As Christmas gets closer there is a communal sense of waiting and preparation in the air. Of course there is pre-Christmas craziness -last minute shopping, baking, and obsessive checking of shipping status for online orders (that was me last year). Besides the pre-Christmas stress, I love the preparation and waiting in Advent. Of course the author, Olivier Dunrea, has the perfect book for this season of waiting. His book shows the joyful anticipation I hope we all feel.
In my very first blog post I wrote about a book by Olivier Dunrea (the author of the Gossie books). It was called It’s Snowing. I love the way that book captured the magic of a snowy evening. Dunrea wrote another book about another magical snowy evening. This book is called Bear Noel and it shares a beautiful and earthy Christmas magic. I cannot say enough times how much I loved Dunrea’s depiction of snow falling in the forest. It is just as beautiful as the snow in It’s Snowing.
There is something ethereal and beautiful about talking animals in the forest on Christmas Eve. There is a long tradition of stories about animals on Christmas gaining the ability to speak or getting along in complete harmony. Dunrea leans into these traditions in Bear Noel.
Once the first animal hears the jiggling of bells from Bear Noel, the animals’ ursine Santa like figure, it starts their excited anticipation. Bear Noel makes his way through the nighttime forest, jiggling his bells and preparing a delicious surprise for the creatures. All animals alike gather together to follow Bear Noel and spread his good tidings. The word is carried from a hare to a wolf all the way to a tiny mole. The animal band adds each new creature they meet to their celebratory group. Their dialogue has a repetitive quality to it that little kids love.
As Christmas gets ever closer, we join Hare in whispering, “He is coming.” Who? – some may wonder. For those partaking in this season of hope and preparation we are not waiting for Bear Noel but the Noel who will come to us at Christmas to be sheltered in our very hearts. He is coming, rejoice!
It is cold! I walked our dog one morning with my scarf up to my eyes, my hat down to my eyebrows and my head bent to the bone chilling wind. I let him lead me down the familiar streets. He’s pretty good at finding the way home and we both wanted to get there as quickly as possible.
Walking the dog every day, which is a necessity, has also helped me adjust to the cold. I have no choice, but to go out. Winter may not officially start until December 21st, but it felt like it was banging at the door for the past couple weeks. When winter is on the brink of arrival, I usually take a bit to adjust to the cold weather. My initial reaction is to want to hibernate or at least stay inside with blankets, sweaters and hot tea. In spite of my dislike of feeling cold, there are lots of things I enjoy about winter, especially the snow.
We had our first snow of the season this past weekend and it was spectacular. Unfortunately, it came with a power outage and a totally crazy day, but it was beautiful and loved by the kids and puppy alike. I didn’t have an opportunity to hide inside with all the shoveling and errands.
When I am hiding in the house preparing to embrace the new season I always reach for a couple of familiar books at the library. Reading these books are some of my favorite early winter cozy activities.
Winter is Coming by Tony Johnston is a beautifully illustrated book I first found at the library when my oldest son was a couple of years old. Jim LaMarche’s artwork takes us through the slow change from the last days of fall to early winter. The book follows a young girl who goes each day to her favorite lookout near the woods behind her home. She watches and draws the animals as she observes their behavior as they prepare for winter. It reminds me a bit of when I was a kid and would play and watch nature near the small, wooded area behind our house. I love sharing in the girl’s quiet observation. The last time we read it, my daughter and I were both wishing we could sit somewhere to watch and draw the animals like the girl in the story.
In another story, Sleep Tight Farm, by Eugenia Doyle, a family prepares their farm for winter as they think about their spring and summer. Becca Stadtlander’s illustrations are beautiful and the farm landscape pictures remind me of the American artist Grandma Moses’ folk art farm landscapes. It’s cozy and peaceful seeing all the ways the farm is readying for a long winter nap.
The author actually lives on and operates a farm in Vermont where she also writes to local school children about farm life over winter and in spring invites the class for a farm field trip. This book is a beautiful reminder of our connection to and dependency on the land and what it provides for us.
Providing winter comfort, warm food and Christmas magic feels like a full-time job as a parent in winter. I love finding little ways for us to find joy when winter comes. Sometimes it’s reading together or a cup of hot cocoa after playing outside in the cold. Other times it’s blankets and cuddles on the couch or making a hot meal when I’m already exhausted. I’m not a fan of the bitter cold, but I do love the coziness of winter.
