The Shiniest Star

I found this adorable Christmas book from 1950 at our local recycling and used items centre.  Little angels Pigtails, Crewcut, and Touslehead argue over who has polished his or her star the shiniest.  Touslehead has given up hope of his star ever shining until he realizes that it is the Christmas Star that has helped the Wise Men find baby Jesus.  There is even a children's musical based on this book.  Christmas is coming quickly and my 3 little girls are looking forward to it.  Although I think they would like for there to be snow, which we have only had a dusting of so far.  My 9 year old has a small solo part in her children's choir performance this weekend so we are looking forward to that.  

The World God Made

I love vintage Arch books - We had quite a few of these at my grandparents' place.  Look at these gorgeous illustrations!  

Gus Was a Friendly Ghost

Happy almost Halloween!  Isn't Gus the Ghost adorable?  This year my 9 year old is dressing up as Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon, my 4 year old will be Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony, and my almost 2 year old will be a pink puppy.  Nice to have Halloween on a Saturday this year.  Hopefully our weather will be better than last year's icy rain.  What are your kids going as this year?

The Secret Garden

Helloooo!  How was everyone's summer?  We had a nice summer but I am definitely ready for the girls to go back to school, and they are definitely ready to go back too!  Keira will be in grade 4 and Tegan will be in junior kindergarten 3 days a week.  Then it will be just Brielle and I at home on those days. Keira and I recently read The Secret Garden.  We had a different copy than this one when we read it but when I saw this Tasha Tudor illustrated copy in the used book sale area at the library I snapped it up,for 50 cents.  Keira is 8 years old, almost 9, and I still read aloud to her every night.  She is an excellent reader all on her own but I am hoping to read to her or have her read to me as long as she'll let me.  I love experiencing these special books with her.  The Secret Garden was a bit of a tough read-aloud, what with the accents and all, but we enjoyed it.  I especially enjoy the theme of Magic in Frances Hodgson Burnett's novels - we recently read A Little Princess too.  

Bed knobs and Broomsticks

My blog is 3 years old this month!  I did a lot more blog posts in the first year of blogging and I hope I can start to blog a little more often than I have this year so far!  Almost all of my blog posts have been about books that I own, but this one is not.  I found this Little Golden Boom of Bedknobs and Broomsticks at a children's indoor play centre a few months ago.  It was in a basket in their reading area, and hopefully I did not weird anyone out as I sat there taking pictures of the book!  I love the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks and watched it with my oldest daughter for the first time a few months back.  Anyone else like Disney movies that are a little more obscure?

The Surprise Doll

An adorable Wonder Book for you all today - The Surprise Doll, illustrated by Steffie Lerch in 1949.  As I flip through it, it gives off that lovely 'old book' smell.  I love the character Mary's doll collection from around the world and also the doll that looks just like her.

  My daughters have never really been into dolls that much.  These days they play with stuffed animals , My Little Ponies, Lego, Playmobil, etc.  Tegan just turned 4 and had her Lightning McQueen themed party .  Why do they only market that to boys, by the way??  So annoying !  Tegan is also drawing (scribbling) and doing stickers like crazy these days.  Keira , age 8, is busy with reading (lots of the How to Train Your Dragon series lately ), Minecraft, and practising violin.  And Brielle , my 1 year old?  Well she basically makes messes all day long !  It's Victoria Day weekend here in Canada and I'm hoping the fireworks don't wake any of my 3 kids up!  

The Golden Egg Book

Happy belated Easter!  Look at this beautiful Big Little Golden Book - The Golden Egg Book, by Margaret Wise Brown!  Leonard Weisgard's illustrations are amazing !  Easter didn't feel very Easter-y for us since it was snowing as we ate our dinner!  But we had a great time throughout the weekend with family and friends.  My girls were so excited to hunt for their eggs.  My almost 4 year old thinks she has a handle on the situation- "Chickens poop Easter eggs."

Retro TV and Toys for the Very Young- Cabbage Patch Dolls

Hi!  My old computer died and I am trying to get the hang of doing things on my new IPad, including using the Blogger app. I haven't done a Retro TV and toys post for a super long time and I'm hoping to get back in the habit of doing these types of posts every so often!  Here is a picture of my Cabbage Patch doll, Fern.  I got her in 1985 during the Cabbage Patch craze years.  Remember the stories about people fighting over these dolls at the malls?  My doll's real name is Gretchen Fernanda.  That's what it said on her adoption certificate.  I cried and cried when I saw the name, I thought it was so horrible!  Thankfully my mom saved the day and suggested "Fern" for short- cute, and it's the name of the little girl in the book "Charlotte's Web". Do any of you still have your Cabbage Patches?