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Animals books for Kindergarteners
Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby
A Baby Book for Willy Bob the Squirrel by Herbert A. Libby
Tiger The Monarch Butterfly Who Couldn’t Fly bt Tony Viehmann
Since I’m not an official children’s book critic, I won’t say much about the sentence structure and its contribution to reader’s comprehension rather I chose these for their content. These three books share the same subject of the authors caring for the underdog or underpig/orphan squirrel/injured butterfly as the case may be.
The point is to show kids to have compassion for animals, and a bit of information of how to care for them. Plus the highlight of how freaking cute the pictures are!
It is clear that each author does their best to emphasize the importance of responsibility and patience when taking care of these animals. The last one by the late Tony Viehmann also encourages scientific curiosity from young readers, posing questions for young readers to think about insect anatomy and perspective. Fitting as he had been an eductor and as I was one of his students I saw firsthand his passion for educating others about nature and the world around us.
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Did you know. . .
These Disney movies were based on books. And I’m not talking about the classic fairytale princesses but. . .
Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Felix Salten
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp (this was actually a series)
101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (also has a sequel)
Just a fun thing that I discovered at the local library and so I read the books.
They are a bit old-fashioned, which makes sense considering the publication dates (1923, 1959, 1956 respectively). They are entertaining tales and have additional plots like the fact that Cruella had a just-as-evil Persian cat as the dogs’ nemeses; Bianca and Bernard had a third mice friend named Nils; Bambi has a wise grandmother doe figure named Nettla and so on.
So for a kid-friendly throwback, make it a marathon, read these books and follow it up with the Disney classics.
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Antique Reads: A Hermit’s Wild Friends
Or Eighteen Years in the Wilderness by Mason A. Walton is a perfect book for those who enjoy Wild Animals I Have Known, Walden or any nature books.
It’s pretty self-explanatory as Mason writes in his intro that he went out to a log cabin in the country for stress relief from city life much like Thoreau. The chapters are primarly separated by each animal friend like Bismack the Red Squirrel, Satan the Racoon and so on.
He describes his interactions with these animals, hwo some seemed to start to recognize him and vice versa, interspersed with musings on animal behavior and intelligence. His foremost point is that animals are intelligent and if you doubt his word, live in the woods for eighteen years and you wil observe the same thing.
It’s well done, he has a very home down, folksy tone. Like a nature dpcumentary, but a book. So if you enjoy the above books, you’ll like this.
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Antique Books: Shirley Temple’s Heidi
Well to continue from yesterday’s question on movie novelizations, I introduce the novelization of the Shirely Temple movie, Heidi. Obviously based on the original Heidi books, it is a decent retelling keeping the major plot points in utilizing language that 9-12 year olds would easily understand.
The highlight of the book, of course, is the stills within of the Heidi movie with Shirley’s irrespresible smile and dimples. Seriously, how can one little girl loook so cute?
But unless you’re a Shirley Temple fan, there’s no great need to get this book. There’s no twists or insights or new perspectives, just another kid’s version of the Heidi story.
However, if you are a Shirley fan, I do suggest the biography, The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930s America by John F. Kasson that gives context to why Shirley Temple mania hit just the spot during the Great Depression, its long range across America, and how FDR used it to augument his message to the public that with hard work and smile, brighter days were ahead.
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Movie Novelizations
What is the point of them? To read them before the movie? But what if you don’t want to get spoiled? To read them after the movie to. . . relive it? But you can just rewatch it.
So really, does anyone know the point of them? I mean I know the company’s point is to make money with the supplemental materials but what about the consumers?
For those who do buy the movie novelizations, please comment with why. -
Antique Books: Work
Little Women has been long held as one of Louisa May Alcott’s best works. Under the Lilacs and Eight Cousins being well-known seconds I believe, though don’t quote me on that. However, I picked up her novel, Work: A Story of Experience which was surprisingly not as preachy as the title implied.
(more…)
Okay, there is a bit of preachiness and lots of espousing of good Christian work but that is par for course for an Alcott novel. -
Antique Books: Anne Frank Remembered
Okay this technically isn’t an antique book but I got it at a flea market so sematics. Anyway, hopefully most people know who Miep is, aka Hermine Geis, the woman who helped hide the Frank family in the Secret Annex is WW2.
This memoir is told from Miep’s point of view, giving a wider outlook to Dutch life during the war. Especially the paranoia, danger and tragedy Miep witnesses from neighbors failing to scape, the harsh separations, and the feelings that you can’t trust anyone.
Nonetheless, the pride and love Miep has for her home country in spite of the actions of the Nazi parties shine through, as well as her hope for humanity just like Anne did. Even though Miep is human, and admits of the sadness and hopelessness that would consume her during those years. But what better example of people being inherantly good than what she and her husband tried to do in saving their friends?
Just a good book to read.
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Antique Books: Dogs
You think dogs will not be in heaven I tell you, they will be there long before any of us- Robert Louis Stevenson
This photo book is a lovely collection of dog pictures from the turn of the century to the 1950s, courtesy of Catherine Johnson, one of the formost collectors of amateur dog photos. Plus an Afterward by premiere dog photographer, William Wegman about the positioning of dog pictures and the special spark they bring to the lens.
The photos are adorable from dog tricks to family pictures and of course, some of the brave pups with their soldier owners on the fields. It’s a nice snapshot to the past and is filled with quotes about the importance, humor, and love shared between dogs and people.
Some of my favorites include:If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuts on your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them- Phil Pastoret
The more I know about men, the more I like dogs- Gloria Alfred
If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience- Woodrow Wilson
I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts- John Steinbeck
You do not own a dog: the dog owns you- Anonymous
Most dogs don’t think they are human; they know they are- Jane Swann
If you want the best seat in the house, move the dog- Anonymous
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole- Roger Caras
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Antique Reads: An Old Sweetheart of Mine
This poem by James Whitcomb Riley would be an ideal Valentine’s Gift. It’s rhymes are charming and is filled with nostalgia of the late 1800s as the narrator remisces over a nightcap of his first sweetheart in grade school. Plus it has a nie twist.
Also just look at the illustrations with its sepia palette, it’s very pretty.
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Antique Reads: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Since my grandmother frequents flea markets, sometimes she’d buy me a book or something she’d thought interesting. Though it didn’t always align, one book I enjoyed was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos.
Now I haven’t seen the movie full-through, just the iconic Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend song so I can’t compare the book to the movie but from what I can glean from the movie’s summary, they are pretty different.
For one thing, there is only one protagonist, not two. Loreli Lee, a somewhat ditzy golddigger and her adventures across Europe in search for a wealthy husband. . . And that’s about it.
There’s no great moral, rather a series of light vignettes where Loreli meets Dr. Freud, lies about herself to impress a bevy of men from Prsybeterian minister to a magazine editor, steals a tiara and goes on many many shopping trips.
Now it sounds like the making of an awful girl who gets everything she wants, but it’s not. Loreli is not malicious, just knows what she wants. Plus there is humor in seeing how naive she is about the world which the book amply points out. It’s a satire I suppose about the golddigging flappers of the age but also it’s just entertainment. A good book for anyone who wants to check out the inspiration for the movie.
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Rachel Reads & Reviews 