Today I would like to share my thoughts from the day after Thanksgiving:
Before Sunday I will need to make a journey into my attic to pull out our Advent calendar and Jesse Tree. My daughter has already reminded me, at least twice. On this Friday after Thanksgiving, we are all taking a slow day. My younger son and I took the puppy on a long chilly walk before lunch. Now my kids are taking advantage of some of their Thanksgiving school vacation time to play video games, and I am sipping tea and reading a couple of my favorite fall picture books.
I am enjoying my last day or so of fall decorations and cozy cloth pumpkins on the table. I am savoring the pages and sips of tea while I hear the wind whistle around the chimney. Even the puppy is taking it easy and enjoying an afternoon nap. The first book I read is Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur with beautiful linoleum cut block print illustrations by Leslie Evans. There is something about those bold print lines and textures that really give this book a strong autumn coziness. The scenes are comfortingly familiar even if I never lived in an old farmhouse or had fields of corn growing outside my window. I love how the poems and illustrations show the slow approach of and preparation for winter. One overhead view of a nighttime town square reminds me of Grant Wood’s painting, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, which had been the subject of one of my college art history papers. I love the beautiful colors of the fall and the cooler but not frigid weather; however, as winter gets closer the early darkness and occasional cold rain give me the urge to hibernate and hide inside until spring. Reading this book reminds me of the cozy times and activities colder weather brings. I know I will slowly start to enjoy winter when it comes, especially if there is snow, it might just take me a little bit to get there.
The second book I picked up for autumn comfort is Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall and illustrated by the beloved Barabara Cooney. This book tells the story of a farmer in early nineteenth century New England on an October morning, preparing for and journeying to Portsmouth Market to sell all the goods he and his family have made over the past year. When the farmer returns home with the few frugal purchases he made after the sales, he and his family start again to prepare for the following year’s trip to the market. There is something very comforting in this seasonal repetitiveness and the hands-on labor depicted in this book. There is definitely an allure that modern readers feel for this simpler time. I am also susceptible to that allure and I like to cultivate that type of coziness in my own home with crafting and baking. All the same, I can still acknowledge that though simple and somewhat relaxed, it was still a hard and laborious life to live for that farmer and his family.
Just because our lives seem to move faster now and stress seems to constantly surround us, I don’t want to go back to candlelight and dawn to dust labor. We adapt to the times we live in, but I feel it is still important to take breaks from the busy and be present in the moment as I have attempted to do this autumn. Life was different back then, but not easier. Each generation has their own version of hard. We can do hard things. We can also take a moment or two now and then for quiet. These books help me remember that.
Just in case you missed anything, I put together a list of the books I wrote about in November. At the end of each month, I will write a list of all the books I wrote about during that month. The post titles will link back to the original blog posts.
Halloween is over twenty days past. In my usual style I am behind in my writing. To be fair, I have been working on this post in spurts since before Halloween, but now I am finally getting the time to sit down and finish it. I know everyone is done with Halloween, skipping Thanksgiving and moving right on to Christmas. (Besides one of my aunts who may or may not have already started counting down to next Halloween). I know it’s over, but I still want to share this Halloween post before I move on to other things before winter and Christmas hit us at full force.
No-Face with his cozy pumpkin cottage
We had a fun, but blustery Halloween. A few days afterwards, I was still slowly taking down the Halloween decorations and our jack-o-lanterns outside on the front step were sadly at the end of their days. My kids and I all had fun carving and decorating pumpkins this year. I haven’t made a jack-o-lantern just for myself in quite a while. It was cathartic and relaxing to put it together just to my liking. My daughter and I love fairy houses and that was my original inspiration. After watching some Halloween and fall crafting videos with my younger two kids, my idea turned into a cozy Spirited Away inspired pumpkin cottage. After making the decision I started collecting items I would need while on walks with our puppy. I loved my slow crisp fall morning walks with the dog as I foraged for supplies. The leaves were gorgeous, and I loved taking my time and seeing the new colors unfurl each day. The puppy was pretty annoyed that I collected sticks and wouldn’t share them. When I was carefully gluing my gathered sticks into a cottage door, the puppy managed to grab one that fell off the table. He quickly destroyed his spoils from my crafting pile.
