Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks

Picture Perfect Giving to Children

 

As much as I hope A Picture Perfect Childhood blessed you and your family this past year, I want to thank you for your generous blessing on behalf of some other families and their children. If you purchased a copy of A Picture Perfect Childhood you contributed in part to a remarkable holiday spirit of giving.  At the end of the book I wrote...

 

A Word from the Author:

Childhood is a time to climb trees, run across open fields, bike to a friend’s house, and goof off in a swimming pool. My heart aches whenever I read of

a childhood plagued by cancer.

While viewing programs for St. Jude’s Hospital

I am left with a desperate need to turn off the channel and ignore the suffering or to

do something.

I want my readers to know that we are going to do something!  We might not be doctors or nurses, but we can help to change the atmosphere and imagery 

a child sees from that hospital bed.

Every year a percentage of sales from A Picture Perfect Childhood will go towards purchasing

new children books which will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Hospital .

 

www.stjude.org

Thank you for helping do something

and please continue to pray for

 a cure and that these children will be

blessed with a picture perfect childhood.

 

Reviews of Picture Perfect!

 

*****

 We, together, will be purchasing a goodly amount of new picture books to ship to St. Jude's Hospital for the New 2009 Year and I'd love to have your help with the selections. I'd like all you picture-loving readers to tell me about your new-found favorite picture books of 2008.

 

And thank you again for doing something.

Autumn Treasures & Pumpkin Recipes

Autumn is the time to enjoy your kitchen as never before. Spend some time with your children on the sofa reading these books then take it into the kitchen to prepare and enjoy the recipes offered at the back of each book.

The books just take 15 minutes a day. The memories will last a lifetime.

(Booklists excerpts taken from A Picture Perfect Childhood)

OCTOBER TREASURES

• Cranberry Autumn by Wende and Harry Devlin (Cranberry Squares Recipe)
• Pumpkin Fiesta by Caryn Yacowitz/ Joe Cepeda (Pumpkin Soup Recipe)
• The Bake-Shop Ghost by Jacqueline K. Ogburn/ Marjorie Priceman (Ghost-Pleasing Chocolate Cake Recipe)
• Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper (Pumpkin Soup Recipe)
• Cranberry Halloween by Wende and Harry Devlin (Cranberry Dessert Recipe)
• Halloween Pie by Michael O. Tunnell/ Kevin O’Malley (Halloween Pumpkin Pie Recipe)
• Pumpkin Day! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (Toasted Pumpkin Seeds/ Pumpkin Muffins/ Pumpkin Pancakes Recipes)
• Pumpkins by Jacqueline Farmer/ Phyllis Limbacher Tildes (Pumpkin Maple Pie and Seed Roasting Recipes)
• Turtle and Snake’s Spooky Halloween by Kate Spohn (Spooky Pond Punch)
• Maria Molina and the Days of the Dead by Kathleen Krull/ Enrique O. Sanchez (Traditional Bread of the Dead Recipe)

NOVEMBER THANKSGIVING

• Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin (Grandmother's Famous Cranberry Bread Recipe)
• Albert’s Thanksgiving by Leslie Tryon (Thanksgiving Feast ~ Scrumptious Pumpkin Pizza Pie Recipe)
• The Giant Carrot by Jan Peck/ Barry Root (Little Isabelle's Carrot Puddin' Recipe)
• Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy/ Carolyn Fisher (Mashed Potato Recipe)
• The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola (Popcorn Recipes)

Getting Ready for the School Year?

Here's what I wanted you to know.

Admoremus Books is having a Bookstore Discount:

"Faith & Family advertiser Adoremus Books is offering a special discount. Use the code AOB88 to receive 10% off and free shipping at checkout."

So, if you're ordering some of your homeschooling goodies, you might want to check out and support this family-owned business.

Evidently Adoremus Books still has copies of my first book Literature Alive!

I also know they have copies of A Picture-Perfect Childhood though it isn't showing up on their site yet but feel free to ask them about it.

HT: Thrifty Homeschooler

Quilt This Book

I am not a quilter by trade but my mother-in-law was and I love picture books that tell the tale of families and preserve the history of quilting.  It's a beautiful art.

This morning my girls and I were pleased to discover another quilting book to add to our list.  A brand-new picture book recently published in April 2008, this book quilts family, geography, and beautiful artwork together.

