Betsy-Tacy

By Maud Hart Lovelace

Copyright 1949

This edition 1979

Betsy and Tacy are two little girls who meet just before Betsy’s fifth birthday.  Tacy moves in across the street and soon the two girls are nearly inseparable.  Not long after, when Tib moves in down the block, the three become best friends.  There are 10 Betsy-Tacy books in all, starting at age five, following through to Betsy’s wedding.  These books are semi-autobiographical and to this day, you can go to the town of Mankato in Minnesota and see Betsy’s and Tacy’s homes.

 

What struck me upon rereading this first book is the freedom the children have to play.  There are no organized sports, no drilling on sight words or math facts, no after school clubs or lessons.  In one of my favorite chapters, Betsy and Tacy opened up a sand store.  Inspired by the building of an addition onto Betsy’s house, the girls used extra sand from the mason and colored it with leftover dye from Easter eggs.  After filling clean glass jars with layers of the colored sand, the girls set up a market in an old wooden piano box.  Most of their stock was sold for pins, but one fetched a whole 5 cents!  The idea was completely their own and from start to finish, they were in control of the project.   

 

While there was no formal instruction, the friends learned valuable lessons on business, customer service, problem solving and math.  This is how five-year-olds should be learning still - no matter what the kindergarten classroom looks like today, with play centers gone in favor of desks and chairs and playtime and recess losing out to extra reading instruction.  What studies show repeatedly is that play is how young children learn best.  Let’s start paying attention to what the children need, rather than trying to force facts into their heads before they’re ready.  Just let the little children play!

The Hole Book

By Peter Newell

Originally published in 1908

This edition 1936

The Hole Book is a wonderfully illustrated story of young Tom Potts and what happened when he fooled with a gun.  That pesky gun went off and shot a hole clean through the wall.  This book is unique for its time in that it actually has a hole on each page, showing where the bullet travels.  For it doesn’t stop in the wall, but continues through to the boiler in the kitchen, through Sister Sue’s rope swing, into the gas tank of an automobile, and on and on, causing calamity the entire way.  Fortunately, it was eventually stopped by Mis’ Newlywed’s thick, tough cake.  

Since this book is in the public domain, you can read it in its entirety here.  There is one page in the original edition, as seen online, that is unfortunately quite racist.  Interestingly, that page is missing from my copy, which was formerly from a school library.  I’m not sure if my edition came without that page, or if it was removed by the librarian.  

I suppose upon reading this book one would get the impression that it is a warning for young children to be careful with guns.  And that alone would be an extremely important lesson!  To me it teaches more than gun safety.  It also illustrates the repercussions of any mindless or inconsiderate action. The ripple effect of a foolish action can have disastrous, unintended consequences that the instigator is never even aware of.  So be careful! You may not be as lucky as Tom Potts was to have Mis' Newlywed's cake to stop his bullet.

The Pooh Get-Well Book

By Virginia H. Ellison

Inspired by the four Pooh books by A. A. Milne

Copyright 1973

Teazles, pleazles and strengthening things to eat and drink.  In other words, puzzles, poems, quiet games and recipes to help you get well when you have a case of the sneezles.  Or, if they don’t help you get well, they are at least entertaining enough to keep you distracted for a time.  

Why is it that when Eeyore lost his tail, Pooh found it in the last place he looked?

                a.  Because he stopped looking when he found it.

How about trying to see how many words you make from the names of Pooh characters?  Take Tigger for instance.  Get, rite, tie, rig, it, grit, etc.

Then take a break to have some Banana Nectar.  Blend a quarter of a banana, a tablespoon of honey, a cup of orange juice, and a half cup of pineapple juice.  Drink warm or cool for a refreshing beverage.

For a more ambitious project, use the included Pooh and friends stencils to trace pairs of cards for a game of matching Pooh Pairs. 

Whether sick or not, these activities could be fun for any child.  To me, they are also a reminder to slow down.  Isn’t it better to take some time for teazles, pleazles, and strengthening things before one comes down with a case of the sneezles?  Whether we choose a game of Pooh Pairs, a cup of tea, a book to read, or a walk in the woods, we all need a little down time to get us through the busyness of life.

90 Things We Love About You

2016

 I’m breaking from tradition here, but I think the situation calls for it.  Rather than pondering a vintage book, I’m pondering a brand new book about a very vintage person.  My father’s 90^th birthday was this week and my sister worked tirelessly putting together a book for him.  She gathered the thoughts of his many descendants and organized them into a listing of 90 Things We Love About You.  A sampling of photos from his 90 years supplement the text by bringing to life some fond memories.

Because the span of years in which his children were born is so great, with 18 years between the oldest and youngest, the memories are quite varied.  There are things the oldest few remember that the youngest ones never experienced, and vice versa.  Reading through the memories, I’ve learned some things about my dad that I never knew before.  Scouting was a huge part of his life for many years, but I wasn’t born yet, so I never saw that part of him.  Long road trips out west to Albuquerque were great memories for me, yet it was mostly the three youngest that got to experience those vacations.

We do hold some memories in common, though.  I think we all know lyrics to some pretty unusual songs!

We all remember the awesome back yard playhouse and have many fond recollections of adventures surrounding it, but some remember it being built, while I remember it eventually being taken down. 

Mostly, though, we all learned the profound effect that 90 years of one life can have on a person, on a family, and on the world!

Happy 90^th birthday, Dad!

A Picture for Harold's Room

By Crockett Johnson

Copyright 1960

 

Harold and his purple crayon.  I have several t-shirts with children’s book covers on them that I wear to work, and this one gets the most comments from adults.  “Oh, I loved that book!  Do you have any here?”  Yes, fortunately Harold still has a place on library shelves.  

 

In this volume, A Picture for Harold’s Room, Harold wants a picture to put on his wall.  He takes out his purple crayon and begins to draw.  What starts out as a small drawing becomes a whole world that pulls Harold in.  He is a giant inside his drawing and wades through the ocean and over mountains.  The airplane he draws just misses hitting him.  He ducked just in time!  He draws train tracks too, and begins to notice that he’s becoming smaller and smaller.  Soon, he is so small that he falls into a mouse hole.  How can he get back home if he is so small?  He sits down on a pebble to think and realizes he can use his purple crayon to draw the door to his room.  Entering his room, he sees that he still doesn’t have a picture on his wall.  So, he takes out his crayon and draws one.

Reading this book again, I have to wonder.  Are we all wandering through a world with obstacles and dangers that we have created ourselves?  If so, take a lesson from Harold.  Take your magical purple crayon back out and create a way out of those obstacles.  Don’t blame anyone else.  Instead, focus on creating your own solution.