Sam the Scarecrow guarding our house
All the Halloween crafting with my kids got me remembering a Halloween from about ten years ago. When he was about two and half years old, my oldest son watched the very cute (not scary) Curious George Boo Fest and became very afraid of scarecrows and jack-o-lanterns. To help alleviate this fear we made a scarecrow together named Sam. Sam still guards our house every fall. We made other Halloween and fall crafts together including a glitter covered giant spider and of course, we read Halloween stories. I started looking for not too scary Halloween books that year. They very quickly became family favorites that we have continued to read for a decade.
Very Scary by Tony Johnston is one of my favorite Halloween books to read aloud. Contrary to the title, Very Scary is not very scary, though my son doubted that was true when I brought it home from the library the first time ten years ago. It’s a calm and mild Halloween story with watercolor illustrations by Douglas Florian. The book is about a pumpkin filled with magical Halloween moonlight and the reactions of those who pass by it or attempt to take it. The text has a repetitive element that small children enjoy and a magical “spooky” ending.
Before Halloween ended this year, we rewatched the Curious George Boo Fest together as a family. It was fun and silly. We also looked at old pictures of my oldest son dressed as No-Noggin (Curious George’s hat-stealing-scarecrow). When watching the movie, my oldest son commented on how silly the “scary” element of the story is: a scarecrow that steals hats on Halloween night. I reminded him that as a toddler he was terrified of No-Noggin. His response was a smile and a one-word answer, “True.” My goal with reading Halloween books and making crafts back then was to help my son understand not everything about Halloween is scary. It can be fun, too. I was very scared of Halloween as a child. I would not trick or treat, and I would not go near any place that was decorated for Halloween. I did not want my kids to go through that experience and be crippled by their fears.
My oldest son as No-Noggin in first grade
My oldest son’s spooky scarecrow drawing
In this aspect, my efforts were not in vain. My oldest son now loves Halloween and carefully plans his costume each year. He still doesn’t like scary or suspenseful movies, but that’s okay. This year he even made his own costume, with some help from me, and had a blast trick or treating with his friends.
So here on Thanksgiving night with the first Sunday of Advent and December right around the corner, I’m feeling thankful for Halloween and the time I spent with my kids this fall. I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and wonderful end of autumn!
Just in case you missed anything, I put together a list of the books I wrote about in October. At the end of each month, I will write a list of all the books I wrote about during that month. The post titles will link back to the original blog posts.
In autumn, my favorite kind of books to read are mysteries (a genre I actually enjoy any season, but especially in the fall). Years ago, a friend gave my kids a Sherlock Holmes style dress-up hat she had made for her children when they were small. I loved watching my kids wear that hat and run through the house peeking around corners with the oversized magnifying glass I picked up in a thrift store for their detective pretend play. I am always happy to find a child-friendly mystery I can share with my kids. The book I am writing about today is a simple autumn mystery perfect for little ones and the fall season.
Not only is this book an introduction to the mystery genre for the youngest readers, but it is also about apples, one of our favorite fall snacks. In Apples for Little Foxby Ekaterina Trukhan, Fox picks an apple for a snack every morning on his way to the library where he borrows his favorite kind of books, mystery stories. (There is a little hidden surprise on the walls of Fox’s home for any Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle fans. I loved finding this detail for the first time.) One day all the apples are missing, and Fox happily breaks out the detective skills he learned from all the mystery books he read. Fox starts to investigate and collect evidence. In the end the investigation leads Fox to a delicious surprise prepared by his friends.
One time when she was around four years old, my daughter engaged my husband in an investigation. I still have no idea what mystery they were trying to solve but they each had a tiny notepad and my daughter was instructing my husband to write down clues as they inspected different things around the house. I don’t think my husband knew what they were investigating either, but he wholeheartedly cooperated.
My husband and daughter’s investigation did not end in a solved case, as far as I can remember. However, they both had fun playing detective together. My daughter’s enthusiasm for the investigation reminded me of Fox’s excitement at finally having a real mystery to solve. I hope you will enjoy reading this sweet mystery story to your kids, maybe with a plate of sliced apples. Enjoy some fun mystery stories this fall!
