On Story Bent

While Katie and the Mona Lisa is hard to beat, this is my current personal favorite in the series. And it kept the attention of my friend, too. The selected works and accompanying impressionistic illustrations by Mayhew are just delightful. Evocative and inspiring... it's like you can almost feel and smell all the fresh air + the sweet floral scents. Definitely a top favorite and one I look forward to revisiting. (It may also be providing some garden inspiration. ;)) Highly recommend! Works covered include: In the Woods at Giverny: Blanche Hoschede at her easel with Suzanne Hoschede reading, 1887 by Claude Monet Bathers at La Grenouillere, 1869 by Monet The Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Celebration of June 30, 1878 by Monet Path through the Poppies, Ile Saint-Martin, Vetheuil, 1880  by Monet Waterlily Pond, 1899 by Monet

"When Bartholomew, Remember, and Mary Allerton and their parents first step down from the Mayflower after sixty days at sea, they never dream that life in the New World will be so hard. Many in their Plymouth Colony won't make it through the winter, and the colony's first harvest is possible only with the help of two friends, Samoset and Squanto. Richly detailed paintings show how the pilgrims lived after landing at Plymouth, through the dark winter and into the busy days of spring, summer, and fall. Culminating with the excitement of the original Thanksgiving feast, Three Young Pilgrims  makes history come alive." (from the back cover) If I had to choose one book about the pilgrims, this would be it. Absolute top favorite. I loved it as a child and I love it now. (And yes, my daughter enjoyed it too.) Beautifully illustrated and told perfectly, the author touches on all the salient points -- the voyage, the hunger and sickness, the loss even children had to face, and...

This book is SO good. At first, for some ridiculous and (somewhat) unknown reason, I was dreading it’d be tedious and/or some sort of guilt trip, but I needn’t have worried. Once I started, I gobbled it up in about two days. It’s straight up encouraging and inspiring and  do-able . Everyone should read it and it’s definitely one every parent particularly should have stashed on their shelf. Or even better, out somewhere where it’s getting dog-eared and tripped over and referenced often. The scope of the book covers various statistical points (on the importance of reading aloud and story in the life of a child both as regards education and development, etc.), but even more, it’s on shaping hearts and minds, building family bonds, shared history, and loyalty, and engendering a wide-awake, sprawling, deep vision of the world. Also (and especially helpful) lots of friendly, relaxed, down-to-earth, excellently unpreachy, from-the-trenches tips and ideas for how to actually go about it in...