Some lovely children's books

Fall 2016 Poynter grandchildren

Over the years, I collected some lovely children's books for when I would have grandchildren and read to them as I did my own children.  But that was not to be.  Now my niece, who has eight grandchildren, three probably too old to sit with grandma for a book, is coming this week-end, so I've pulled them off the shelves and I'll see if she wants them.  My priority in children's books is always the illustrations. I love these books, will be sad to see them go, but would love to have children read and enjoy them.

Kjelgaard, Jim.  Sam Savitt illustrator.  Two dogs and a horse. 1964.  I think I bought this at a library sale. It's short stories. The author wrote many animal stories, and I remember reading them when I was a child--he seemed fond of Irish Setters. This was published after his death at 49. Sam Savitt was a well known equine artist. He did a Guide to Horses poster that perhaps I had in the Veterinary library at OSU.

Henry, Marguerite. Wesley Dennis illustrator.  Misty of Chincoteague. 1947. 1951.  I read this in 3rd grade, but didn't own it.  I did own her Born to Trot and King of the Wind, so when I saw this at a sale, I bought it. In my opinion these two are the premiere dog and pony children's book authors/illustrators.  Can't be beat. There is a foundation named for this pony.

dePaola, Tomie. Mary, the mother of Jesus. 1995. 1st ed. dePaola has written/illustrated over 250 books for children.

Mortimer, Anne, story by Matthew Sturgis. Tosca's Christmas. 1989.  Usually the illustrator doesn't have top billing, but in this case, she was an artist not known for children's books but for her floral paintings. Until the end of  2014 she had a painting blog, but is now doing that on Facebook.

Pryor, Bonnie.  Illustrated by Beth Peck. The house on Maple Street. 1987. 1992.  In the 90s I was doing some fiction writing, and I attended a two day workshop for children's authors and sat in a session by this author or artist, of which I remember nothing, but did buy two of her books.  She lives in Ohio and has written about 40 books.

Pryor, Bonnie.  Mark Graham illustrator. The dream jar. 1996. Pryor's specialty is writing historical fiction for children.

Rosen, Michael J. ed. Purr. . . Children's book illustrators brag about their cats. 1996. Rosen is a writer, artist and poet originally from Columbus and as I recall, we might have him at the Columbus Museum of Art or maybe visited an art exhibit about animals and bought this book--I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.  The proceeds of this book by illustrators that he edited went to benefit an animal organization.

"Scaredy Kate is a plump calico" belonging to Dyanne DiSalvo-Ryan, who says she had "her first and only litter of kittens on Father's Day, and bore them in the corner of my husband's closet surrounded by his sneakers.  We called them his Father's Day presents, and named the kittens Adidas, Nike, Converse, Etonic and Reebok."

Chorao, Kay.  The baby's bedtime book. 1984. Familiar bedtime poems and prayers--Day is done, Lullaby and good night, Minnie and Winnie, Now I lay me down to sleep--illustrated by Chorao.

Delval, Marie-Helene. Ulises Wensell illustrator. Translated from French. Reader's Digest Bible for Children; timeless stories from the Old and New Testaments. 1995.  Table of contents includes the chapter/verse citation; glossary in back. Illustrator was well known artist from Spain who died in 2011. Author is French and has written a number of Bible based books for children.

Riddles, Libby.  Shannon Cartwright illustrator. Danger the dog yard cat.  1989.  On our Alaskan cruise in 2001 we met the author who talked about the Iditarod which she won in 1985. Cartwright is both a writer and illustrator and lives in Alaska.  A customer review of her Finding Alaska, "Cartwright's art is delightful and at times very humorous. I recently heard that on the train-ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks, an announcement is made at the spot, where the train makes a stop in the middle of nowhere, when a delivery is being made for her, or when Shannon needs a ride to do her errands in the city!!"

Walsh, Vivian and J. Otto Seibold, illustrator. Olive the other reindeer. 1997.  Olive is actually a dog (a Jack Russel owned by the author) who heard the Rudolph song and thought "All of the other reindeer," was "Olive, the other reindeer," and so the story.  I think I bought it because it was about Olive.   This couple has written and illustrated a number of children's books. See Wikipedia.

McGeorge, Constance W. Mary Whyte illustrator. Boomer's big day.1994.  Snow riders. 1995.  My recollection is I met Ms. McGeorge at an authors' workshop or gathering and then bought her books at a book store. Snow Riders I thought was especially exciting because my brother and I used to make snow horses in the winter in Forreston.  I met Mary Whyte at least 10 years later and we have another one of her books, Working South, although it's not a childrens' book. She will be the judge at the fall OWS show.  I think Ms. McGeorge lived in Upper Arlington when I met her. Boomer was the first children's book for both according to the flap and Boomer was the name of Whyte's Golden Retriever. 

There's a lovely blog about the art of children's books, "The art of children's picture books," but it seems to be on vacation since August 2015.

The fast of Lent

"The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger, avoiding all gossip, lying and swearing. To abstain from these things— herein lies the true value of the fast."
— St. John Chrysostom

I think this is more difficult than giving up chocolate or social media.

