Tok-tok-tok-tok-tok go Little T’s and Little Sir’s clogs, or bakya in Filipino. My children are wearing their kimonos – an orange-and-yellow hand-me-down costume for my girl and a white bath robe for my little boy. We’re having fun,  we’re learning, we're delighting in Masako Matsuno's “A Pair of Red Clogs." First published in 1960, it was recently reprinted by Purple … [Read more...]

See the pun?Little T had been drawing houses, flowers, and whatever she could think of, for several days in a row. Her MegaSketcher was hardly out of her lap, so I thought we would read the perfect book to support this fervor in drawing.Harold and the Purple CrayonWritten by Crockett Johnson and published in 1955, “Harold and the Purple Crayon” celebrates the creative process … [Read more...]

I found a rare, out-of-print book in my treasure trove that’s perfect to round out our Appalachian reading experience – Down Down The Mountain by Ellis Credle. I won it a long time ago in an ebay auction and have actually forgotten about it! Down Down The Mountain is set in a part of the Appalachians and features Hank and Hetty who have never owned a pair of shoes in their … [Read more...]