Anatole

Other than me getting a wicked sunburn we had an excellent weekend. Seth and I went on several adventures including picnics, parkS, coffee shops with play areas, walks and even a giant puppet parade. The puppets were giant, not the parade. Some had to be held by almost a dozen handlers. Our all time favorite activity of the weekend was going to the MIA on Saturday for a puppet show of Anatole and Anatole and the Cat. In case you’re wondering these puppets were normal sized. Following the show there was a scavanger hunt to find a mouse in a painting, a craft project of making an Anatole puppet and a “french” snack. Even without a 3 year old I would have enjoyed this. But it’s nice to have a youngster around as an excuse. I would have gotten odd looks otherwise.

For those of you that don’t know who Anatole is, he’s a charming mouse living in Paris. He is the lead character in a little set of books by Eve TItus geared at the 4-8 yr old set. Anatole makes an honorable living as a cheese taster instead of stealing his food from others. It was by pure coincidence that we had brought home Anatole and the Toy Shop back in December. It had been the hubby’s book as a youngin’. I had never heard of Anatole, but now find him quite delightful. Even though the original book was written over 50 years ago they’ve held up well. There was only one marginally sexist remark in the 1st book about the fathers going out to gather the food. Why can’t the mothers provide for their family I ask you? I’ve decided to chalk it up to a possibility in the animal kingdom. Am I kidding myself because I find the rest of the story so utterly charming? It’s better than Rudolf needing to get the women folk back to safety which makes me cringe but I still let Seth watch it. I consider myself quite the feminist but will these subtle messages influence my son or will my role modeling conquer all?

Used Books

Minneapolis Public Library - central location

I think libraries are the most wonderful invention ever! They open up doors of information and imagination regardless of income or other restrictions. I’m currently on the hunt for several used books for varying altered book projects. After a recent outing with friends to a portion of the altered book exhibit at the Library I thought of The Friends of the Minneapolis Library bookstore. It’s small, but includes some gems and benefits the Library. What could be better? I was lucky enough to find a 1941 edition of The Indoor Gardener by Daisy Abbott. It has a few cute drawings, plenty of quaint phrases and even a copy of a couple handwritten journal pages. An entry regarding how maidenhair ferns hate long parties filled with tobacco smoke particularly caught my eye. For a measly buck this book has made it to my short list for a group altered book project in the near future.

 

Now if I can only find a few used Little Golden Books. Particularly Little Red Riding Hood and the one about the girl with the curl. Does anyone know the name? I only remember a line similar to “When she was good she was very, very good but when she was bad she was horrid!”.

 

Pop-up!

I have several pop-up books by David A. Carter that my family enjoys and was very excited to run across his website. In fact, the name of this website was inspired by his “Twelve Bugs of Christmas“. Not only does his site have a good listing of his books but it also has a Make It section of how-to movies and pdf dies to create your own pop-ups. These would be perfect for making your own birthday cards or even a little book. I plan on trying some soon.