President Carter and the White House Correspondents Dinner

Of course, it's not a popular view among Republicans, but Carter was my favorite President. Can't understand why people malign him so. He declined to attend two of the four WHCD. And good for him. Abuse is abuse whether from the left or right. 

 

"Jody's beg­ging me to speak to the White House Cor­res­pond­ents' ban­quet. My pref­er­ence is not to do so," wrote Carter on April 25, 1978. "They are com­pletely ir­re­spons­ible and un­ne­ces­sar­ily ab­us­ive. I see no reas­on for us to ac­com­mod­ate them every time they want me to provide en­ter­tain­ment for a half hour."

Four days later, Carter again wrote about the din­ner, not­ing that there had been news­pa­per cri­ti­cism of his de­cision. He was un­deterred. "I was de­term­ined not to go. They al­most ex­ert black­mail on me to at­tend, but I am not go­ing to do it in the fu­ture. I don't see how the White House press could be any more neg­at­ive un­der any cir­cum­stances and I'd rather show a sign of strength."

 

Trump Will Be First President In 36 Years To Skip White House Correspondents' Dinner

I think it's a good idea not to go where people don't like you and tell lies. Don't go on a date with someone who ridicules you and intends to dump you.

A new project for the Lenten season

While moving and rearranging books, furniture, paintings, and memorabilia, I counted about 70 photo albums. So we are going to spend some time each evening looking at them and reminiscing.  We started with one of the fattest, but not oldest.  When my parents died, I scooped up some of the extra family photos and sort of made a photo genealogy of them, my siblings, their grandchildren and great grandchildren. There are some duplicates because some were ours, and some theirs.  This should be great fun, and challenge our memories. Especially those trips we took in the 60s and 70s and the only photos are buildings with no information.

Various albums awaiting some action

This album is a catch-all beginning with my parents' wedding

  

   

Our wedding in Mt. Morris, plus dances at U. of I.

Eight little Indians series by Platt and Munk

Generally, I would never deface a book, but I have 8 of the American Indian books by Platt and Munk published in the 1930s. I loved them as a child (also published in one volume) and purchased them as used books about 20 years ago. I'd like to mat and frame them--just a touch of rubber cement on mat board to hold them in place. They are not rare or valuable. Beautiful illustrations by Roger Vernam. 

 

I think for the most part they are very authentic and wouldn't cause hysteria in today's PC atmosphere. Vernam was a wonderful illustrator. He was the subject of my blog 10 years ago. http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/05/roger-vernam-illustrator-some-of-my.html

 

Each book is 12 pages,  both color and b & w, ends with a poem on back.

 

Tom Tancredo comments on money sent back to Mexico by immigrants

"Mexico’s national income grows in direct proportion to the size of the illegal Mexican population inside the United States. Does that help explain the Mexican fixation on U.S. politics? Mexico’s most profitable export to the U.S. is not oil or avocados or automobile parts, it is people. Mexicans living and working in the U.S. send home over $20 billion annually in cash remittances —... more than Mexico earns in foreign currency from tourism or any export commodity."

I blogged about this scam before--Mexico is a very wealthy country, but it exports people. Not the white citizens of Spanish and northern European ancestry, but those with majority indigenous heritage. The Mexican census doesn't track race, but it's very racist. For some reason American political groups don't even notice. Watch Univision or Telemundo and you see an all-white cast (almost wrote caste, but that would have been even more appropriate).

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/03/wealth-transfer-and-illegal-immigration.html

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-mexico-doesnt-want-its-ex-pats-to.html

On the move, staying put

We aren't leaving our wonderful condo.  We love it here.  A gorgeous view.  Wonderful neighbors.  But it has been 16 years and I was bored with how it looked.  So everything has been looked at for usefulness and attractiveness.  We still have the "mid-century" modern furniture we bought in 1963, so we're working around that, plus some mission style we bought in 2001.  The "elephant in the room" was the huge entertainment center--popular when everyone had fat TVs, but unnecessary with flat screen. However, it had a lot of storage, so we decided to keep the side pieces and create a china cabinet.  I didn't like the lounge chair, so it went to the "man cave" and that lounge chair is waiting to be picked up by some young men who work for my son. And everything was very dusty.  I sneezed all week-end.

Blue lounge chair gone, end tables from bedroom, chairs rearranged. Bedroom shelves brought to living room and memorabilia from travels brought out of storage--Italy, New York, Haiti and Franklin Grove together.

We've purchased a 65" media center which will go on the wall were the old one was. Much smaller.

Bob and Mark doing the heavy lifting. Mark used to work for a moving company and knows exactly what to do.

Side pieces of the entertainment center pushed together to create a china cabinet. Mark rewired my grandmother's lamp which was created from a kerosene lamp and it is sitting on the music box of Bob's grandparents now an end table.  Round bulb lamp from the 60s which had been in bedroom now on rosewood secretary.

Grandpa Byrum's chair to the bedroom with the former living room bookshelves, which was top of china cabinet on Abington, and my grandfather's encyclopedias.  

 

Monday Memories--Mom's crystal goblets

We've been moving and shifting furniture for about a week, redistributing books to various resale locations, removing our huge cabinet for the TV, hanging different paintings, digging things out of cupboards, and washing what has been stored for years. None of this would have been possible without our son-in-law who not only has a dollie, but knows how to move furniture. The huge TV entertainment unit which had 6 pieces was the biggest challenge--two parts are in the garage awaiting a new home, and four have been rearranged for our living room. Yesterday I was explaining various pieces of glassware and china to my daughter, and which belonged to whom, me, my mother, grandmother, or great grandmother, my in-laws, or what country the memorabilia from our travels came from and what I found at garage sales 45 years ago.

 

 All I had was family lore for my mother's crystal water goblets. I knew my father bought the dozen for her at an estate sale during the Depression. Not sure she was thrilled since they had one baby and one on the way, but the goblets always had a place of honor in their home, and were rarely used. Now they are mine, and rarely used. My daughter sat down at the computer and in a few minutes had identified them as Cambridge Caprice clear, 1936-1958. Cambridge is in Ohio so I've been browsing the museum website and looked at the latest newsletter. Churches and community organizations would die for this sort of support. Hull Pottery which was also produced in Ohio and closed its doors years ago (I have a number of pieces) also has a very strong association with conventions and media. http://www.cambridgeglass.org/articles/ecb/ecb201611.pdf

 

Thomas Perez new DNC Chair

In 2004 after John Kerry lost to GW Bush, I watched a panel of grieving Democrats on TV analyze what went wrong and how they could win back the country. Such sad faces! Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (then a representative), a former Methodist minister, helped conceive the idea that they go for the "values" voters--the evangelicals and at least sound like patriotic Americans (he didn't say that, but that's how I heard it). If you go back and look Obama's themes during his first campaign ("hope" for instance which is a very popular Biblical theme), he sounds like a black preacher. Democrats loved it. They "took back" the White House, but Obama lost the country for them at the state and local level with his socialism drift, especially the take over of 1/5 of the economy by the federal government. The DNC newly elected chair, Thomas Perez, isn't even pretending to go for the values voter. Democrats booed God a few years ago and have been peeking under boxes and rugs for more victims, more ISMS and ISTS, so that's the direction they'll go, not for the middle or working class that won them the White House in 2008.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/us/politics/31church.html

 http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2012/11/yes-rush-democrats-do-discuss-changing.html

Moving stuff again

My neighbor Jan who loves to decorate and browse consignment stores looked around the living room last week and suggested we move a few items before we go shopping.  It will all look fresh and different she assured me. So . . . in the process, it was hours of moving and dusting.

Contents of lighted cabinets, Mom's crystal, my Hull

Grandpa's Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th, 12th, 13th ed.

So to entertain myself while doing more heavy lifting than was healthy, I was watching CPAC meeting this week in Maryland. I was working back and forth with Fox News in the living room live and Mike Gallagher in the kitchen doing interviews while I unloaded bookshelves and china cabinets for a shuffling of furniture. Beautiful young people. And so articulate. So different than the angry snowflakes who know nothing, need to be bleeped and look like they dress from the missionary box while racking up a $100,000 college education on parental tab. Some interviews and speeches I have watched on YouTube then caught the sliced, diced and edited version on broadcast media. Steve Bannon is definitely the new go to hate guy--the Chaney/Rove of the Bush years or the Emanuel/Jarrett of Obama's staff. 

President Trump has pretty much had the same message for five years and it terrifies both old timey Republicans and Democrats--national security--borders and military, jobs, rebuild the middle class, reduce regulation that strangles the little guy and get government out of the way. Unlike so many rich businessmen, he doesn't seem to be threatened by spreading the wealth through capitalism. Usually these corporate giants like Bezos, Gates and Zuckerberg support more regulation from climate change to bathrooms which Democrats propose because it snips their competition's spine in the womb who can't afford it. Sort of the Kermit Gosnell of industry.

The southern border wall

The southern border wall is about 1/3 finished, was approved in bi-partisan support over a decade ago (Secure Fence Act 2006). Obama used a different method--deportation, and his administration was active in rounding up criminal aliens, but not those who had violated the law but had been law abiding after getting here, with the exception of false documents, bad checks, no driver's license, etc. There were twice as many deportations in the Obama years as the Bush years. In 2015, catching them at the... border dropped by about half, and of course, many illegal aliens went home during the recession. Since Trump's election, border crossings have gone down again. 

Still, the left rages. I believe (as do others) there is a link between abortion and border crossings. The U.S. birth rate is below replacement level and that seriously affects the social safety net that need to be paid for with workers' taxes. Because our government has approved the killing of millions the last 40+ years it now needs to find replacements who can work and pay taxes. At least in the first and second generation our African immigrants (come on a special diversity quota--over a million each decade) and the Mexican and Central American immigrants love their babies and increase our birth rate. It only takes a generation or two to reeducate them to American values.

 https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/01/26/when-wall-was-fence-and-democrats-embraced/QE7ieCBXjXVxO63pLMTe9O/story.html

 http://www.wnd.com/2016/11/1-main-reason-u-s-border-wall-hasnt-been-built/