Tiny Treasury

Unless you’ve been media deprived the past few days you’ve probably heard that J.K. Rowling outed everyone’s favorite wizard, Albus Dumbledore. Frankly, I’m a bit underwhelmed by the news. Since the series has been completed and Dumbledore’s sexuality never came into play, why does it matter now?

Here’s an article from the Harry Potter Fan Zone:

You can read more from Stacey, the new blogger at Hogwarts Herald.

I just picked up Judy Blume’s new book “Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One” from the library and I’m looking forward to reading it this weekend. I haven’t read a new Judy Blume book since Just As Long As We’re Together was published in 1987, but Fudge’s 35th birthday made me feel a bit nostalgic. I’ll let you know how I like it.

Judy Blume’s Tale’s of a Fourth Grade Nothing published 35 years ago still remains a classic. Younger readers from all generations can connect with poor Peter Hatcher who is completely overshadowed by his little brother Fudge. Fudge was so popular with young readers that Blume wrote four more books about him.

To celebrate the anniversary the complete set of Fudge books are being released in a box set with a new look. The set will be available in October. You can pre-order at Amazon.

Read more about Fudge and Peter at Judy Blume’s website.

Judy Blume, Fudge books, box set, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, young readers

Today marks the release of Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man Pop Up book, which is the first in a series of four. The series features original excerpts with new metallic pop-ups and slide-out character fact files.

Marvel invites you to get acquainted (again) with Spider-Man as he meets up with his seven deadliest foes, including Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and Sandman.

Spider-Man, Marvel

Candlewick Press has announced the paperback release of Martin Handford’s Where’s Waldo? book on today, April 10. This special edition has “lots of eye-boggling extras” including Woof, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard and Odlaw.

Martin Handford, Where’s Waldo?, Candlewick Press

In the US, there’s really no such thing as real princesses. Since we don’t have royalty, we create our own. We elevate celebs like Paris Hilton and Ivanka Trump (my mother would argue that Elizabeth Taylor is a better choice) to nearly royal status due to their money and position in life. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. In fact, some dictionaries actually now define “princess” beyond being descendants of royalty to “a woman considered to have the qualities or characteristics of a princess.” So, if you think like a princess and act like a princess, apparently you can be a princess.

But what does it mean to think or act like a princess? If you asked ten people to define the characteristics of a princess, you’d probably get ten different answers.

In one of my favorite books of all time, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess,the underlying theme is just that: what really makes a princess a princess?

The heroine of the story is a little girl named Sara. She is the daughter of a wealthy father (her mother is dead) who dotes on her. While her father chases his fortune, he enrolls Sara in a boarding school in England. Sara has everything that she could ever want in terms of material things - she is, in that regard, a little princess.

When tragedy hits home, little Sara is no longer a princess in the eyes of the headmistress, who condemns Sara to the attic to live and work in poverty. However, those that Sara had always been kind to remember her thoughtfulness and remain her friends when everyone else abandons her. Sara and her friends create a fantasy world in the attic above the boarding school. But little by little, the fantasy seems real.

Sara finally regains her fortune and her place as a little princess. But this time, being a princess is more about kindness and graciousness than money or treasures.

The ending, while “happy” isn’t a fairytale ending. Everything isn’t magically okay at the end. And perhaps that’s why my pink, paperback copy of The Little Princess was so well worn. Life is not always easy. Bad things happen. Even children understand this concept, though admittedly in a relative way. But this notion of being kind to others, keeping your spirit even when things seem darkest, believing in the good in other people are the traits of a true princess, I loved this as a child. I still do as an adult.

It’s easy to be jaded nowadays and to watch whom the media regards as princesses and wonder what kinds of messages we’re sending our children. A book like “A Little Princess” is just the answer. It reminds us - kids and adults alike - that kindness has its own rewards and that there is magic all around us in our everyday lives. It’s a nice lesson to remember.

And speaking of remembering, don’t forget to sign your own child up to be princess for a day on Tiny Treasury!

