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From: chrys rudnik <crudnik>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 16:45:27 +0000
I just came upon John Hawkinson's The Old Stump because it needed some repair. I had not been familiar with it and thought it might be a variation on The Giving Tree. Was I in for a sur prise. Published in 1971 by Paul Whitman Co., it may have got lost in the shuffle through the years.
It is a story of a family of mice (a mouse, his two brothers, three sisters, and their big fat mama [a bit of stereotyping here, I'll admit, especially when the children play and mama cleans the nest]) who live at the root of a stump in a forest.
At night the mice play on the stump but at sunrise they return to the nest to sleep while other animals in the woods and some boys pay a visit to rest or play on the stump - a wood thrush, two chipmunks, a butterfly, some boys, a blue jay, a toad, a grou se, and finally a porcupine. Illustrations are in watercolors and simply beautiful.
The activities (or, more accurately, the non?tivities, only reactions to the activity on the stump) of the mice act like a cord strung through the story.&nbs p; This is coupled with the door to the nest in the stump prominent in every picture. When the porcupine approaches the stump, he comments how short the tree is. Then, don't miss the back page of the book jacket where two porcupines are up high in an aspen tree. It is a book with a delightful well formulated story enhanced with lovely and clear watercolors. It is a
book to share with young and old, one to pour over and find the subtle images that move the story along.
Can you tell this was a dellightful find?
Another not so well known title is The Lion and the Little Red Bird by Elisa Kleven. It is the story of a little red bird wondering why a lion's tail is a different color everyday. It is a story of communication, compassion, friend ship, and beautiful colors. The bird keeps asking the lion questions, but the lion cannot understand the language and so he just smiles. When the lion steps on a thorn, the bird takes it out. When the bird gets blown about in a storm, th e lion takes the bird into his cave where the bird finds out why the lion's tail changed colors.
I have used this book with tottlers and parents for storytime. The reaction always is one of warmth and smiles and the book gets checked out to be shared at home. An artist introduced me to this one. She often shared it with her niece
.
Chrys Rudnik Park Forest Public Library
400 Lakewood Blvd.
Park Forest IL 60466
708/748731
crudnik at hotmail.com
Received on Thu 12 May 2005 11:45:27 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 16:45:27 +0000
I just came upon John Hawkinson's The Old Stump because it needed some repair. I had not been familiar with it and thought it might be a variation on The Giving Tree. Was I in for a sur prise. Published in 1971 by Paul Whitman Co., it may have got lost in the shuffle through the years.
It is a story of a family of mice (a mouse, his two brothers, three sisters, and their big fat mama [a bit of stereotyping here, I'll admit, especially when the children play and mama cleans the nest]) who live at the root of a stump in a forest.
At night the mice play on the stump but at sunrise they return to the nest to sleep while other animals in the woods and some boys pay a visit to rest or play on the stump - a wood thrush, two chipmunks, a butterfly, some boys, a blue jay, a toad, a grou se, and finally a porcupine. Illustrations are in watercolors and simply beautiful.
The activities (or, more accurately, the non?tivities, only reactions to the activity on the stump) of the mice act like a cord strung through the story.&nbs p; This is coupled with the door to the nest in the stump prominent in every picture. When the porcupine approaches the stump, he comments how short the tree is. Then, don't miss the back page of the book jacket where two porcupines are up high in an aspen tree. It is a book with a delightful well formulated story enhanced with lovely and clear watercolors. It is a
book to share with young and old, one to pour over and find the subtle images that move the story along.
Can you tell this was a dellightful find?
Another not so well known title is The Lion and the Little Red Bird by Elisa Kleven. It is the story of a little red bird wondering why a lion's tail is a different color everyday. It is a story of communication, compassion, friend ship, and beautiful colors. The bird keeps asking the lion questions, but the lion cannot understand the language and so he just smiles. When the lion steps on a thorn, the bird takes it out. When the bird gets blown about in a storm, th e lion takes the bird into his cave where the bird finds out why the lion's tail changed colors.
I have used this book with tottlers and parents for storytime. The reaction always is one of warmth and smiles and the book gets checked out to be shared at home. An artist introduced me to this one. She often shared it with her niece
.
Chrys Rudnik Park Forest Public Library
400 Lakewood Blvd.
Park Forest IL 60466
708/748731
crudnik at hotmail.com
Received on Thu 12 May 2005 11:45:27 AM CDT
