Little Red Riding Hood

Jessica Zemsky,  Whitman 1961

 Another favorite fairytale from my childhood was Little Red Riding Hood.

Boy, did we ever learn not to stop and talk to strangers, after reading this one.

And if it has ears like a wolf and teeth like a wolf, it probably is a wolf.
Not Grandma.

There are so many beautifully illustrated versions of this Grimm story.

Do you recognize any of these?

Elizabeth Orton Jones,  Golden Press 1948

Illustrator identified only as AH,  Brimax Books, 1962

(If anyone has any information about this artist,  please contact me.)

 June Goldsborough,  Whitman 1964

 Frank Aloise,  Abingdon Press 1969

This version is retold by The Gant Sisters and includes several of their songs.  

Anne Sellers Leaf,  Rand McNally Elf Book, 1963

 Wooden puzzles from Sifo and Playskool

* * *

Click here to see my Little Red Riding Hood tea set.

Hansel And Gretel

(Felicitas Kuhn, 1962)

When I was a kid I loved fairytales.
I still do.

One of my favorites was/is "Hansel and Gretel". 

The fairy tale that warned us that things are not always what they seem,  

not all people can be trusted,

and that the buddy system is a very good thing.
(Especially when you find yourself in a sticky situation.)

(Wanda Gag, 1936)

(not sure who the artist is, Golden Press 1964)

Who can forget the line,

"Nibble Nibble like a mouse, Who is nibbling at my house?"?
We all want to jump up and tell the children to run the other way as fast as they can! 

Over the years,  I have collected several versions of the tale.

I love seeing how different artists bring the story to life on the page.

(Erika Weihs, 1946)

(Rose Art Studios,  not sure of date, I'm guessing the 60's.) 

 

(Eloise Wilkin, 1954)

This song from the Hansel and Gretel opera by Humperdinck is really beautiful.

Night is falling and Hansel and Gretel are lost deep in the forest.

They pray that angels will watch over them.   

Have a listen to "Evening Prayer".

Reading Reptile

We have the most amazing children's bookstore here in town:  

Reading Reptile, Books and Tapes For Young Mammals. 

It's a magical place, where all your  child's favorite characters come to life!  

Every inch, every nook and cranny, is filled with the wonder of picture books.  

Even the ceiling is covered!  

"Caps For Sale" is a classic.

Chairs in cozy reading areas invite you to sit and peruse books with your child.  

The store hosts a storytime, book club,  movie night,  authors visits, 

wonderful birthday parties and many other special events.

Do you recognize all these fun story critters?

My children loved "My Father's Dragon".

When the kids were little, we followed the dinosaur tracks to the store in Westport.  

The Reading Reptile relocated a few years ago 

to a wonderful new space in Brookside, and my children have grown up, 

but I still stop by to purchase books for the other little people in my life.   

I hope you will visit soon too!

Celebrate with books!  Read to your children!

Happy Birthday, Miss Potter!

Happy birthday to Miss Beatrix Potter.

 One of my very favorite children's authors and illustrators. 

Botanical artist, naturalist, preservationist, farmer and loving aunt.

Certainly a woman ahead of her time.

Several of her sweet little books are scattered around my house,

along with children's china from Royal Albert and Wedgewood.
(Four of the books were mine when I was a child, and
are looking quite tattered, from repeated readings.)

Which one of her tales is your favorite?

I have to call it a four-way tie between

 Pigling Bland, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Tom Kitten and Samuel Whiskers.

  

PS- April, (Whatever Is Lovely), also did a post about Beatrix Potter today.
Hop on over to visit her at Happy Birthday To You, Miss Potter. 

Decorate to "Groove Your Personality"

Your Own Room

Everything I know about interior design I learned from this book.  

It was given to me by my Mom when I was a preteen.  (in the 60's)

(And if you saw my house, you might say.. "Well, that explains a lot.")

I learned all about color personalities.  I learned to dig jazzy color combos.

I learned about comforting colors and refreshing ones.

I wanted to be a chick that was hip to space!

Cha Cha!

I spent hours moving little furniture rectangles around graph-paper rooms.

I learned that furniture had jivey names  

like Jacobean, Hepplewhite, Windsor and Modern.

I read that adding a few zany pieces would add soul.

I really wanted a room like this shimmering, star studded, "Ballerina bedroom", 

but since I shared a room with my sister, 

the "Two-sister-room-with-privacy" was more practical. 

I loved this book!!

If you have any chickies in your life (10-11-12 year olds) 

a far out guide like this might be the grooviest gift you can give them.

(No, I don't usually talk this way, but the book does.)

