Tag Archives: Mama’s Choice

The Magic Nesting Doll

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Once upon a time a girl named Katya lived with her grandmother
at the edge of the forest. They worked hard and loved
each other tenderly, until one day the old woman fell ill.
She called Katya to her side and said, “Little pigeon, my time is
near. Soon you must make your own way in the world, but I have
a gift that will help you.” She took a little matryoshka, a nesting
doll, out of a small box. The doll was smooth and bright, painted
in the likeness of the grandmother with apron and kerchief.
Katya started to open the doll.
“Stop!” said the old woman. “Not yet. If your need is great,
open the doll and help will come. But you may only do so three
times. After that, the magic will be gone. Keep the doll and
remember me.”

After her grandmother dies, Katya goes out into the world where she is told that:

“Ever since the Tsarevitch fell under a wicked spell that turned him
into living ice, it is always winter without thaw, night without moon,
and dark without dawn.”

Can Katya’s magic and courage break the spell, saving the crown prince and the kingdom? While there may not be much suspense (at least for an adult reader), getting to the answer is a pleasure. The story feels like a classic fairy tale, with an interesting Russian flavor, and Laurel Long’s illustrations are utterly beautiful (as in her The Twelve Days of Christmas). Although the boys enjoy this book, they do not reach for it as yet.

Author: Jacqueline K. Ogburn
Illustrator: Laurel Long

The House in the Night

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Here is the key to the house.
In the house burns a light.
In that light rests a bed.
On that bed waits a book.

The books I highlight around Mother’s Day are typically ones that the boys don’t like quite as much as I do. This book is different; for a while the boys actively disliked it. I find it to be very beautiful and soothing (and it was a present from a family member who inscribed our copy), so I didn’t get rid of it, but I did put it away for a few years.

Author: Susan Marie Swanson
Illustrator: Beth Krommes


 

Grandfather Twilight

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You could say that this book tells a simple story about the quiet routine of a grandfather. Or you could say that it is about cosmic matters of great significance. Either way, you’d be right.

Like When the Sun Rose, by the same author/illustrator, this book is peaceful and quiet and absolutely beautiful. And, also just like Sun Rose, the boys just aren’t that interested in it (perhaps because it dreamlike and has very few words).

Author: Barbara Helen Berger
Illustrator: Barbara Helen Berger


 

On Market Street

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On Market Street, vendors of items from apples to zippers all wear (or are made of) their wares. I’ve loved this beautiful alphabet book from the first time I saw it as a child. The boys prefer The Racecar Alphabet, but this is the week when I share some of the books that I currently enjoy more than they do, in honor of Mother’s Day.

Author: Arnold Lobel
Illustrator: Anita Lobel


 

The Color Kittens

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Once there were two color kittens with
green eyes, Brush and Hush. They liked to
mix and make colors by splashing one color
into another. They had buckets and buckets
and buckets and buckets of color to splash
around with. Out of these colors they would
make all the colors in the world.

I loved to look at these pictures when I was small and this story is great to read aloud. The boys don’t mind it, but they don’t reach for it either. Perhaps it is too dreamlike for now.

Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrators: Alice and Martin Provensen


 

Blueberry Girl

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Ladies
of
light
and
ladies
of
darkness
and
ladies
of
never-
you-
mind,
This is a prayer for a blueberry girl.

First, may
you
ladies
be kind.

Lovely. And utterly girl-centric. (I may need a niece.)

Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Charles Vess


 

When the Sun Rose

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When the sun rose today, a friend came to visit me.
She came in a carriage bright as the sun.
Even the stones in the road were shining.
Her lion stopped at my gate.

This story begins with an enormous, golden rose rising up into the sky (yes, the title is a visual pun); moves to a friend arriving in a carriage shaped like a golden rose and pulled by a golden lion; proceeds to a day of play and creation; and ends with a departure, a promise, and a house full of roses.

The boys are not charmed this book’s dreamy/vague plot and prominent dolls (although they are found of the lion eating blueberries with cream while the narrator and her friend enjoy honeycake and tea). I am utterly charmed by it, however. It glows.

Author: Barbara Helen Berger
Illustrator: Barbara Helen Berger


 

Cinnamon Baby

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In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m going to share a few books that I enjoy a good bit more than the boys do (at least so far–I haven’t entirely given up hope they might become more general favorites).

The first book in this category, Cinnamon Baby, charms me completely. I love the story (filled with baking, music making, passion and jobs, romance and support, the joy and excruciating helplessness of parenting a newborn, love and exhaustion, playfulness, creativity, and beauty). I love the illustrations, which complement and enhance the story (which in a mere 34, unrushed pages addresses working, meeting, marrying, pregnancy, co-parenting, a very unhappy baby, and finally a very happy family). And I love how the boys indulge me and listen to it with a smile.

Author: Nicola Winstanley
Illustrator: Janice Nadeau