Picture Books We Love :: Favorite Folk Songs, Part Two

I'm back to add a few more of our favorite picture books based on folk and patriotic songs.  (You can read my first round of picks here.)  Summer seems like the perfect time to get these out and enjoy some singing-along...and of course, July 4th is coming up as well.

We really enjoy Will Hillenbrand's illustrative take on the simple Fiddle-i-Fee--I won't spoil the surprise, but it involves a charming animal band preparing for a special performance.  I remember reading this one over and over when my two oldest were tiny.

Peter Spier's The Star-Spangled Banner is a favorite here for a couple reasons: his historically-detailed and vivid illustrations delight us all, and we're so happy that he includes all four verses of our anthem.  (And I just noticed that they are re-releasing his Caldecott-winning version of Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night this September--that'll make a perfect Christmas gift for my 4yo!)

I have to admit that I cringe slightly at the overtly political lyrics in This Land is Your Land...is that just me?  But those first few stanzas are truly lovely and the tune is so fun--and Kathy Jakobsen's detailed paintings make this book irresistible.

I didn't mention it last time, but one of the most fun things about this genre is that even my preschoolers can "read" these books aloud for their younger siblings.  You can imagine how proud that makes them. :)

Now I'm on to a new project: I have a big stack of folk song compilation books out from the library with an eye toward adding a few new ones to our personal collection for my big kids to play piano from.  I'll be sure to share which ones make the cut. If you have a favorite or two (especially if they're suitable for beginning-intermediate piano players), let me know!

{In a Week}

Hello, friends!  I hope you're having a lovely week.  We are still taking it easy, but there has still been lots going on in our home...

playing Mass

ballet practice - they're not in lessons but are teaching themselves from a book!

lots of incidental copywork and composition

she asks me to take a picture of her with her finished puzzles *every* time

our learning-to-reader with a little audience

more wildflowers

I have been busy keeping Baby Girl entertained...

And these two are so fun to watch together...

And then there is this little darling, who is already a month old now and getting so big...

I hope to be back soon with some more folk song favorites.  Until then!

Nature Study Outing :: Tiny Finds at the Park

After two weeks cooped up at home with our newborn, my kids were begging me to take them out for nature study beyond our backyard.  To be honest, I knew a change of scenery would do me good too--as much as I am thankful for days at home with a sweet baby sleeping on my chest, a bit of sunshine and fresh air sounded heavenly.

So I left the two littlest at home with Daddy and we went out for a quick trip to the park.  I promised them a half hour swinging and sliding if we spent a few minutes hunting down wildflowers first.  It was a fruitful little outing; we found a new flower for our life list...

Birdfoot trefoil

...and the children spotted some old favorites that they wanted to add to their nature journals.

Lots of chickory everywhere!

And as we were off the path, my son noticed this little group of berry-red insect eggs on a geranium leaf.

They are really tiny--the whole cluster was maybe three millimeters round.

We had packed light and left the pocket microscope at home, but luckily I had a small container along to bring it home in for a better look.

I have no idea what kind of eggs they are, but don't they look like jelly beans?

What have you been enjoying on your nature outings lately?  I'd love to hear!

What We're Reading :: Summer!

Me:

Elizabeth Goudge's Green Dolphin Street (had to return it half-way through, but now it's waiting at the library for me again)

Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South (rewatched the BBC series with my husband last week and decided that it was time to read it!)
Richard Headstrom's Adventures with a Hand Lens (previewing this to use with my two oldest next year)

With the children:

Elizabeth Enright's The Saturdays (just finished!)

Sidney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind Family (my girls in particular are so enchanted with this one)

Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, on audiobook read by BJ Harrison (really well done)

Howard Pyle's Robin Hood, on audiobook read by David Thorn (finishing up the last few chapters from our Year 2 studies--one of my son's very favorites)

Gianna, age 7:

Redwall, Redwall, and more Redwall! (she is racing through the series)

Fr. Francis' God Lives in Me (her Sunday reading)

Elizabeth Enright's Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze (last of the sequels to The Saturdays--she keeps reciting bits of the clues to herself throughout the day)

Vincent, age 7:

Henry's Album of Horses (not sure what inspired the horse craze, but he and Xavier have been looking through this together daily)

Elizabeth Enright's The Four-Story Mistake (the first sequel to The Saturdays) 

D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls and Book of Norse Myths (much "playing Thor" going on here)

...and he's also Redwall-obsessed these days!

To the littles:

A Very Little Child's Book of Stories with Jessie Wilcox Smith's lovely illustrations (5yo Cate's current favorite)

17 Kings and 42 Elephants (4yo Xavier's current favorite, from his Easter basket)

Neumann Press' My Mass Book (2yo Bridget's current favorite--she loves to hold her dolly and and pretend she's a mommy at Mass)

Rockwell's Big Wheels (1yo Clara's current favorite--she is definitely a truck-loving little girl)

And in the mail:

And as usual, a couple boxes came in the mail this week with some fun treasures.  I think I might be a tad obsessed with online used book buying...

Picture Books We Love :: Favorite Folk Songs, Part One

My children started piano lessons this past year and have been playing simple folk tunes from their music books.  Hearing those melodies reminded me of the wonderful folk-song-turned-picture-books that I used to read day after day to my two oldest when they were small but had completely forgotten with my current littles.  Considering how much my kids love sing-along books, I decided to remedy this right away and grabbed a bunch of our old favorites from the library and our own picture book collection--and I thought I'd share them with you too.  Here's the first batch:

John Langstaff is a folk song legend.  He collaborated with Caldecott-winning Russian illustrator Feodor Rojanovsky on two titles that we particularly enjoy: Frog Went a-Courtin' and Over in the Meadow.

And Anita Lobel provided fittingly charming drawings for Langstaff's version of Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?

I usually don't prefer cartoonish selections, but Ed Emberley has a winner with his quirky London Bridge is Falling Down.

It's hard to go wrong pairing Normal Rockwell prints with one of our favorite patriotic tunes. George M. Cohan and Norman Rockwell's You're a Grand Old Flag is in constant rotation at our home.

Robert Quackenbush's Pop! Goes the Weasel and Yankee Doodle is actually a recent discovery for me.  My youngers love the colorful but simple illustrations and my olders are enchanted with the historical background provided on each page.  Plus: two songs in one!

Carol Jones' Old McDonald Had a Farm and This Old Man remind me of the Ahlbergs' work, with the peek-a-boo cutouts on each page and the detailed drawings.  Perfect books for reading to little ones.

I have two favorites for "The Farmer in the Dell": Ilse Plume's (bottom) and Alexandra Wallner's (top).  Usually I'm pretty opinionated when it comes to picture books and have no trouble deciding which version I like best, but both of these are just so good.

More coming soon!  (Do you have any favorites to share?  I'd love to know!)

(Edited to add: You can read Part 2 here!)