I'm joining the Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Cinderella

I have this little glass slipper sitting in my kitchen window.  (Amber hobnail glass, made by Fenton.) It once belonged to my grandmother.  It always makes me think of one of my favorite stories: Cinderella.   An ordinary girl meets a Prince, they fall in love, overcome all obstacles, get married and live happily ever after.    I do love a good fairytale!  Don't you?

These pictures are from a favorite childhood book of fairytales: "In Fairy Land",  Brimax Books, published nearly 50 years ago.  The illustrator is identified only by initials F.K.  (You can tell it got read a lot... dog eared corners and pages that are falling right out of the binding.)

When I think of Cinderella, and the beautiful dress made by her Fairy-Godmother, this girl in gold, with pearls woven through her hair is what immediately comes to my mind.  (Not the Disney version.)

Speaking of gowns and shoes, a few weeks ago, my best friend and I went to see the Princess Diana exhibit. (I'm on the right.)

 Diana's wedding gown, train and slippers were more detailed that you can see in photos.  Really amazing.  Loads of tiny sequins and tiny seed pearls.  That was truly a fairy tale wedding, but didn't have a happy ending.

These 3 pictures  ( Diana's clothes and Will and Kate) were borrowed from the web.  

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the exhibit.

We are about to witness another real live Cinderella story.  An ordinary girl (Kate) met a Prince at college (William), they fell in love,  worked out a few difficulties, and are getting married on Friday.  I hope with all my heart that they have a happy life together.  I'm excited to see Kate's gown and shoes and will be getting up early on Friday to watch on tv.  How 'bout you?

Joining Vintage Thingie Thursday, hosted by The Colorado Lady

Paper Cranes

I have always loved the Japanese art of folding paper called Origami.  In particular, paper cranes.  In Japan, the crane is a symbol of hope and good luck.  And it is said that if you fold 1000 paper cranes your wish will come true.

A few years ago, I organized a project based on the children's book "Sadako And The Thousand Cranes" by  Eleanor Coerr.  

The kids and adults at our church folded 1000 cranes, strung them together on long strings, and sent them to Japan.  They were hung in the Peace Park in Hiroshima, with our wish for world peace.  

(This photo courtesy of Children's Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan.)

This week I spent a lot of time  glued to the news, hearing about the multiple disasters that have affected the people of Japan.  Earthquakes, tsunami, fire  and the nuclear threat.  My heart goes out to all those who have lost family, friends, homes, pets, livestock and businesses.  I pray for those on the search and rescue teams,  and for those brave souls,  who at great personal risk, are trying to keep the nuclear plant from a complete meltdown.

There are groups that are using the paper crane to raise awareness about the plight of the people in Japan.  Groups like  American Red Cross,   Heart to Heart,   Shelter Box,  etc... are collecting funds to provide humanitarian relief, food, shelter and medical care to the survivors.  PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN.   Every dollar helps. 

Do you want to learn how to fold a paper crane?

 There are lots of colored and printed papers available.

Select  one square.

Fold it in half diagonally, both ways.

 Fold it in half to make a rectangle,  both ways. 

Keeping the fold at the top, take one corner and fold it to the center.

 Flip it over,  and fold the other corner to the center.

 Insert your finger into the bottom, slightly turn the paper and flatten into a square.

Fold the open edges towards the center to form what looks like a kite shape.

 Flip it and fold the other side the same way.  It will look like this.

 Fold the top point down.  (fold it to the back and to the front, to make the next step easier.)

 Unfold  the top point and sides to look like a square again.  Then lift the open edge. Pull it all the way open bending along that top crease.  This will pull the sides in.  Invert the side folds to make a diamond shape. 

 Flip it over and and do the same thing to the other side and it will look like this.

The top half will be solid and the bottom half will have a split.

  

Fold the split side in towards the center again, to make it more narrow.  

 Do that to each side.

 Then flip it over and do it on the reverse side too.  It will look like this, with solid pieces at the top.  And the bottom will have two skinnier split section that look like long points.

Take one pointed bottom piece and slightly unfold it and push it  almost all the way up into the middle of the top section, and then pinch it flat again, inside itself.

 Repeat to the other  pointed section and it will look like this.

(Note: that the bottom edge should be at an  slight angle, not exactly straight.)

 Push the tip of one of the  points down into itself and flatten and  to make a head.   

The remaining point becomes the tail. 

Gently pull out on the wings and the crane will open up.  

You can push down on the body a bit to make it stay open.  

I folded more paper cranes today.  

I hope you will join me.

Fold a crane.  Make a donation.  Keep the people of Japan in your thoughts and prayers.