MAKE WAY FOR THESE SPRINGTIME DUCKLINGS!

When talk of Springtime and Easter Eggs comes up, children usually think of bunnies and baby chicks.  (Or, if you've read any of my recommended Ukrainian Pysanka books, a goose might come to mind.)  But let's not leave out the ducklings - here are three timeless tales...

The Golden Egg Book, by Margaret Wise Brown, with illustrations by Leonard Weisgard. (ages 2-6)

Once there was a little bunny. He was all alone. One day he found an egg. He could hear something moving inside the egg. What was it?

This "golden oldie" (1947) is a perfect read aloud for little ones, who will have fun trying to guess "what's inside":  An elephant? A mouse?  It ends up being a friend for the bunny: a little duck!

The charming vintage illustrations are a perfect pair with Margaret Wise Brown's classic and simple story.

Another classic springtime "duck tale" is The Ugly Duckling, by Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875). Look for this adaptation, with old fashioned, warm watercolors by author/illustrator Jerry Pinkney (ages 4-8).  William Kilpatrick (Books That Build Character: A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values Through Stories) says, "...to admit that it takes time for a child to grow into his or her true identity is far from cruel.  All children instinctively know that, before true maturity can be achieved, they must undergo some kind of rite of passage.  That is why most fairy tales deal with the theme of transformation and suffering...the ugly duckling must endure loneliness and rejection before he can grow up to be a beautiful white swan.  That is why the great child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim has called fairy tales 'wishes in disguise'."

Another endearing story (1941) is Make Way for Ducklings, written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey (for ages 4-8). This gently told tale of a father and mother duck, searching for a safe home (in the big city of Boston) to bring up their Mallard ducklings, is bound to connect with your child. I remember my own kids repeating all the ducklings' names with me:  "Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack".

Lots of landmarks in Boston are shown, often from a flying duck's-eye view. When we traveled with our children to Boston years ago, we went to Boston's Public Gardens and saw bronze statues of Mother Mallard and the 8 ducklings, as well as the Swan Boats mentioned in the book! (yes, you can still ride in them.)

What about baby geese?  You can read about all the "Gossie" books, by Olivier Dunrea, in my past post HERE. "Gossie is a gosling. A small, yellow gosling who likes to wear bright red boots. Every day."  Fun for Springtime reading as well!

I DO BELIEVE IN FAIRIES, I DO! I DO!

One of the famous Cottingly Fairy photos - this one shows a gnome.

My daughter, Mary, and I recently re-watched the 1997 movie, FairyTale: A True Story. (It was first released when she was 10 years old.)  Discussing it later, we decided we liked the movie because the director went in more of a "what if" direction, than a "what really happened" direction, which makes it appealing to both kids and adults.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The film is based on an intriguing and true story (quite altered for the film) about two girls who claim to have seen fairies and take photographs to prove it.  In real life, what began as a prank soon got out of hand.  The story was publicized and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was fooled (which was one of the main reasons the girls had a hard time admitting it wasn't true)!  It wasn't until much later in their lives that both girls admitted that the photos were a hoax. To read about the real incident, click HERE.


Fairies were a common part of legends and folklore of the Middle Ages before they ever began showing up (complete with wings) in Victorian illustration and children's stories. One explanation of the origin of fairies appears in a chapter about Peter Pan in J. M. Barrie's 1902 novel, The Little White Bird, and was incorporated into his later works about the character. Barrie wrote,

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, his laugh broke into a million pieces, and they all went skipping about. That was the beginning of fairies."

Peter's Friends by Margaret Tarrant

Many books have brought fairy stories to life.  Edmund Spencer, Shakespeare, The Brothers Grimm, and J.M. Barrie were well-know authors who helped popularize fairies with their writings; but the author/illustrator who probably contributed the most fairy books and fairy illustrations for young children was Cicely Mary Barker (June 1895 – February 1973).

Barker, a British illustrator and poet, who was a favorite of Queen Mary, wrote a series of eight FLOWER FAIRY books, published from 1923 through 1948.  



Cicely had epilepsy as a child and was educated at home.


During her lifetime the Titanic sank, World War I began, and fairies were gaining popularity.  

J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan was published in 1906. 


In 1915-16 Edmund Dulac's Fairy Book and Elves and Fairies (featuring illustrations by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite) was published, and fairies suddenly became a trend with Queen Mary. 


In 1917 the "Cottingly Fairies" were photographed, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Coming of Fairies (which included the photos) in 1922.




CLICK HERE to see the list and images of all Cicely Mary Barker's flower fairies - delightful!

AND HERE to see cute Flower Fairy Fabric!

