Learning From the Impolite

While dusting the bookcase, I ran across this little book:

The inside front page calls it, "A manual of manners for polite infants inculcating (?)many juvenile virtues both by precept and example." My girls were introduced to the Goops through the Better Homes and Gardens Story Book about forty years ago. Later I ordered the book about the Goops from Dover Publications; I'm not sure too many of the grand kids ever read it. There are forty three subjects listed in the table of contents. These are a few of my favorites:

I think many adults fall into this category too:

Have we failed to teach our children proper manners?

"Let me introduce you to a Race

Void of Beauty and of Grace...

Yet you'll learn, if you are Bright,

Politeness from the Impolite..."

Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Matt. 19:19

Low-Hanging Limbs

All summer I mowed beneath these low-hanging limbs.  I had to bend low to keep leaves and sticks out of my eyes and many times my hat got pushed off my head.  I'm sure if someone saw me they wondered, "Why doesn't she just cut them off?"   But you see, I had a very good reason not to cut them:

they're full of pecans!  And I can reach them!  I think the tree has more on it this year than ever before, which surprised me after two years of drought.  Now, if Edgar Allen Crow and Squirrel Nutkin don't steal too many, there should be plenty for me to gather and have pecans for breads, cookies, brownies, salads...

I'd like to share a portion of a favorite read-aloud story by Alvin Tresselt, which is about the four seasons;  maybe you can find it in one of his books at your local library.  This will be about the fall season from the story, Now Is the Time:

"...now the warm days grow shorter, and the cool nights grow longer.

The trees have a tired, rusty look, and brown leaves gather at the gutters.

'It's time again,' say the mothers.

Time to get out warm clothes...

This is the time of leaf fall in the parks, and a faint tang of leaf smoke in the air.

Hard sweet apples in the markets, and golden orange tangerines again..." 

Charlotte

I've been asked of I drew the picture at the heading of my blog.  The answer is "No" but I wish I could draw that well.  Actually it is a picture from an old calendar.

Fifth Block Finished

Farmer comes running in, out of breath. "Have you seen those three mice? My how they can run! And the way they dart around you'd think they are blind! And -- I don't think they have tails!"

Mother Goose answers, "They ran after your wife this morning, so maybe you'd better talk to her: after all, I heard she's the one who cut off their tails! I feel like there's more to this story than we know about; I'd like to know the whole story!"

(Fifth block finished)

If you're interested in knowing the whole story, this delightful little book tells all.

Enjoy, Charlotte

A Childrens Classic in Peril

How long has it been since you've thought about the story of Little Black Sambo? Do your children or grandchildren know the story? Written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman and published in 1899, it was a favorite story for children for half a century until the word "sambo" was deemed a racial slur in some countries. The original illustrations showed a caricatured Southern Indian, or Tamil child. Perhaps the book's success led to many widely available versions that included popular stereotypes of "black" people and gradually caused the book to be dropped from lists of recommended stories for children, even to the point of being banned from schools, or released in other forms.

Now I guess that's where I get upset: is it fair to take a story from someone and rewrite it? Isn't there a word for that? (In college term papers we were told we were "stealing sentences".) Is it merely another way for publishers to make more money? While we're banning stories, why not ban TV shows, such as Family Guy, American Dad, and South Park, probably meant for adults, but presented in a cartoon format so children are naturally attracted to them; and don't think they don't watch! And, while we're at it, let's ban commercials filled with sexual content.

I see nothing racist about the book, but rather a story of a loving family: mother and father giving the very best they could to their son who was so very proud of the gift. A great lesson on why it's wrong to take something from someone can be learned from the bullying tigers and how their greed was their end, and the boy's patience brought him good in the end.

If you're interested in reading more about the controversy surrounding this story, and some readers' comments, Google has a long list. Meanwhile, here's the "rest of the story":

Finished Book and Snow

"Once upon a time...." so the story goes; the book is finished. Overall I was pleased with it but can see where I'd make a few changes should I make another. There are plenty of scraps left to make more. I always compare my scrap stash with the Bible story of Elijah and the widow (1 Kings 17:8-16), for no matter how many I use, there are still more. Now the book will go in the drawer with another stuffed toy I've made, with crossed stitched bibs, and crocheted baby afghans, waiting for the right time to be enjoyed by a little one.

These are three pages

Yesterday it snowed just about all day but it took until almost noon before much of it stuck, then during the night it snowed more. I like to watch the snow falling and if we didn't have to get out in it to do chores I could really enjoy it. This morning everything looked so clean and untouched; I didn't want anyone to drive on it. But of course we had to, and by this afternoon the ruts were all thawed out and muddy. The chicken houses looked quiet from the outside; however, inside the chickens stirred around, warm and unaware anything had happened.

The heifers seemed pretty content this morning; it's funny how they stand so the sun shines on the length of their bodies when the weather is cold. There were birds at the bird houses; apparently they were hoping spring was coming, after the snow and now the sun, or maybe they had spent the night inside?

