Two Delightful Books to Read to Two Delightful Children

This is Cecelia. She's very enthusiastic. We call her "Squeals" because she screams when she's happy. She screams when she's mad, sad, glad...yep, she's a loud one. But recently, and to her MaeMae's delight, she sits and listens to stories.

This is Arthur. When he isn't running he's hopping. Or jumping. Or rolling. Or squirming. He's Mr. BusyPants. But lately for his Mitzi (right, one calls me MaeMae, the other Mitzi--don't ask, because I don't know. I just go with the flow) he will sit and listen to stories.

     The day is coming when I'll be able to read a long story to them. So, I've started going through my collection and I'm putting special books aside.

     Here are two that are on the top of my list.

Tumtum & Nutmeg  Adventures Beyond Nutmouse Hall by Emily Bearn and illustrated by Nick Price

         
This lovely book comes to us from England. Rose Cottage is the setting for this charming collection of adventures that involve two very creative and caring mice and the two children they've decided to help.
     Here is how the first chapter ends--
     "The Nutmouses had been concerned about Arthur and Lucy for some time; and the colder the winter became, the more their concern grew. And there comes a point at which a concern grows so big that something has to be done about it."

   The gentle rhythm of Emily Bearn's writing and the delightful illustrations by Nick Price have so impressed me that this will be a book I read to my Arthur. I think he'll enjoy the daring mice and the creative ways they find to help the children. There's enough action to keep him interested and characters he'll want to know about.

     Here is where the mice have come together to rid the house of Aunt Ivy, a mean-spirited and dreadful woman who is making life miserable for the children.   

    " "A capital plan!" he said ebulliently. "We will overwhelm the enemy with numbers! We will conscript every mouse in the village who is young and fit enough to fight, and we will charge as one!" The General banged his stick on the table, feeling very pleased with himself. This might go down in the history books as his cleverest battle plan yet!"
 
   Adventure, friendship, battle plans, inventions...the list goes on. A grand book for my grandson.

The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz illustrated byAngela Barrett

     This book will be for my pirate ballerina screamer, Cecelia. She already loves fairies. She loves looking at pictures in fairy tales. She loves dressing up and wearing feather boas. Of course she will fall in love with little, tiny Flory. Cecelia will be captured by the first paragraph-- "Flory was a night fairy. She was born a little before midnight when the moon was full. For the rest of her life--and fairies can live hundreds of years--that hour, a little before midnight, would be the time when her magic was strongest." Oh my.
    This little book about a tiny fairy is ripe with beautiful imagery, transformations, and stunning illustrations. Can you tell I fell in love with it? As Flory changes from a rather selfish little thing, to someone who reaches out to help others I can just imagine Cecelia studying the pictures and asking me to re-read certain pages.
  Oh I can't wait!