tow, it’s not easy perusing the bookshelves, but I was looking for classics to pick up for myself, along with books for Aidan and Abby. There still seems to be just the one Lois Lenski book on the shelves. (No, I haven’t checked the catalog yet and I can always request books from other branches; I’m just talking about today.) Then I looked for a Raggedy Ann book—to find only a “re-write” using the original characters. Among the new books was one of apparently a series featuring “classic characters” in new stories. This one featured the Velveteen Rabbit. It was an early reader and the story appeared to be nothing similar to the original story. Not that that is bad—that is one classic I’m not certain I desire to read again. Finally I found two books: By chance, Noodle by Munro Leaf and on purpose, One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey.

I remembered reading Noodle as soon as I saw the cover. But, boy, I sure didn’t remember that Munro Leaf was the author—he wrote one of my favorites: Ferdinand. Nor did I remember that the illustrator was Ludwig Bemelmans, of Madeline. A simple story but cute as all get out and a lesson of being happy in your own skin.

How many times will I use the word “remember” before this project is finished? I didn’t remember One Morning in Maine until I began reading it. The warm feeling that memory brings is like pulling a comforter up under your chin—so cozy and homey. Enjoyed that story and that feeling. I’ve read Make Way for Ducklings  so often it probably isn’t fair to include it in this project but I think it might be incomplete without it.

Spent a much too rare weekend with my middle grandchild, 4½-year-old Rowan. Love just being around that smart little guy but I especially enjoyed getting to read four books to him (as well as baking cookies!). One of the books was I Want My Hat Back, which I read a while back and enjoyed. Perhaps it’s not truly a children’s book since neither grandson particularly “got” it or enjoyed it. However, I got to read Bone Soup, Toy Story 3 Together Again, and Go Away, Big Green Monster and he enjoyed those. Bone Soup was a new one to me and I did like it a lot; I’ve never really seen the Toy Story movies so I’m just so-so on those books; and Green Monster was familiar from several readings over the years at library storytime. I think it might’ve been Rowan’s first exposure to it though—I liked doing that.

This project would be remiss without a Curious George book or four—and I will get some of the original Margret and H.A. Rey titles on here. That curious little monkey never goes out of style or popularity, especially in the last five years with the PBS series and the movies. Curious George Goes to the Zoo, which I read half a dozen straight times this morning to Abby, is not an original but how heart-warming that new authors and illustrators are adding to George’s adventures. The story was essentially like all others—George’s curiosity always takes him places it shouldn’t, gets him in trouble, but all is well in the end—and the illustrations “done in the style of H.A. Rey” were remarkable, just as familiar as George’s well-loved face.

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (illustrated by Lois Lenski)—this book is exactly what this project is about. Why didn’t someone one day hand this book to me at Fort Collins Public Library and say, “Here, sweetheart, you should enjoy this book. It’s about little girls just like you.” But I never heard of this series until my “Betsy” was a little girl. Reading it was kind of a time machine—no cars, just horses and buggies—but the universality and timelessness of Tacy’s baby sister Bee dying and Betsy’s baby sister Margaret being born were very touching. And a lesson in what friendship really is about.