Want to make a FAIRY GARDEN?  Check out the pictures from this blog for some beautiful ideas... 

Are Fairies and Fairytales good for your children?  Consider this quote by G.K. Chesterton:

"Not only can these fairy-tales be enjoyed because they are moral, but morality can be enjoyed because it puts us in fairyland, in a world at once of wonder and of war."

(Read the whole essay, from his book All Things Considered)

Growing up, I even learned some lessons from "FRACTURED FAIRYTALES" - are you old enough to remember the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show?

FAIRY PICTURE BOOKS: 
THE COMPLETE BOOKS OF THE FLOWER FAIRIES, by Cicely Mary Barker.

This volume brings together Barker's fairy illustrations and poems from the eight original Flower Fairy books.

A FLOWER FAIRY ALPHABET, by Cicely Mary Barker.

THE RUNAWAY FAIRY, by Molly Brett.

IF YOU SEE A FAIRY RING, by Susan Lockhart.

The title of this poetry anthology is borrowed from the poem: "If you see a fairy ring, In a field of grass, Very lightly step around, Tiptoe as you pass. . . ." Young readers will likely be enthralled by this collection of verse about fairies and fairyland. The impressive list of contributors includes Robert Graves, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Thomas Hood.

THE FLOWERS' FESTIVAL, by Elsa Beskow.

A lucky little girl is invited by the flower fairies to join them for their Midsummer festival. Gathering around Queen Rose, all the flowers and bumblebees and birds tell their enchanting stories, while the Dew-cups and Pea-blossom serve refreshments.

COME TO THE FAIRIES' BALL, by Jane Yolen, illustrations by Gary Lippincott.

The king has set forth an invitation to the fairies: come to the ball! And everyone is in a delightful tizzy, searching for their top hats, their boots, and their crowns - and where-oh-where are those spider-web gowns? The fairies finally arrive, towed by swans, rowed by fish, and one group of five got there fast on a wish. But one fairy is left behind, her only dress in tatters. What should she do? The resident ants offer her some wise words.

IT'S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE...

My readers living in Southern California will have probably heard of THE PAGEANT OF THE MASTERS, a major part of Laguna Beach's annual Festival of the Arts.  After my daughter and her husband attended the opening night last week, she immediately called me and said I should include a post about it for my blog, because this year's program, ONLY MAKE BELIEVE,  showcased the work of artists "who devoted themselves to conjuring everything from Victorian historical fantasies to illustrations for fairytales beginning 'Once Upon a Time'..." (from their press release, read more below):

Performed each night in the Irvine Bowl by the Pageant orchestra, live music remains a key part of the theatrical magic of this 78-year-old presentation of "art that lives and breathes."


From the mythological legends of ancient Greece to evocations of classic stories of buried treasure, spooky encounters and the simple pleasures of playing dress-up, the 2011 Pageant promises no shortage of fantasy fun for the entire family.

If you've never experienced this spectacle, all I can say is that you have to see it to understand and appreciate it.  It is an amazing show of "art come to life", with volunteers from the community placed into a backdrop with props and lighting that recreates a famous work of art.  They also recreate famous statues. The website describes it as a "uniquely theatrical celebration of tableaux vivants – "living pictures".

This year's pageant opens with Charles Buchel's 1904 Lithograph, "PETER PAN AND WENDY".

Another fun painting they bring to life is John Falter's TRICK OR TREATING IN THE BURBS (1958).

Some of the ethereal illustrations of Virginia Sterrett's ARABIAN NIGHTS are presented, as well Sir John Tenniel's wood block prints from ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

Their casting call: "CAN YOU STAND STILL?"
Photo source HERE

And if that doesn't convince you to go, there is a whole tribute to DRAGONS at the end of the first act.  For ticket information, click here. Can't quite picture what I'm describing?  Watch this quick video:

LAUREN CHILD, POST #1

LET ME INTRODUCE YOU...

Are you acquainted with Lauren Child?  She is one of my favorite author/illustrators of contemporary children's picture books.  Her quirky humor and unique collage-style art draw kids and adults alike to her books.  You can read about her journey in becoming a best-selling children's book author HERE, in the British newspaper THE GUARDIAN.

I thought this photo of her kitchen was cute.  She says, "My mother used to have this joke with me when I was little that I used to arrange things in my room to look like a shop window, and when she came in here she said I still haven't grown out of it."

Writer and illustrator Lauren Child's kitchen. Photograph: Beth Evans

I was introduced to Lauren's fun books by my library side-kick, 5-year-old Sophie and her mom.  We've read several Lauren Child books together and I look forward to sharing them with you in my posts this week.

Here's the first one Sophie introduced me to:

BEWARE OF THE STORYBOOK WOLVES “It’s bad news for a boy named Herb when the Big Bad Wolf and a little not-so-bad wolf fall out of a storybook, drooling and hungry. Thank goodness for fairy godmothers. After all, who else can bring the big wolf down to size and turn the little wolf into a fashion plate? If all that sounds silly, it is. It’s meant to be, in Beware of the Storybook Wolves. With a sly wit and a handful of evocative characters, Lauren Child takes the familiar “once upon a time” story, shakes it and then spins it for a giggle. Imagine Mother Goose meeting Roald Dahl’s “Enormous Crocodile.” The result is a smile-provoking yarn full of fairy-tale twists.”-- The New York Times

If your kids like this kind of wacky humor, they'll like Child's second book about Herb:

WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD BOOK? "When Herb falls asleep with his head on top of a dusty book of fairy tales, he finds himself stuck inside the volume with no quick way out. Chased by a raging Goldilocks, who is upset that he landed in her story, the boy journeys through a parade of fairy tales and finally gets caught in the middle of "Cinderella." All of his past mishandling of the book comes back to haunt him-Cinderella's kitchen is sticky with cookie crumbs, the Queen does not appreciate the mustache Herb has drawn on her face, and Prince Charming has been missing since he was cut out of the book and used as a birthday-card decoration. Child's wildly expressive collages include boldly patterned backgrounds, cartoon characters, and photographs in unexpected places. The text (and font) grows and shrinks and winds jaggedly through the story, and turns upside down on several pages. This fast-paced creative tale has some really funny moments." - Library School Journal 

"BE-CAREFUL-WHAT-YOU-WISH-FOR"

Lots of stories, fables and fairytales convey the message, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." Remember the myth about King Midas and the Golden Touch?  In answer to his wish for wealth, he is granted the gift that anything he touches will turn to gold.  He is unable to eat because his food and drink turn to gold.  Nathaniel Hawthorne penned a version in which Midas' own beloved daughter is changed into a golden statue when he touches her.  In the end, Midas hates the gift he had coveted.

In the movie The Wizard of Oz, young Dorothy wishes she could escape all her problems and live in a better place than Kansas by going "somewhere over the rainbow." She partly gets her wish, but her dream world winds up becoming a rather scary nightmare and ends up making her homesick for the very place and people she tried to get away from...she wanted to get away from home, but ends up realizing, "There's No Place Like Home"!

We can find the same underlying moral about "being careful what you wish for" in Edith Nesbit Bland's Five Children and It. In turn-of-the-century England, five children find a Sand-Fairy (or "Psammead") that can grant them wishes. But the sand fairy is an irritable literalist, who interprets the wishes of the children exactly as they ask, and wild things happen (e.g., the children wish for great beauty, and then the people around them don't even recognize them).

The book I'd like to highlight today is based on a Celtic tale with this same classic theme, in a picture book for kids 4-8.  It is Too Many Fairies, retold by Margaret Read MacDonald and colorfully illustrated by Susan Mitchell.  As I sat with my friend's 5-year-old daughter on the floor of a local bookstore reading this hilarious tale, she and I couldn't help laughing out loud at the trouble the old woman in the story gets herself into when she grumbles, "Work! Work! Work!  How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!"

Her nonstop complaining soon brings four different fairies to her door to perform her chores. (A voice from outside calls each time: “Your luck has come! Open the door!  Let me in and you'll work no more!”) They each in turn wash her dishes, sweep the floor, make the bed, and do her knitting. But all the help still can't stop her from complaining about the noisy racket the fairies are making: "clankety, clankety," "swishety, swishety," "lumpety, flumpety," and "clickety clickety."

"These fairies are driving me crazy!" she laments. But when she tells them to stop, they begin to reverse all of their chores, tearing everything apart. A visit to the village "wise one" teaches the complaining old woman a lesson of being careful about what you wish for and being content in your situation.

The ending is imaginative and clever and the sound effects of the "rackety" fairies and the Old Woman's whining complaints make it fun to read aloud.  Your kids will definitely get the message!

THE BOOK THAT WON THE VERY FIRST CALDECOTT MEDAL...

'Way back in 1938!  ANIMALS OF THE BIBLE, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop.  (From the King James version, text chosen by Helen Dean Fish) ages 9-12.

Also illustrated by Lathrop:
DOWN-ADOWN-DERRY: A BOOK OF FAIRY POEMS  by Walter de la Mare.  It is part of public domain and you can view it online HERE.

To see a list of all the books illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop, go to THIS WEBSITE.