You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

Originally uploaded by blondemom.

The Cat in the Hat turned 50 Friday! Three years ago Caitlin and I went to the Dr. Seuss National Memorial in Springfield, Massachusetts, while visiting my sister and her family. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a life size bronze Grinch.

Did you know you can help support literacy in this country by sending the Cat in the Hat a birthday card? For every card Dr. Seuss’s cool cat receives between now and May 7, Random House will donate one dollar to Project 236, which provides books to impoverished children. Hat tip to In the Trenches of Motherhood.

Speaking of birthdays, we celebrated our nephew’s 2nd birthday a week early yesterday as he is going to become a big brother any day. He got all the typical little boy toys, from trucks to balls, and since he’s at that pivotal potty training age he got a nifty talking Elmo potty (it slices, it dices, it does everything but bake fresh bread) and some Nemo big boy underwear. When he opened the underwear he held them up proudly and declared, “Panties!”

Tales of rainbow striped zombie rats at our house are slowly being replaced by more genteel visions of sugarplums. I brought out my childhood copy of the Night Before Christmas this week, although when I left the hubby and Caitlin in her room last night I heard her pleading for a story about the big snow and something about her falling in water and rainbow rats, so never fear all ye fans of the rats. I’ve also broken out my holiday music collection this week. There’s nothing better for diffusing road rage than singing along with your kids to the original Gene Autry version of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.

Readable Feast is a great book theme blog I’ve discovered. Anne-Marie writes Readable Feast in her “spare” time when she’s not tending to her two kids or working on freelance writing projects or blogging at her EIGHT other blogs she maintains. Good Lord woman! This week she has a great post about first Christmas books for babies. She also has a post about her local production of The Nutcracker. I went when I was 11 years old and the ticket stub and newspaper ad are neatly preserved in my childhood scrapbook. I would love to dress up the girls in a few years and take them downtown to see The Nutcracker.

We’ve been decorating the house this week little by little. The hubby has been bringing down a few boxes from the attic every night. I’m not in a huge hurry to put up our Christmas tree, though, because I’m afraid Amelia will try to climb it or will yank down every ornament. Have I started Christmas shopping? I have bought a few things and the big Santa gift, a toy kitchen, has been requested, built, and Santa and his elves have made arrangements with my brother on storing it until the big day, although I’ve warned him that his German Shepherd Buddy cannot play with the kitchen too much or the girls will suspect something.

So do you have any favorite childhood books you look forward to sharing with your kids each year?

Childhood Books

Originally uploaded by blondemom.

The Crazy Hip Blog Mamas ask a question as part of their fifth writing collaboration…“What favorite books from your childhood do you plan to (or have already) introduced to your children?”

I try to read daily to both my girls. Amelia loves Spot the Dog and lately has been bringing us Goodnight Moon from our big book basket in the den which is filled with board books. Caitlin has story time in bed every evening. We snuggle under the covers and share favorite books. I can’t think of a better way to end the day with her. She’s been known to prolong bedtime by pleading, “Read it one more time mama!” (We have a two time limit for reading or we’d be up until midnight.)

I have nearly all my childhood books thanks to my mom. I am seven years younger than my brother and I am even younger than my sisters. So, many of my books my mom bought new for me. She always wrote a note inside as well as the date.

Pictured here are several of my favorite childhood books. I’ll have to admit I can’t think of one overall favorite. Caitlin chooses a book each night from her bookcase and we have read a portion or all of these books numerous times. They are my actual childhood copies, except for The Little House. I had a hardback copy growing up and I’m not sure what happened to it, but I remember reading it over and over. There are so many more books I loved as a child…The Little House and Nancy Drew series, the Chronicles of Narnia, anything by Madeline L’Engle, A Little Princess and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett…my list could go on and on. My maternal grandmother also gave me books each year for my birthday. I grew up in the country with not much to do smack dab in the middle of pasture and crop fields but I always loved to curl up with a good book.

One of my girlfriends from college has four children and we were e-mailing each other a few years back about Christmas and gift giving in general for children. She told me she and her husband feel like their kids can never have too many books or too many art supplies. A love for reading is something I hope to instill in both girls. Perhaps they will sit down and read my childhood books to their children some day.

I’m a sucker for both animals and great childrens’ books. Both our dogs are certified mutts. Bailey was adopted from the Nashville Humane Association for her gigantic rabbit like ears and super doggie neurotic tendencies and the hubby rescued Jack from a ditch after he had been hit by a car and left for dead on Thanksgiving weekend five years ago. Randy Houk, president and founder of The Benefactory, sent me a few copies of their great children’s books last month. They are true stories about real animals and our resident 4-year-old children’s book reviewer, Caitlin, loves them. She even requested that “Ruffle, Coo and Hoo Doo,” a story about great horned owls and parrots sharing a nest in the same tree, go with her during her recent visit with our parents. My favorite is “Chessie, The Travelin’ Man,” which is about an endangered manatee who swims up the East coast.The Benefactory was founded in 1990 in an effort to bring nature to life for young readers and to foster humane and responsible treatment for all living things. For more information about The Benefactory’s books, which are also available in video or audio featuring narration by Grammy and Emmy winning musician Tom Chapin, visit their website here at thebenefactory.com. You can also reach them via their toll-free number at 1-866 PAWPAL 0, (1-866-729-7250). The Benefactory is making Storytelling Kits available to volunteer groups at a discounted cost, so if you have a children’s group you work with you may want to check that out!

When I was a little girl I collected stamps. My brother (older by seven years) collected stamps and for me it was a hobby that grew out of my fascination with his collection and my desire to do cool things like big brother. Helene at Adventures in Parenthood has a post and quiz about these awesome new stamps featuring animals from well-known classic children’s books.

Curious George

Originally uploaded by jamiemom.

I really enjoy sharing my favorite childhood books with my girls. Several have been made into movies for release in 2006. I read here that the movie rights to Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby books have been sold; one of my favorites was “Ramona the Brave.” Author Cleary turns 90 next year. Also, Charlotte’s Web is being remade for release next year, with Julia Roberts as the voice of Charlotte. We have the original animated movie, which Caitlin eloquently calls “Pig Movie.” Curious George is being released in February, with Will Ferrell filling the role of the man in the yellow hat, and co-starring Drew Barrymore.

I was thrilled when I heard that one of my favorite childhood books, “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” (the first book of the seven-part Chronicles of Narnia) was being made into a film by Disney. The film opens nationwide tomorrow and premiered in London last night with such royal guests as the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. It’s been reported that author C.S. Lewis, who died in 1963, had some trepidation about the movie being translated into film, particularly the character of Aslan the Lion, but I think he might have been really disturbed by the promos for the movie on Totino’s frozen pizza boxes which I spied yesterday in the Kroger frozen food aisle. The official Narnia fan site can be found here. Here’s an interesting link to an Indystar article about how the fifth in the Narnia series, “The Horse and His Boy,” and its racist undertones will probably prevent it from being translated on to the big screen. And here’s a link to a Cincinnati Post article about the film’s Christian imagery. I was probably about 10 years old when I read the series, which was a gift from my brother.