It's a CAT

Ben is obsessed with cats, and pictures of cats, and our cat Bonnie, and his newest trick: pointing. And when he gets going he has a full conversation complete with gestures and jokes with each picture, or at Bonnie, or of pictures of Bonnie.

So our new favorite cat books are:

The cover of James Herriot's All Things Wise and Wonderful. Notice the amazingly cute kitty.

The inside is rather full of words and no more pictures of cats, but the cover gets lots of kisses and giggles. Do you remember that when a book with only words was a complete bore?

And, yay for English relatives who sent The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr.

Look at this "big, furry, stripy tiger" - irresistible.

Ben with his tiger:


And I have to report that the horrible Touch and Sparkle books are now a big hit because there are pictures of kitties. These were in the give away pile because the "touch" aspect was just a circle somewhere on the animal, the pets have dumb names (that is Gerry below) and they have ugly pastel backgrounds.



win some, lose some.

Artist's Corner: Sylvia Long

Presenting Sylvia Long who fills her books with accurate, gorgeous, and playful rabbits. Long shows both craft work and place in all its specific beauty - there is a sense of "being there;" of a magical photograph into an alternate universe of dessert rabbit people. You end up spending lots of time just staring at the illustrations catching each forshadowing and detailed touch.

We always pause to see all particulars of the quilt in Hush Little Baby:
Long's alternate lyrics are also fun: And when that quilt begins to wear, Mama's going bring your teddy bear.


It is a delight counting and then tucking all the rabbits in as they sleep with Ten Little Rabbits:
(this is written by Virginia Grossman)


And I just like reading Because You Are My Baby; It has a clear message of love and parent child relationships without competition or obsession (sorry Guess How Much I Love You and Run Away Bunny - you all weird me out). (This is written by Jennifer Ward)


What Artists would you recommend?

heat antidote

I watched a good friend's three year old and after we roamed the Dominick's frozen food aisles to cool down, we moved on to the library to read BOOKS ABOUT SNOW! Now is when all the good winter books are at the library and hiding in a/c with a book about snow is the coolest way to go.

Without further ado...
The Snowy Day

There is something so magical about spending the day with Peter and having solo snow adventures. Peter's pace as he makes quiet slow crunches feels about the same as a hot three year olds' - s l o w l y w i t h l o t s o f s t o p s .




And the wonderfully silly Snowmen at Night (Didn't you want to know why snowmen look so beat up the next morning?):

We spent considerable time finding the pickle nosed snowman on every page.

Quoting Madly at the Edge

That is where I like to be - at the precipice, when two things meet and a third is begun. Isn't that the appeal of Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends?


There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.


What happens when, because of a book, you get inspired or experience a resonance of truth or look up and the room looks different because you are different than you were before you started. What is that experience is like? Tell me how it happened to you?

"There are a lot of us . . . who think the literary life is the loveliest one possible, this life of reading and writing and corresponding. We think this life is nearly ideal. It is spiritually invigorating... It is intellectually quickening... One will have over the years many experiences that stimulate and nourish the spirit. these will be quiet and deep inside, however, unaccompanied by thunder or tremulous angels." Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott

O cry you mercy sir. Nobel philosopher, your company.

Spreading out to enjoy

reading