Who is that Lowly Worm?

 He wears a hat, a sneaker, a tube with a collar for a shirt, a red bow tie, and a trouser. He stands upright and hops around on his one sneaker.  Lowly Worm drives an apple car and lives in Busytown.   He is a beloved character of author Richard Scarry and he made an appearance at a baby shower last weekend.  

 

Lowly Worm was one character on our Name the Character poster and he had many party-goers stumped.  

Lowly and his close friend Huckle Cat, along with many other anthropomorphic friends and neighbors in Busytown, teach children about everyday life in the very real adult world that bombards them with new experiences every day.  In a calm, no-nonsense manner, they bring order to an overwhelming world.  The world can be confusing and overwhelming to children, and Busytown helps them figure it out.  

In What Do People Do All Day, first published in 1968, detailed illustrations show the animals of Busytown at work, describing their occupations and activities.  Labels indicate the equipment used as they perform their jobs.  Building a house or a road, mailing or delivering a letter, growing crops, visiting the hospital – all everyday activities that may seem commonplace to adults. 

Pictured are the Richard Scarry books on my shelves.  Pig Will and Pig Won’t is one of my favorites.  It shows our friend Lowly on the cover and is a fun story that helped teach my daughters manners.  In all, Richard Scarry published over 300 books, starting in 1950 and continuing after his death in 1994.  

Richard Scarry knew that children needed the facts, simple and clear, and that is what he offered them.

Abraham Lincoln

A story of the backwoods boy who became President

By Bella Koral

Illustrated by Jay Hyde Barnum and Joh Alan Maxwell

Copyright 1952

This week’s vintage book is another gift from the library of the Myers children.  It’s in great condition.  The Myers children sure took better care of their books than I did!

Growing up in Illinois, The Land of Lincoln, I came to learn about and respect Abraham Lincoln as a man and as a president.  From poverty to the Presidency – from cabin to White House – honest Abe acted out of respect for all living creatures.  Lincoln’s first essay was written against cruelty to animals.  Later, after learning about the horrors of slavery, his heart ached at the knowledge that families were being torn apart.  Although faced with grave opposition and many failures, he made it his mission to secure respect for all citizens.  

Reading this book, I learned a new fact about Lincoln’s childhood.  For a short time, Lincoln attended a “blab” school.  A “blab” school is called that because all the pupils shouted out their lessons – all at the same time, until they were called upon to recite.  The louder they shouted, the more sure the schoolmaster was confident that the students were working hard.  Sounds distracting, but I suppose that faced with a school with no books or paper, this would be the way to go.

Many lessons can be learned from Abe’s life.  The lesson for today:  We need humor to keep going.  "With the fearful strain that is on me night and day," Lincoln once said, "if I did not laugh I should die."  He faced many failures, tragedies, and obstacles throughout his life, but he never gave up.  This book tells a tale of his sense of humor.  Abe was so tall that his stepmother joked with him about keeping his head clean so he wouldn’t dirty the ceiling.  One afternoon, when she was out visiting a neighbor, Abe asked a little boy who was playing in a puddle in the road to come inside.  Lincoln lifted the boy upside down and had him make muddy tracks across the ceiling.  When his stepmother came home she gasped at the mess, but then noticed the mischief in Abe’s face.  She burst out laughing, and of course, Abe whitewashed the ceiling to make it clean again.  

Happy Birthday to Abraham Lincoln! (And Happy Birthday to Michelle who was born on Lincoln’s Birthday.) 

Kids Cooking

A first cookbook for children

By Aileen Paul and Arthur Hawkins

Copyright 1970

Here is another cookbook I’ve had since childhood.  The dust jacket disappeared at some point during my “dust jackets are bothersome” phase.  I still remembered what it looked like, though, so I found a photo of it online.  I recall looking through this book a lot, planning menus, thinking about the wonderful dishes I’d make.  Looking through it now, though, there is not one recipe that I remember actually making.  No food stains grace the pages.

So while I apparently didn’t learn much from this book as a child, I’ve learned my lesson now.  I have a Pinterest board full of recipes to try and a whole folder of bookmarks on my laptop with even more.  Post-it notes protrude from the pages of my cookbooks.  My lesson – don’t let another week go by without trying one of these recipes!  Planning and dreaming are good and an idea gathering phase is quite worthwhile.  But what good is that collection of great ideas if I never get around to trying one?  It’s time to stop planning and just dive right in!

The Three Bears

Pictures by Helen Rowland

Copyright 1952

An apology is due to whichever sibling I may have stolen this book from.  I think it had been around the house for a while before I decided to inscribe my name in crayon inside the front cover.  The backwards "a" and "n" seem to show that I was too young to know any better.

I do clearly remember having this book read to me over and over.  Sitting in the greenish-gold arm chair, next to my mother, I studied the pictures while she read me the story.

It is a classic fairy tale with many variations.  The basic story tells us of the friendly family of three bears - Papa, Mama, and Baby.  One day, while their breakfast porridge cools, they decide to go for a walk.  Soon, a golden-haired little girl comes upon the house, and walks right inside.  Helping herself to the porridge, she finds Papa’s great big bowl too hot, Mama’s medium size bowl too cold, but Baby Bear’s wee little bowl just right.  Therefore, she eats it all up.  That’s not enough for little Goldilocks, though.  She wanders through the rest of the house, trying out the chairs and even the beds.  The silly little girl is caught fast asleep in Baby Bear’s bed by the bear family after they come home and find the destruction she has caused.  Suddenly and belatedly wary, she runs down the stairs and out the door, never to be seen again.

Most obviously, this is a cautionary tale about wandering in places you don’t belong.  Goldilocks should have known to respect the property of the Bear Family by not entering their home uninvited.

To me, though, this is a story that makes me think about what “just right” is.  Not too hot, not too cold.  Not too hard, not too soft.  “Just right” for Goldilocks may not be “just right” for me or you.  “Just right” this year may no longer be “just right” next year.  What strikes me is how little thought is involved in knowing what is “just right”.  It is instinctive.  We know when we have too much or too little of something.  Trust your instincts to know what is “just right” for you.