THE READING MOTHER
BY STRICKLAND GILLILAND


I HAD A MOTHER WHO READ TO ME
SAGAS OF PIRATES WHO SCOURED THE SEA,
CUTLASSES CLENCHED IN THEIR YELLOW TEETH,
"BLACKBIRDS" STOWED IN THE HOLD BENEATH

I HAD A MOTHER WHO READ ME LAYS
OF ANCIENT AND GALLANT AND GOLDEN DAYS;
STORIES OF MARMION AND IVANHOE,
WHICH EVERY BOY HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW.

I HAD A MOTHER WHO READ ME TALES
OF CELERT THE HOUND OF THE HILLS OF WALES,
TRUE TO HIS TRUST TILL HIS TRAGIC DEATH,
FAITHFULNESS BLENT WITH HIS FINAL BREATH.

I HAD A MOTHER WHO READ ME THE THINGS
THAT WHOLESOME LIFE TO THE BOY HEART BRINGS-
STORIES THAT STIR WITH AN UPWARD TOUCH,
OH, THAT EACH MOTHER OF BOYS WERE SUCH.

YOU MAY HAVE TANGIBLE WEALTH UNTOLD;
CASKETS OF JEWELS AND COFFERS OF GOLD.
RICHER THAN I YOU CAN NEVER BE --
I HAD A MOTHER WHO READ TO ME.

I saw this cute google logo yesterday and I wondered the reason. This is what I found. Oh, and here is a picture of the logo in case you missed it. Way cute and we love this book around my house. :)



Google paid tribute to Eric Carle's children's book the Very Hungry Caterpillar by changing the logo on its home page.

The book, published in 1969, still sells one copy every 30 seconds in the world, 40 years after it was originally published.

Written and illustrated by Eric Carle (a graphic designer who later became art director of an advertising agency before moving into book illustration), it has sold more than 29 million copies, and is published in 47 languages.

Mr Carle, who turns 80 this year, said he got the idea from a hole puncher.

"One day I was punching holes with a hole puncher into a stack of paper, and I thought of a bookworm and so I created a story called "A Week with Willi the Worm". Then my editor suggested a caterpillar instead and I said "Butterfly!" That's how it began," he said.

"I think The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a hopeful story, because it says 'you too little caterpillar can grow up, spread your wings and fly'. I think it is this message of hope that resonates for many readers."

Mr Carle has written and illustrated more than 70 picture books.

Gotta love your babies.

by Sherry North, Marcellus Hall

An imaginative and heartwarming ode that celebrates a parent's affection for a child

If I were a skywriter, I'd write your name up high
In sparkling golden loop-the-loops across a summer sky.

Colors add so much

by Nancy Tafuri

Farmer Gray's homestead is as colorless as his name-even the sky and grass are gray. So, while he's away for the day, Blue Goose, Red Hen, Yellow Chick and White Duck get some paint and undertake a barnyard makeover. This is a fun different way to introduce colors and color combinations.

Here's a cute one.

by Trudie Trewin

This book is so stinkin cute.

"Where do you find kisses?"
"What do kisses look like?"
Matilda Rose loves to kiss. But one day, something goes terribly, horribly wrong. She loses her kisses, just before her daddy is going to come home. Matilda goes on the hysterical and thoughtful search to find her kisses.

Dr. Seuss...

Well, I forgot to post on his actual birthday but I wanted to do a post with some of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes. I'm hoping you will share some of yours. Thanks Dr. Seuss, you had an awesome imagination!

Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.

I meant what I said and I said what I meant.

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.

Just tell yourself, Duckie, you're really quite lucky!

I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.

"You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!"

So you see! There's no end to the thing you might know, depending how far beyond Zebra you go.

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.

You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you will be the guy who'll decide where you'll go. Oh the places you'll go.

When you think things are bad, when you feel sour and blue, when you start to get mad... You should do what I do.

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

"If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too."

"Christmas doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more...."

Chapter One

It's been a while since I posted my latest finds. It's not because we haven't been making our weekly trips to the library - you all know how it is, life's busy. So I apologize for the marathon post, but here are our favorites so far this year.

BELINDA THE BALLERINA

We love Amy Young's ballerina books. The first one - Belinda Begins Ballet - starts out with Belinda as a little girl. Because of her enormous feet she's cast as a clown in the school's talent show. But Belinda sees one of the older students dancing and soon falls in love with ballet. This book is followed by three more ballet adventures - Belinda The Ballerina, Belinda and the Glass Slipper, and Belinda in Paris. All cute stories that my two year old LOVES! Of course they include a good plug for following your dreams too.

How Do Dinosaurs....?

Wow - who'd have thought that dinosaurs could be such good teachers? My daughter loves these manners books. Her favorite is of course "How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?" but she enjoys all the others: ...Go To School? ...Play with their Friends? ...Learn their Colors? ...Say Goodnight?

Daisy Duck
If you can't tell, I love it when I find a good "series". Jane Simmons has some really cute books and we especially like the ones about Daisy. She's a cute little duck learning about the world around her. We really enjoy "Daisy and the Beastie" but there are several others we like: Daisy says "if you're happy and you know it"; Quack, Daisy, Quack; Daisy's Hide-and-Seek; and Go to Sleep Daisy. And there's several more we haven't read yet.

The Midnight Unicorn

Absolutely loved the illustrations in this book. It's a cute story about a little girl and where her imagination takes her, her dog, and her favorite unicorn.

The Whistle on the Train

Wow! This is an amazing pop-up book - and so detailed. You could spend a whole hour just looking at it. The words aren't all that great, but the pictures definitely make up for it.