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – Anne Shirley
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
On October 1st, I painted a tiny fall scene. The photo I used for inspiration was taken last year on an autumn road trip to my grandparents’ family vacation farmhouse. “The Farm” as it is referred to by my family, is especially beautiful in the fall. I was so happy I was able to visit last year and give my kids the experience of exploring the Farm, just like I had as a child.
The experience of painting that tiny autumn scene made me think of Anne Shirley, the heroine of L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books. The books take place in the late 19th century on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Anne is a spunky orphan “accidentally” adopted by a pair of elderly siblings, who thought they were adopting a boy to help on their farm. Anne and her passion for life steadily become an inseparable part of their small community.
The thing that I love most about Anne of Green Gables is her passionate joy for living in the moment. There is a permanence to the joy Anne experiences in life, especially in the small everyday moments. Her thankfulness for October is just one aspect of Anne’s joy and presence. Anne doesn’t do things halfheartedly. If she is going to do something she fully commits to it. In the first book she even floats down the river in an old hole-ridden boat during a reenactment of Tennyson’s poem, “The Lady of Shalott.” The boat trip has a leaky end, but that moment demonstrates her enthusiasm.
Following Anne’s passion for the moment, I painted my autumn scene. It gave me time to pause and appreciate this season. Visiting the Farm last October was a great moment for taking in autumn beauty and slowing down to be in and be present in nature. This autumn I would like to take in the moment like Anne. As our beloved redhead heroine claims, I also am “so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
The moon is supposed to be especially beautiful on the Mid-Autumn festival which was celebrated on October 6th this year. It’s the Asian harvest holiday and a time for reflection and gratitude very much like our American Thanksgiving. In our house, as usual, life happened. That weekend things definitely didn’t go as planned, but when I stepped back, I was still able to appreciate the day. The moon was absolutely gorgeous Monday night. My daughter claimed she saw the shadow of the Chinese fairytale character, Chang’e, dancing on the moon, but sadly no Jade Rabbit. It was a cute little moment I shared with her.
Last year I shared several books that I had read with my kids year after year for the Mid-Autum Festival in two blog posts. Today I would like to share a couple of special Mid-Autumn festival books. They are both based on stories from the authors’ family histories and are different from the typical holiday explanation stories you commonly read in Asian holiday picture books.
I always love picture books that share family history stories. To me they take a moment in the past that could easily be forgotten and save it. They tell special personal stories and make them unforgettable.
Traditional mooncake press & and a Mid-Autumn puzzle I made with my daughter
The Best Kind of Mooncake by Pearl AuYeung is based on a family story about the author’s grandparents’ Hong Kong street stand. In the story, a little girl (in obedience to her mother) shares her longed for and very special double yolk mooncake with a sweaty, smelly stranger who shows up in the street market after crossing the border into Hong Kong. Her moment of generosity inspires other people on the street to share with the man as well. Years later a similar looking man opens a mooncake shop near the parents’ stand and comes out to share mooncakes with the family. The mooncakes are, of course, double yolk mooncakes, the best kind of mooncakes. It is so beautiful to see how the girl’s reluctant gesture of generosity creates a domino effect and inspires others to help which leads to the man’s later success.
Inspired by a story about her mother-in-law, Hanh Bui wrote The Yellow Áo Dài. This book with its illustrations by Minnie Phan was a special find because it was a Mid-Autumn story about a Vietnamese family. Most of the other books we read were based on Chinese and Taiwanese Mid-Autumn traditions. A little girl named Naliah is preparing to share a traditional Vietnamese dance with her school for International Day. When she tries on her Áo Dài and finds that it’s small she decides to go exploring in her mother’s closet and tries on her mother’s very special yellow Áo Dài. The dress is way too big and disaster unfolds. Thankfully, her mother has a solution and shares some very special family history with Naliah which makes her Mid-Autumn even more significant.
I love how these books both bring connection to the authors’ personal family histories. It is so important to share our family stories with our kids. It is very special when an author decides to do that with the world. I am a grateful reader for finding these books and having more Mid-Autumn stories to share with my family. I look forward to continuing to make new Mid-Autumn memories with my family and learning to let our family traditions evolve and change with our different seasons of life.
Just in case you missed anything, I put together a list of the books I wrote about in September. At the end of each month, I will write a list of all the books I wrote about during that month. The post titles will link back to the original blog posts.
More Bookshelves Please 