The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies by Jane Werner (Random House, 1951/2008)

Lynn: My name is Lynn and I am addicted to books. It started out slowly - a picture book here, a fairy tale there but before I knew it I owned the entire collection of Sue Barton and every Oz book ever written. I hoped I would change. But the cravings grew stronger than ever. My family guessed. The clues were everywhere: my constant requests for bookshelves, the towering stacks of books hidden around the house, the fact that all the bookstore clerks knew me by name. But even I did not realize how deeply I was hooked until the day I sat at the coffee shop idly reading review magazines and then it happened. I saw an article talking about the reissue of The Giant Golden Book of Fairies and Elves. “OMG,” I shrieked, reverting to abbreviations in my excitement. I leaped to my feet, knocking over my butter rum latte and my chair. I HAD to have it! My old copy was battered from years of reading. "The Lost Merbaby," "Singeli’s Silver Slippers," the wonderful Garth Williams illustrations, "The Cannery Bear!" Every eye in the coffee shop was on me. This is a Calvinist town and we don’t shout about books here. It was then that I knew I needed help. Heed this cautionary tale! RUN to your nearest bookstore and order this fabulous book for everyone you know. Then locate the nearest 12-step program. I’ll be there, with this childhood treasure clutched to my heart.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cindy: I don't even know where to start to respond to that. Fortunately, we often take turns with bad moods and unbridled enthusiasm so we can help each other through the good and bad. Teasing aside, I can relate to Lynn's delight in Random House's reissue of favorite Golden Books. These books, purchased in the grocery store, and reread endlessly, imprinted on our DNA. My childhood favorite was Tommy Visits the Doctor with the delightful Richard Scarry illustrations of the boy and rabbit simultaneously visiting their doctors. True fans will have already read 2007's Golden Legacy by Leonard S. Marcus. But back to elves and fairies. This book is charming and Garth Williams' drawings add just the right touch. A personal favorite of mine is the poem, "The Second-Hand Shop," by Rowena Bennett that explains what happens to all the household items I lose that the Borrowers don't abscond with...a fairy is selling them!

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic, 1990)

Cindy: This post should have been up yesterday, but if I hadn't cleaned the kitchen instead we'd never have been able to get to the counters to stuff our own turkey this morning. Our plan was to each share a favorite Thanksgiving picture book, but Lynn was traveling over the river and through the woods to Lafayette, IN to bring her parents home for Thanksgiving, so I am flying solo this year. We'll plan ahead next year. Yeah, right.

'Twas the day before Thanksgiving
And all through the trees,
The fall leaves were spinning
Aloft in the breeze.

Eight school children take a field trip with their peace sign earring-wearing teacher to a turkey farm where Farmer Mack Nuggett calls his turkeys by name: "Now Ollie, now Stanley, now Larry and Moe, on Wally, on Beaver, on Shemp and Groucho!" The kids befriend the turkeys and come up with a plan to spare them from their Thanksgiving fate. Signature Pilkey humor, great comic illustrations that pay tribute to some famous paintings, and a message of peace. Great holiday fare. If you're not familiar with this 1990 Scholastic/Orchard publication, add it to next year's holiday traditions!

Now, football is also a part of many families' Thanksgiving weekend traditions, so I have another reading recommendation for those fans. It's The Sports Kid Blog written by my cousin, Jack, a 6th grader. Even if you are not a Miami Dolphin or football fanatic like he is, check out his great writing style and voice. We just recently discovered each other's blogs and I was very impressed with his and have added it to my reader feed. He asked how I read so many books. I said, "I don't clean my house, can't you tell?" He looked around and completely deadpan said, "Yes." Consider this a fitting coda to this post's opening statement!

Happy Thanksgiving from Bookends!

Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith, illus. by E. B. Lewis

Cindy: I missed the prequel to this, The Way a Door Closes, when it first published, but hunted it down and read it, too, after reading this new sequel. 13-yr.-old C. J. struggles with a full range of emotions when his father returns to the household after a long absence. The poetry is very fine, the illustrations exquisite, and the story will touch the hearts of all who have had someone reinsert themselves in their lives. One of my favorite spreads is the one where the dad and son know that the house is no longer big enough for both of them. The illustration shows who is winning that fight. Caldecott committee, are you keeping the night watch?
------------------------------------------------------------------
Lynn: We're conjoined souls on this fabulous book! The evocative poetry goes right to the heart and the wonderful illustrations extend and enrich the poetry for a powerful combination. This is a poetry book that will make converts out of people who think they don't like poetry. I love how this book speaks to the issue of changing family roles. So many of us have experienced that whether it is a traveling spouse, shift changes, divorce, stepfamilies etc. and this captures the complexity of emotions that lies beneath the question of who locks the door at night. Now I'd never tell an award committee what to do but....:-)

A River of Words:The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jennifer Bryant

Cindy:

This is Just to Say...





I have eaten
the words
that were in
this biography

and which
were so beautifully
illustrated
for devouring

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so filling

This is a beautiful book from end paper to end paper. The simple biography of how this physician made time in his day to write poetry is perfectly illustrated with Melissa Sweet's collages. I love the inclusion of his poetry drafts typed on his prescription pads. I hope those were authentic! This would pair nicely with LOVE THAT DOG and the newly released HATE THAT CAT by Sharon Creech. Of course, it is also for poetry lovers of all ages.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lynn: Yes! We agree completely here.This enchanting book succeeds in so many ways. As a biography of Williams it is informative, interesting and inspiring. As an introduction to Williams' poetry is it provides wonderful examples in unique ways that yield an almost irresistible impulse to run to the library for more. Visually this book is a gem, with treasures to be found on every page. It is a book that inspires a reader to linger.