More snow is predicted for this week so maybe I can finish the red zinger and make more green flying geese. Have a blessed Sunday.
Charlotte

Fabric Picture Books

Today I worked on a project I had done a few years ago: making a fabric picture book. You know quilters have to work piecing into everything. This was something I had seen on HGTV's Simply Quilts show, back when they had craft and gardening shows included with their decorating programs. The guest was Gwen Marston, well known for her "liberated" style of piecing and quilting. I have two of her books and have made quilts by some of the patterns. Since I don't think I would be supposed to give instructions for making these picture books, because of copyright laws, here is the website for her directions on construction: http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/fabric-picture-books/index.html These are the four "pages" I made this afternoon.

The pictures are from a fabric printed for Valentine's Day. I tried to keep the piecing simple since the book will be for a small child and I didn't want the picture to get lost in the surrounding strips. My book will be six inches square, but they can be made larger or smaller; it's a little like making a crazy quilt top. Also, to make the piecing more precise, I sewed the strips to a paper foundation.

Wouldn't these books be a wonderful way for a parent and child to "read" together; the child could "read", or make-up, a story for the parent. And they'll be washable and soft to take to nap time. I'll post the finished book -- someday.

A Story That Will Touch the Heart of Every Generation

This book always tops my list of favorites. It was a Pulitzer Prize winner in l939 and is a classic work of American literature, written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It is a story of friendship, courage and love, but I especially like how the author uses such descriptive wording that makes me feel like I'm right there with the boy in the backwoods of Florida.

I also have the VHS tape of the movie, starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman. I'm not too sure about the selection of the actors; of course, Gregory Peck could do no wrong! in portraying the character of Penny Baxter, who is described as "having grown to maturity no bigger than a boy." On the other hand, Ms Wyman is much too pretty to be Ora Baxter, whom Penny had married, "a buxom girl, already twice his size ... plainly built for child-bearing." Don't get me wrong; Ms Wyman was a good actress, but if you haven't read the book first, I think you lose out on the intended personality of Ma Baxter.

Hope you get a chance to read the book first, then watch the movie.

Antique Book

This tattered little book has been in our family for as long as I can remember. It's been through mouse raids and leaking roof, leaving it in very poor condition. A plaid cloth strip has been sewed onto its spine with twine string. When I learned to print in the first grade I left names and numbers on its pages. Since we didn't have story books of our own it became a prized piece.

I don't know how or when it came to be in our possession; maybe it was a school book that belonged to my mother or father. When I did some research I found that it was published in 1916; they were born in 1914 and 1911, respectively, so it could have been used in their school. The title of the book is The Young and Field Literary Reader, Book Two. I found two copies for sale on eBay this week. (It never ceases to amaze me how many things one will find there.)

The stories in this book usually have a moral to them; the definition of moral being, 'of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior'. Over the years, the first eighteen pages have been lost and some pages have part of the words gnawed off. It includes English fairy tales, fables from Aesop, Hindu fables, a French fairy tale, a Norse folk tale, American Indian legends, Russian fables, old Greek stories, and poems by various writers.

This poem, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is named The Wind,

I saw you toss the kites on high

And blow the birds about the sky,

And all around I heard you pass

Like ladies' skirts across the grass ---

O wind, a-blowing all day long,

O wind, that sings so loud a song!

I saw the different things you did,

But always you yourself hid;

I felt you push, I heard you call,

I could not see yourself at all---

O wind, a-blowing all day long,

O wind, that sings so loud a song!

O you that are so strong and cold,

O blower, are you young or old?

Are you a beast of field and tree,

Or just a stronger child that me?

O wind, a blowing all day long,

O wind, that sings so loud a song!

Maybe most people would just toss the old book in the trash, but I love it; even if I had a new copy it would stay with me, and I think kids now would benefit from a moral lesson.

Another Little Rodent

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about how I like to imagine stories about little animals; The Wind in the Willows is a good example. Since then I have read several comments from women who enjoy the book. If you do like the story about Rat and Mole, I think you would also find Abel's Island, by William Steig, to be interesting. It is about a mouse who gets swept away in a rainstorm and winds up stranded on a river island for a year. George A Woods, for The New York Times, writes, "Abelard is, one hopes, all of us -- proud, resourceful, despairing, persevering and eventually, triumphant." This was a Newberry Honor book.

I hope you get a chance to read it.

Using My Imagination

Each spring, when the grass in the hay field has been cut and baled, these little trails, leading from the slough to Piney Creek, become visible. They criss cross and meander, worn away by the stepping of little animal feet: armadillo, skunk, opossum, beaver, deer. That's when my imagination takes over and a story begins to form in my head. Those small animals become real, working and playing to have a life similar to ours.

It would be a long day's journey for them to go all the way across the field and into the big woods on the other side. What would they find there, and what dangers would they face on the way?

This part of the slough becomes the river and isn't that hole beneath the tree a perfect place for a river rat's home? And what if he's joined by a mole, disgruntled from spending the winter underground and now trying to do his spring housecleaning; wouldn't it be just ever so nice for the rat to take him on a day's outing in a boat? Rat would introduce Mole to all the other animals who live along the river and in the field.

They're joined in their outing by a friend, and while the friend is out of his burrow, a snake slips in and takes up residence. Won't he be surprised when he gets home! Yes, that could be the beginning of a great story. But wait a minute!! That story has already been written!!

Kenneth Grahame wrote The Wind in the Willows from stories he had told his four year old son. The tales were told over a four year period before the book was published in 1908. I have read that the characters were based on some political figures of his time; however, I see nothing political about it, just good imagination.