The Elephant Quilt: Stitch by Stitch to California! by Susan Lowell and Stacey Dressen-McQueen

What I loved most about this book was the artwork.  Colorful. Lively. Authentic. Symbolic. I also loved the full-spread/full-color quilt at the back of the book.  The girls and I took that quilt and found all the pictures quilted throughout the book.  Makes one really connect with the story. What I loved personally was the Author's Note in the back. Though a work of fiction, there are countless true stitches stories sewen into this book and the author's note lays thread-bare those revelations.  It's the perfect example of taking a picture book and weaving history and geography and a family's real life story into a beautiful quilted book. This book is a keeper and will one day find it's way onto our permanent bookshelf.

You can read about the real quilt here.

Go ahead! Check with your library. That's where we found our copy. And go quilting with books!

* * * * * * *

For all of you in possession of A Picture Perfect Childhood take out your book and turn to page 228 and *quilt* this book into your list:

The Elephant Quilt: Stitch by Stitch to California! by Susan Lowell and Stacey Dressen-McQueen

Cinderella Add-On

Those of you with A Picture Perfect Childhood will want to open it to page 198 and include this book to your "Around the World with Cinderella" study list:

Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal by Paul Fleischman

This is a new Cinderella book recently published in September 2007.  Author Paul Fleischman has joined illustrator Julie Paschkis to "braid its (Cinderella's) many versions into one globe-spanning tale".

We are fortunate that our library has it.  Check with your library today and see if they have it.  If not, make a request.

Thank you to Lisa Tobin for the heads-up.

A Picture Perfect Question

Christie asked:

"I just read about your book on FIAR's forum. I love picture books, and am looking especially for picture books on history. What history topics do you include?"

My Answer:

"Christie,
Today is your lucky day.  :)  PPC has a lot to offer.

While the booklist at the back of A Picture Perfect Childhood offers plenty of picture books on the Civil War/China/Great Depression/ WWI/ WWII/ Immigration/ Pioneers & Westward Movement/ Revolutionary War/ Sept. 11/ Underground Railroad and lots more...I think what will most delight you is the Children's Hour.

A brief excerpt from PPC (page 58): "The Children's Hour is a twelve-month historical timeline for families.  I have done my best to ensure that every illustrated book listed is the very best of vivid imagery, promising an eyeful of educational beauty, knowledge, and emotion to adults and teenagers alike with a smattering of color for preschoolers as well.  My main focus was to gather a selection of historical and biographical titles and list them within a dated timeline.  While its overall focus is history, biographical-related, there are other books thrown into this selection to add enjoyment for different ages within a family during the various seasons and holidays that frame each month."

Here is the month of March:

MARCH

·        A Packet of Seeds by Deborah Hopkinson/ Bethanne Andersen

·        The Heart of the Wood by Marguerite W. Davol/ Sheila Hamanaka

·        Cold Feet by Cynthia DeFelice/ Robert Andrew Parker

·        (Born March 2, 1859) Sholom’s Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer by Erica Silverman/ Mordicai Gerstein

·        (Born March 2, 1904) The Boy on

Fairfield Street

by Kathleen Krull/ Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher

·        (Born March 3, 1847) Alexander Graham Bell by Victoria Sherrow/ Elaine Verstraete

·        (Born March 4, 1747) Hero on Horseback: The Story of Casimir Pulaski by David R. Collins/ Larry Nolte

·        (Kite Flying Event 1847) The Flight of the

Union

by Tekla White/ Ralph Ramstad

·        Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka by Tomie dePaola

·        Spring Story by Jill Barklem

·        (Born March 6, 1475) Michelangelo by Diane Stanley

·        (Battle of the Alamo ~ March 6, 1836) Susanna of the

Alamo

by John Jakes/ Paul Bacon

·        (Born March 14, 1879) Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown

·        (March 17 Feast Day) Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola

·        (Married March 17, 1905) Franklin & Eleanor by Cheryl Harness

·        (March 19 Feast Day) Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi

·        (Born March 19, 1864) Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell by Jeanette Winter

·        Montezuma & the Fall of the Aztecs by Eric A. Kimmel/ Daniel San Souci

·        (Born March 21, 1685) Bach's Big Adventure by Sallie Ketcham/ Timothy Bush

·        The Springs of Joy by Tasha Tudor

·        (Birth of Fannie Farmer ~ March 23, 1857) Fannie in the Kitchen by Deborah Hopkinson/ Nancy Carpenter

·        Viking Longship by Mick Manning/ Birta Granstrom

·        (Born March 24, 1834) The

Last

River

: John Wesley Powell and the

Colorado River

Exploring Expedition by Stuart Waldman

·        (Born March 24, 1874) The Secret of the Great Houdini by Robert Burleigh/ Leonid Gore

·        On Passover by Cathy Goldberg Fishman/ Melanie W. Hall

·        Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett/ Ron Barrett

·        Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here by Lizann Flatt/ Scott Ritchie

·        (Born March 31, 1927) Harvesting Hope: the Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull/ Yuyi Morales

(Art) The Genius of Leonardo by Guido Visconti/ Bimba Landmann

(Music) Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes/ Karmen Thompson

(Poetry) R is for Rhyme by Judy Young/ Victor Juhasz and Wynken, Blynken, and Nod by Eugene Field illustrated versions by Giselle Potter/ David Mcphail/ Johanna Westerman

(Language Arts) Max’s Words by Kate Banks/ Boris Kulikov

(Science/Nature) Anna’s Table by Eve Bunting/ Taia Morley

(Shakespeare) Romero and Juliet by Bruce Coville/ Dennis Nolan

(Math) Archimedes: Ancient Greek Mathematician by Susan Katz Keating/ Stefano Tartarotti

(Geography) Somewhere in the World Right Now by Stacey Schuett

(Fairy Tale) Little Red Riding Hood by the Brothers Grimm/ Trina Schart Hyman and Snow White and Rose Red by the Brothers Grimm/ Barbara Cooney

      (Myth) The Trouble with Wishes by Diane Stanley

      (Tall Tale) Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg

The Good, the Bad, and the Reviews

All Picture Perfect Childhood orders have been mailed out.  Books are now being mailed either the very day of (at the earliest) or the day after (at the latest) your order. 

If you ordered a copy in January or early February and have not received it yet, please email me.

In the meantime, if you have a review to share, please share it at Amazon.com...and take a little time to read the reviews already posted there. 

While I offer (and encourage) readers to shop on my blog sidebar because I offer the book much cheaper, I know that people (myself included) rely on the reviews found on Amazon.com to decide whether a book is meant to belong on their home shelf or not.

If you are pleased with A Picture Perfect Childhood, let everybody know about it.

If you are not pleased, at least let me know about it. 

More Picture-Perfect Reviews

Thank you, Karen.

Thank you, Alicia.

A comment from Marianne: "I agree that the book is wonderful! I received mine today and kept sneaking peeks during my kids' basketball games. The variety and selection of books is incredible - and I've been homeschooling and digging around for living books for 7 years now. I can't wait to use the check mark boxes - that is a fun element to have in there. Thank you for your work!"

I Love Warm Fuzzies and Being Linked to Gladys Hunt

"I am thrilled with your book, Cay! This is in no way a surprise, of course, but it is so much more than I really expected. Even with getting to preview some of the pages online, I didn't expect the warm fuzzies I got from the book. :-) This has reaffirmed and organized a vision with picture books for our home. I am really excited about having this resource for the variety of times and topics that you focused on. Anyone who has been putting off buying this book, wait no more! This is a booklist that you will hardly find anywhere else. Bravo, Cay!"  ~ Monica in FL

"I got my book yesterday! I got it out of the mailbox on my way to my daughter's library book club. Before I even got to look at it my friend confiscated it for the next 2 hours and had already used its booklists to find books from the libraries bookshelves. I love it. She loved it ....and will be ordering her own copy. Now that I have gotten it back, my library card is also filling with requests. Thank you so much Cay. I haven't felt like this since reading Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt. The love and magic of children's literature !" ~ Cindy in CA

To read more reviews on A Picture Perfect Childhood go here:  PPC Reviews

Ordering information can be found in the lefthand sidebar of my blog or at Lulu.com .

Picture-Perfect Add-ons

I think one of our best bets in keeping our eyes open for great picture books is to keep an eye on Ana Braga-Henebry's weekly Picture Book of the Week for Picture-Perfect add-ons.  That's what I plan to do. I certainly trust Ana's judgement and selections.

The best information I am getting is that Ferdinand Magellan was born in Spring 1480, so plan to add this book: Magellan's World by Stuart Waldman/ Gregory Manchess to your March/April reading basket.

Expose your children to this famous explorer.

Jennifer D. also alerted me to another Cinderella Book: Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz Age Cinderella by Shirley Hughes which some of you Cinderella fans will definitely want to check into and add to your Cinderella list on page 198 of A Picture Perfect Childhood.

Expose your child to the Roaring 1920's.

A Picture Perfect Childhood is all about educating, enhancing, and exposing your children to lots of history, science, rabbit trails, literature, interesting people, and a life of great ideas...in brownie bites.

And I encourage all of you to please check into and use, use, use your free public library.  The more you use it the more funding they can pitch for and, thus, the more books and services they can provide.  Want to support writers of great books? There is no need for you to go bankrupt.  Request that your library order these books.  That's what they are there for.  Easter is coming up.  Have you decided what book to put in your child's Easter basket?