Timlies! We're having an ice storm in KC!

Happy Birthday ita!

Allyson, these are kinda old, but I swear by Babar and Madeline.

Robin, I'm glad you liked Middlesex. I enjoyed it too and it felt good to hand it off to another person who would appreciate it.

Allyson, I have too many books to suggest!

Okay, for starters, I'm gonna recommend some lesser known ones I love:

I adore Grump by Janet Wong. "Look at Baby, Smart good Baby, Happy Baby, Making Gravy, Applesauce and ketchup gravy..." It has great rhythm.

Mice and Beans is so much fun. I love the color. Also, I have an extra one of these if you want one.

Diary of a Worm makes me laugh every time I read it because it's so clever and so funny.

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato. Bahahah... it's like an Alibelle sort of book.

Molly Bang is one of my favorite author/illustrators. Ten, Nine, Eight is one of the best pre bedtime books. Calmly written and illustrated. It's a complete antidote to When Sophie Gets Angry which is such a good read, especially for kids who look for ways to think about anger.

Anyhow, if you would like come look through my picture books. I have doubles of some and I'd be happy to go to the Scholastic Warehouse with you if you ever want to go.

oooh, Scholastic Warehouse sounds like a blast.

My mom better build that bookcase fast.

Happy Birthday ita!

When I was a kid, I loved a book called "The Wise old Dog", but I cannot find it anywhere now. I also loved Ferdinand, but Grover, sor some reason traumitized me. I think his rendition of "I'm so Blue" was too sad for me. Anyway. I burst into tears every time I even saw Grover, which was very sad for my mother, as she LOVED him.

I wasn't much into kids books, as my mother read to me from non-picture books from at least the age of 3. I loved The Boxcar Children, Little Women, and the entire Bobbsey Twins series (althoug now the Bobbsey twins AND the Boxcar Children remind me, unfortunately, of G-rated version of Flowers in the Attic. Damn that VC Andrews)

My favorite books as I got a little older (8 years old) were the Dorrie the Witch books. But most of them are out of print now and REALLY hard to find.

I came across a book in the attic the other day that I used to just love: The Meanest Squirrel I Ever Met, about a squirrel con-man.

Also found my old Fisher-Price abacus. Two of the bars are missing, though, so now it's base eight.

Too. Damned. Cool.

The world's first animation:

[link]

Also found my old Fisher-Price abacus. Two of the bars are missing, though, so now it's base eight.

An Elfquest abacus!

I wish I could find a stuffed tiger that looks like Hobbes. My nephew looks a lot like Calvin. Maybe there's a pattern and I can make a Hobbes. Gah.

I'm totally sickeningly Auntie-fied.

Allyson, I love the Frances books and the David books. Emeline got 2 of the David's for Christmas.

And also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ITA!