A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett, princess

I am soooo a child of the 80s. I wore rubber bracelets. I wore crinoline skirts with high tops. I had about a zillion brightly colored scarves strategically tied around my wrists, in my hair, you name it. Neon colors popped out of my closet. My earrings never matched. I wanted to be Madonna.

At the age of 30-something, I still want to be Madonna. And not pop star Madonna. I want to be self-assured, business-woman, mother, successfully published author Madonna. That’s right, Madonna has gone all respectable on us.

I realize, on some level, this is “old news”. But not really. When The English Roses came out about three years ago, I thought it was a flash in the pan. I figured that it was Madonna re-inventing herself and that this new “children’s book author Madonna” would fade away. I was wrong.

Madonna has gone on to author several more children’s books (the English Roses Collection consists of five: The English Roses, Mr. Peabody’s Apples, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, The Adventures of Abdi, and Lotsa de Casha) and has a website dedicated to promoting the books. I have to say, the web site is extremely cute. Like the illustrations in the books, the website illustrations are very 60s fashion pop in nature. There’s an About page, which explains why Madonna wrote the books in the first place, information about the characters in the books and a fun and games section with coloring pages and more. And of course, it would be the Material Girl’s site without a shop where you can buy books, fashion items and more.

In 2006, Madonna updated the original English Roses book with the version, The English Roses: Too Good to Be True. In keeping with her international stature, the book was translated into several languages including Chichewa, the national language of Malawi. Malawi is, of course, the country where Madonna visited last fall to adopt a child, one year old David Banda.

Last year was also the first time that I took a peek at the books. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Did I love them? No. Did I hate them? No. The illustrations are delightful - Jeffrey Fulvimari is really very talented. The characters are cute and the dialogue is well done. And the stories do have a point, the overreaching theme in each book is a moral. In The English Roses, the moral is “… in the future, you might think twice before grumbling that someone else has a better life than you” no doubt geared at those folks who think that Madonna and daughter Lourdes have a picture-perfect life. I think the moral comes across as a little preachy - and maybe it’s because it’s Madonna. I’m willing to admit that I have a hard time believing that Lourdes leads anything but a pretty cushy life, and that taints my view of the book. A fair assessment? Of course not - but it’s kind of like if I read a romance novel from Steven King - I’d totally be expecting one of the protagonists to be revealed as an axe murderer. And with Madonna? Well expecting tolerance and humility from a woman who, as a tween, I watched reveal that her goal was to “rule the world” is kind of difficult. A little ironic, considering the whole point of her book is about not being so judgmental. Maybe I should read up a bit? At any rate, my view of the book, like that of many, is tainted by her celebrity. On the other hand, I suspect that her celebrity was directly responsible for the book being published. Quite the catch-22.

All of that said, the books are an enjoyable outing. If your kids are looking for a sweet story, beautifully drawn, you might want to take a peek. It’s not great literature but I suspect the kids won’t complain.

Madonna, The English Roses, Mr. Peabody’s Apples, The Adventures of Abdi, Lotsa de Casha, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, The English Roses: Too Good to be True, Jeffrey Fulvimari, Chichewa

I love crafts. I always have. As a kid, I loved any excuse to create a little something out of paper, glue and some embellishments (I still do, which is why I love Kari’s paper blog!). I didn’t want to wait for Christmas and Easter to be crafty - and why should you? St. Patrick’s is a great holiday to be crafty - lots of color, lots of pageantry, lots of fantasy.

You can find cute and eminently do-able crafts in Kathy Ross’ Crafts for St. Patrick’s Day. Crafts include a host of shamrock-related projects, jewelry and an Irish magic wand (we have one of those in my house right now). It’s the perfect book for days like today in Philadelphia - cold and snowy out.

S. Patrick’s Day, crafts, shamrocks, paper

It’s been a difficult couple of weeks at my house. My father-in-law was admitted into hospital about a week and a half ago and required two emergency surgeries; he was subsequently admitted to ICU. He is, thankfully, officially now “out of the woods” - whatever that means.

