Fairy Tale Day?

What do you do on Tell a Fairy Tale Day?

Put on your 10,000 league boots?

Fight ogres? 

Plant mysterious beans?

Talk to wishing fish?

Grab your notebook and spin new story magic into the world?

My friends at Puddle Jump Collective

make fairy tale art.

 

I had a little trouble honing in on a fairy tale for this project.

I played with princesses, 

pondered Bremen Town musicians,

 

until Thumbelina caught my attention.

 

Who doesn't need a good, thimble-size hero?

What are your favorite fairy tales?

A sprinkling of my favorites:

The Rainbabies - by Laura Krauss Melmed, illustrated by Jim LaMarche

Adelita - by Tomie De Paola

Little Gold Star - by Robert San Souci, illustrated by Sergio Martinez

The Girl Who Spun Gold - by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon

Tom Thumb - retold & illustrated by Richard Jesse Watson

Sleeping Beauty - by Trina Schart Hyman

Gold Slipper, Glass Sandal - by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Novel fairy tales:

Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede

Wish

If you met a wishing fish, for what would you wish?

Success? Friends? Followers?
More time? Money?

I just wondered.
I always thought I'd wish for more wishes,
and surely I'd be delighted with all the glitter,
and yet my late, great wish
is to soak up all of this daily dirt.

I even want to soak up the shock and frazzle of hot and cold in each day,
to celebrate the aliveness it means.

But especially, I want to soak up
the laughs,
the gleeful shouts
that make this life so beautiful.

Thankfulness.
That's my wish fish.

Valentiney

When birthdays and valentines converge in my house

I get sketchy.

Paper animals, toothpicks, string

splay out in little heaps

 just waiting for the party to begin.

 We're abuzz.

 Happy Heart Day, friends!

Keep bringing your love and unique flair into the world!

Love!

Book Party!

The verdict is in!

 

After months of evaluating beautiful books of 2016,

the Jefferson County Library Kids' Caldecott committee has chosen their favorites.

The envelope, please...    

Our Mock Caldecott Award goes to 

The Night Gardener by the Fan brothers. 

The committee found the Fan brothers' illustrations excellent, 

with great hints and subtleties in visual story, 

and a story itself both inspiring and hopeful. 

Our Mock Caldecott honors:

Ada's Violin by Susan Hood, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

Ada's Violin captivated our committee with its powerful true account and its collage illustrations.

The Storyteller by Evan Turk 

wowed us with layer upon layer of story and meaning, woven in both text and illustrations.

The kids were also quite impressed that Mr. Turk used 

sugared tea, indigo, and fire in the making of the illustrations.

Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campos & Theresa Howell, illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Our committee appreciated the vibrant exuberance in Maybe Something Beautiful, 

as well as the true story of how art transformed a neighborhood.

Return by Aaron Becker

This wordless book fascinated our kid voters. 

They discovered intricate details tucked within each page, 

and appreciated the fantastical world Becker created in his book trilogy.

They liked that the story dove deep, like a mystery.

And our children's librarian Martha Ashenfelter came up with the best Caldecott treat yet!

Sparked by the colorful illustrations and murals from Maybe Something Beautiful, 

Martha helped kids created their own edible canvases

with graham crackers, frosting, candy, and apricots.

 

 

A party with Caldecotts and apricots.

Candy and canvases.

 

Glorious in composition, sweetness, and stickiness!

Thank you, Jefferson County Library.

I'm grateful to have been part of another year of Mock Caldecott goodness. 

Hooray for beautiful books

and stories that inspire!

Here are the official American Library Associaton's picks:

Caldecott Award:  

Radiant Child by Javaka Steptoe

Caldecott Honors:

They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel

Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis

Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford and R. Gregory Christie

Leave Me Alone by Vera Brosgol