It's Raining Books!

On Monday night, I was the excited and privileged recipient of my friend Brenda's excellent idea. She had called me up about a month ago, suggesting that since we cannot buy children's books in Asia, she would throw me a children's literature book shower! We put together a wish list; somewhat of an education for me since I was not familiar with very much classic children's literature. Brenda is an avid children's literature collector and also an educator, so she knew all of the titles and illustrators that I should get for the girls.

Arriving at her home on Monday, I was surprised and delighted to find that Brenda had transformed her dining room into a Starbucks coffee shop! She had small tables set up, Starbucks coffee on the sideboard, and a tempting array of scones, miniature brownies, cream puffs, cookies, and the like to go with the coffee. She had even prepared a quiz for us all to do, testing our knowledge of children's literature. What fun! Here's a sample (fill in the blanks): "The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful ___ ____ _____. We had a lovely time with the 15 ladies that came, drinking coffee, chatting, correcting our quizzes, and then opening piles of books.

I received some wonderful books, like the "Frog and Toad" series, several Curious George titles, several by Robert McCloskey (One Morning in Maine, Blueberries for Sal, and Make Way for the Ducklings), a few of the Madeline books, Heidi, and then some collected stories--Dick and Jane books, and an anthology of classic children's stories. We have some happy times of reading ahead at our house! We also received some gift cards which we used to complete a few sets and expand our collection.

I want to say a special "thank you" to all of you ladies who came to the shower, and even those who couldn't come but sent gifts! It was a truly wonderful evening; your generosity was almost a bit overwhelming! I am thankful, the girls are thankful, and we will really enjoy reading and rereading these wonderful books for many years. Thank you so much!

Finally, laden with many packages and full of coffee and treats, we got home about 10 pm and so had to wait until the next morning to share the fun with Clara Anne and Chloe. They already have some new favorites: The Owl and the Pussycat, in board book form with lavish illustrations by Jan Brett, and Clara Anne has sat through entire books of Frog and Toad adventures and then asked for them again. Fun times, and happy reading!

PS. The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat, in case you were wondering.