My husband handled it very well. This is my father in law’s second serious health scare within the last five or so years (the last was a quintuple bypass) and this one was resolved much more quickly. It did not help my husband, however, that right now my kids are really into Josephine Nobisso’s book, Grandpa Loved.

The book is really lovely. The illustrations by Maureen Hyde are soft water colors which lends a nice tone to the book overall. The theme of the book is grief and how a child might reconcile their own grief. You don’t so much pick up on the theme early on in the book. The story focuses on the relationship between the narrator (a grandson) and his grandfather. Throughout the story, the child tells of the wonderful things that he learned from his grandfather. At the end of the story, however, the child reveals that his grandfather is deceased.

This is such a difficult concept, this idea of death, to convey to children. I know, I’ve tried to do it before. I like the idea of introducing the concept of death gently, as in this book. There’s no point in dancing around it, especially when it involves people that we know and love. But there’s no need to be in your face or overly explanatory either. It’s a delicate balance. I think that Ms. Nobisso “gets it” - and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Parents magazine has previously selected it as one of the “Best Children’s Books of the Year.”

I hope you’ll check it out.

grief, death, grandparents, Josephine Nobisso, Parents magazine

I’m a garden nut. I’ve always loved the idea of digging around in the dirt and making something pretty out of it. Gardening is, in that way, wildly satisfying.

As a kid, my other passion was reading. I was a reader. Morning, afternoon, evening. Under the covers, at the dinner table (despite protestations from Mom), in the living room, on the bus. It was so easy to get carried away by the wonder of words, to be transported to a different time and different place.

I think, perhaps, that the combination of those things is why I loved - no love - Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. It is, simply stated, one of the best children’s books ever.

The book centers around Mary, who after being orphaned (a theme in those Burnett books), is sent to England to live with relatives. Mary finds out about a walled garden, which is kept secret, due to a family tragedy. She is fascinated by the garden and decides to revive it herself. Over time, she recruits the help of others, including Colin, the sickly son of her uncle. As the garden becomes healthy and beautiful again, Mary, Colin and the others at the home find joy and health themselves.

I think we all love stories of redemption - those sad stories that have that moment when everything turns out to have a purpose, to happen for a reason - those stories when somehow you really believe that everything will turn out okay. It’s the stuff that classics like Anne of Green Gables, Charlotte’s Web and The Little Princess are made of.

As a child, I loved this story because, to me, it was filled with good things: flowers, beauty, love and hope. It was such a nice idea, this thought that working at one thing could yield such positive results. It was the ultimate makeover story.

I still love this story, even as an adult. My nanny bought the DVD for my children and I can’t wait to show it to them. I hope that some day that my children will love the book as much as I do. If I had to guess, I would peg my oldest for a fan. She is, even at the age of five, so introspective and thoughtful. She, too, loves to make things pretty and dig in the dirt (though, in contrast to me, she’s more fascinated in the worms than in the plants!).

If you haven’t yet shared it with your children, I’d encourage you to do so. And yeah, while you’re reading it to them, it’s okay if you crack a smile or two, as well.

Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

It’s weird to me that Strawberry Shortcake is so hot again. I loved her as a kid. The Strawberry Shortcake that I knew, though, is definitely not the Strawberry Shortcake of today. No bloomers. No puffy hats. Now she’s all about tee shirts, long pants (and sometimes, capris) and trendy haircuts. Strawberry Shortcake is (to quote Amy): cool.

Strawberry Shortcake’s friends are updated, too. Apple Dumplin’s fashion sense leaves something to be desired, but that’s excusable since she’s a baby. Angel Cake sports new denim overalls and Ginger Snap brings a Latin flair. Orange Blossom is now African-American and Huckleberry Pie is (gasp) a boy. In fact, there’s a whole new slate of characters including Peppermint Fizz, Coco Calypso, Blueberry Muffin, Rainbow Sherbet, Seaberry Delight, Lemon Meringue, Raspberry Torte, Crepes Suzette, Tea Blossom, Tangerina Torta, Frosty Puff, Apricot and Cherry Cuddler (whew). And everyone of them has a pet (or two) and a backstory. 1980, it’s not.

That said, the updated Strawberry Shortcake also comes with a new line of merchandising. Fortunately for me, in addition to the normal toys, games and videos, there are books. Especially fortunate for me, there are cookbooks. Katie has, after all, decided that she will be a “cooker” when she grows up.

The thing that’s so great about cookbooks for children is that there are a number of lessons to be learned. It’s not just great entertainment. It’s an education. We learn reading and math - and science.

Additions in Berry Yummy Cookbookmake it easy to explain how things work to children, too. There is a section on “Kitchen Rules” and a description of things you might find in a kitchen (like wisks and colanders), as well as cooking terms (bake, beat, blend, you get the idea) and measuring tips. And to make it really easy for the reader, there is a “Strawberry Key” on each recipe: one strawberry means that you can do most of the steps by yourself; two strawberries mean that you’ll need an adult to help for some of the recipe and three strawberries mean that you absolutely must have an adult to help.

The cookbook is divided into chapters on Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Dessert and Snacks & Drinks. I was expecting really easy recipes with pre-fab ingredients. Not so at all! Recipes include such fare as Spectacular Berry Pancakes, Super Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Cheese Puffs and of course, Strawberry Shortcake with real whipped cream.

Yes, the berry references can get annoying. And yes, it’s saccharine-y sweet. But the kids love it. It’s all good fun.

During the week, our book collection at the house grew. Out of the bunch, both girls were immediately drawn to Josephine Nobisso’s Hot Cha-Cha, perhaps as a result of the colorful, fun, bright illustrations of Joan Holub (Amy’s exact quote upon seeing the books on Holub’s web site home page was “I wish I could have one of those!”).

The main character in the book is a young girl named Maria. Maria’s big coup is finding a key (the finding of the key is Katie’s favorite part) in a cookie jar. While the key, on the surface, unlocks the city playground which had previously been locked, it really opens up a world to Maria and her friends, who spend the afternoon exploring and playing - until the grown-ups crash their party!

It’s a simple story written in a fresh voice. What could have been routine (and frankly, boring) is made interesting and merry with the use of rhythmic language which challenges adult and child readers to keep the energy up (!) and delights children with its silliness:

See a What
See an ah
See an oo-la-la!

What did she find in the cookie jar?
Fireflies?
Or crackers?
Or the moolah-la?

Further keeping the energy level up are Holub’s vibrant illustrations (both of my girls give Holub high marks for the use of color - and the dog on the swing!). Each page offers a spirited glimpse into the mood of Maria and her friends. You cannot help but smile from page to page - the illustrations really do complete the book rather than simply reflect the storyline, as in so many children’s book.

If you’re in the mood for a book that’s a little bit different, check out Hot Cha Cha! It’s a rollicking good time (cha-cha!).

Philadelphia’s own Please Touch Museum has announced the winners of its 22nd Annual Please Touch Museum Book Award. The award is given annually to two books in categories based on the age of the museum’s visitors, children under the age of 7.

“Since 1985, the Please Touch Museum Book Awards have been unique in highlighting some of the best examples of storytelling for young children,” says Please Touch Museum’s President and CEO Nancy Kolb. “We’re very proud to be announcing two more outstanding books which we hope will help children discover the joys of reading and learning.”

This year’s winners are:

Age 3 and under – In the Fiddle Is a Song: A Lift-the-Flap Book of Hidden Potential written and illustrated by Durga Bernhard
Age 4 to 7 – I Love Our Earth by Bill Martin, Michael Sampson and photographer Dan Lipow

And yes, if you recognize the name Bill Martin, Jr., he is the author of a number of books including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Winners Durga Bernhard and Michael Sampson will be honored at the annual Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children (DVAEYC) conference Friday, March 16, 2007, at 11 a.m. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The authors will appear at a book signing event at Please Touch Museum on Saturday, March 17, 2007 at 12 p.m. The museum will also be displaying original illustrations and photographs from both books during April and May as part of the annual “Celebrate Stories” months presented by The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation.