The Book of Dragons

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The Book of Dragons, by Edith Nesbit, is a series of nine dragon stories. Each dragon is a different color or made of different stuff, and each one causes different problems. These stories for children are fun. I didn’t enjoy this book as much as some of her others — I loved The Psammead Trilogy and The Railway Children. But if you enjoy dragon stories, or know a young one who does, I definitely recommend books by Edith Nesbit. She’s terrific.

From the Back Cover:

Dragons — of all sorts — make for marvelous fun, and this collection of madcap tales is filled with them. Some of the legendary monsters are funny and mischievous, others are downright frightening, and a number of them are wild and unpredictable. There’s a dragon made of ice, another that takes refuge in the General Post Office, a scaly creature that carries off the largest elephant in a zoo, and even a dragon whose gentle purring comforts a tiny tot. And who challenges these amazing creatures? Why, daring heroes, of course, as well as a wicked prince, and even an entire soccer team — which, unfortunately, meets its fate with a fire-breathing brute that flies out of the pages of an enchanted book.

H.R. Millar, E. Nesbit’s The Book of Dragons, North-South Books, 1900

Currently Reading: The Eye of the Needle

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Actually, I’m listening to the audiobook version of Ken Follett’s, Eye of the Needle, and I can’t stop listening! I would say that the author was wildly successful with this goal he shared in an interview:

I want to tell a story that makes the reader always want to see what will happen next.

 

I am reading this book as part of my year-long celebration of turning 70 years old. Ken Follett was born in the same year as me, 1949!  Happy Birthday this year, too, Mr. Follett!

A Poem by Walt Whitman

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Walt Whitman at seventy

Queries to My Seventieth Year
~ by Walt Whitman

Approaching, nearing, curious,
Thou dim, uncertain spectre–bringest thou life or death?
Or placid skies and sun? Wilt stir the waters yet?
Or haply cut me short for good? Or leave me here as now,
Dull, parrot-like and old, with crack’d voice harping, screeching?

Sharing this poem is part of my year-long celebration of turning 70 years old.

Gardenlust

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This last week I have been immersed in garden dreaming, garden planning, and garden reading!  This is clearly a reaction to the cold and snowy weather here in the Pacific Northwest!  My current book from the online digital section of my library has an appropriate name for my state of mind: Gardenlust!  Written by Christopher Woods, Gardenlust, A Botanical Tour of the World’s Best New Gardens, is a “A beautiful tour through some of the loveliest gardens in the world!” ~ Peter H. Raven, President Emeritus at Missouri Botanical Garden. It was published by one of my favorite publishing companies, Timber Press, and is really an interesting book to read, especially in the middle of a cold February!

The photography is gorgeous and the information about each of these botanical gardens is very interesting to read. I haven’t finished the book yet, but I will be giving it a very good rating on Goodreads. What a pleasure to read on this snowy/icy weekend!

 

Goodbye, Rosamunde Pilcher

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I am so sad today to hear of the passing of one of my favorite authors, Rosamunde Pilcher. She leaves us a lovely collection of her writing over the years — I have many of them on my shelf. And every few years, I re-read her book, The Shell Seekers, which is one of my all-time favorite books. I wish I could thank her for the kind and gentle stories she shared with us, stories that touched our lives is so many ways. Goodbye, dear friend. You will be missed.

Bartholomew and the Oobleck

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Bartholomew and the Oobleck, by Dr. Seuss, was published in 1949, so I grew up listening to this book and his other Bartholomew book, The Five Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. Both books were, and still are, so much fun!  When I was researching books written in my birth year, I was happy to find the Oobleck book on the list!  As a kid, as a Mom, and now as a Grandma, I have always adored Dr. Seuss!  And even though this book is seventy years old, it still provides timeless fun and humor.

Bartholomew is just a regular kid in the Kingdom of Didd, where King Derwin is not the smartest king on record. It was wintertime, and King Derwin was very tired and bored with the weather.

And that winter when the snow came down, he started shouting! “This snow! This fog! This sunshine! This rain! Bahh! These four things that come down from my sky!”

“But King Derwin,” Bartholomew tried to calm him. “You’ve always had these same four things come down.”

“That’s just the trouble!” bellowed the King. “Every year the same four things! I’m mighty tired of those old things! I want something NEW to come down!”

Call the royal magicians!

If you’ve already heard the story of The Five Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, you know that the royal magicians are a bit bumbling. They can start magic, but can’t seem to finish it very well. They don’t have a lot of control over what happens with their spells! So, when they put together a spell to add something new to the weather, OOBLECK is what they got. And we all know that oobleck is very green and sticky stuff.

Thank goodness for level-headed, clear-thinking Bartholomew!

If you or your children or grandchildren want to make some Oobleck, here’s a link to the recipe for the green goop! Enjoy!

 

I read this book as part of my year-long celebration of turning 70 years old.

 

 

January Reflections 2019

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My January reading was a pleasure! With renewed energy for the new year, I focused on my new reading challenges, continued with series I had started, and found many new reads at my library. I read a little poetry, some mysteries, some classics, some children’s books, a photography book, and some Shakespeare. What a mishmash!  I enjoyed every moment of my January reading!

Favorite book read in January:  Farther Afield, by Miss Read

Favorite for the beauty of the writing:  The Country of the Pointed Firs, by Sarah Orne Jewett

Favorite children’s book:  Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie

Favorite graphic novel: Book Love, by Debbie Tung

My January Gallery: