Carol’s Caravan of Christmas Creations (Christmas Books from the Basement) – Day 23

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

It is Christmas Eve eve! Wow, not much longer to wait!

 

Red Ranger Came Calling

By Berkeley Breathed

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As you may have guessed, I have to re-read each of these books before I write. This book starts with a big “awwww”. The dedication reads as follows:

“To my father, the Red Ranger, of course. He’s finally up there somewhere, just off Pluto maybe. “

The introduction explains that his father told this story to his children on Christmas Eve while they were growing up. The story centers on the Christmas when his father was 9 years old. It was from that Christmas on that his father was called “Red”.

“People guessed wrongly that the name honored the thatch of orange debris atop his head that made it look like a freckled ostrich egg on fire. The name’s true source was a popular cinema hero of the time: Buck Tweed, The Red Ranger of Mars, Protector of the 23 Century and Savior of Grateful Princesses.”

And then the story begins. It is a tale of Christmas adventure and compassion.  It involves a visit to the Saunder Clos house (which may or may not be the home of Santa Claus), a dog suffering from a poorly delivered flying spell, and most importantly, an Official Buck Tweed Two-Speed Crime-Stopper Star-Hopper bicycle.

It is a very sweet story. I am (should I admit this?) not a fan of the illustrations. They are quite detailed and go beautifully with the story. Okay, they just aren’t pretty. There, I said it. You might very well dis-agree with me.  

Berkeley “Berke” Breathed is also the author and illustrator of the Bloom County cartoon Series and many other children’s books. 

Thanks for reading!

 

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Carol’s Caravan of Christmas Creations (Christmas Books from the Basement) – Day 21

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

 

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

Scott Adams

 

Arthur’s Christmas Cookies

Words and Pictures by Lillian Hoban

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Arthur’s Christmas Cookies is part of the successful Arthur series. The series was part of the “I Can Read” book published by HarperTrophy which is a Division of HarperCollins Publihers.. 

Arthur is a chimpanzee and he lives with his parents and a little sister named Violet.  As the book opens, Violet is making her Mother a Christmas gift. Arthur starts explaining how the gifts that he made had not worked out so well. It was decided that Arthur would make cookies using his sister’s E-Z bake oven.  Some friends come over while Arthur and Violet are getting ready to bake the cookies and they help gather the ingredients.  When the cookies are baked, it was discovered that a mistake was made and the cookies were made with salt instead of sugar.  Arthur feels terrible about the mistake but then he sees that it will work out well. 

The Arthur books were created by Lillian Hoban. She also collaborated on many other books including series about Francis which she illustrated and her husband wrote. (They divorced after the books were published.)The first of the Francis series was illustrated by Garth Williams but Lillian Hoban illustrated the rest of the series. The first Francis book was Bedtime for Francis. It was such a success that the rest of the books also started with a “B” word. (Mr. Hoban was superstitious.)

Ms Hoban died in 1998 at the age of 73.  (In contrast to Bernard Wiseman from yesterday, I could find a picture and some personal information about Ms. Hoban.) 

Thanks for reading! 

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Carol’s Caravan of Christmas Creations (Christmas Books from the Basement) – Day 20

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

“A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.”

Roald Dahl

 

Christmas with Morris and Boris

By Bernard Wiseman

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Boris is a bear and Morris is a moose. Morris, it could be said, is not very world savvy. He doesn’t even know who Santa Claus is or that Christmas is a holiday. Boris tries to be patient with Morris but Morris is a bit silly.  He thinks that the stockings are hung up to dry by the fire. And then he thinks that Santa will come and put on the stockings. He also thinks that they should not be reindeer but snowdeer.

While cute, this story does not have any redeeming Christmas theme. It will entertain an early grade school child; it will just tell them about receiving from Santa – not about being good to receive from Santa or about doing good deeds.

This book is part of a series that features Morris. Some books have both Morris and Boris and some just Morris.   The most popular seems to be Morris the Moose.

In this day and age when authors work very hard to get publicity, it seems so odd that there is so little information about Bernard Wiseman. Granted, he died in 1995 but he is the author and illustrator of 41 books, most of which are still in print.  I could not even find a picture of him.  He will remain a man of mystery.

Thanks for reading!

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Carol’s Caravan of Christmas Creations (Christmas Books from the Basement) – Day 19

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

ribbon

Not much time left – I’m buried in paper and ribbon!

Today’s pick is

Lisa McCue’s Animal Advent

By Lisa McCue

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Children love animals. This cute board book has a flap to open each day from December 1 – December 25 to see where the animals live around the farm and then how they gather for Christmas. Each flap has a couple words about the animal.

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It is a very cute book. One of the things that I like about the book it that it was made so that it is easy to open the flaps and then they close again. I understand that the book is now in a different format from the copy that I own.  The new format is smaller for little hands and the title is now Animal Advent rather than Lisa McCue’s Animal Advent.

Thanks for reading!

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Carol’s Caravan of Christmas Creations (Christmas Books from the Basement) – Day 18

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

birthday cake

Happy Birthday to my older sister! It is one of those birthdays that sneak up on you and you can’t believe that it is that birthday already.  Hip Hip Hooray for you!

In honor of her birthday, I have chosen today’s book rather than just picking out of the pile.

 The Twenty Four Days Before Christmas

By Madeleine L’Engle

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If you have read this blog before, you know that Madeleine L’Engle is one of my all-time favorite authors. And this sweet book is a Christmas treat. The book is narrated by Vicky Austin. She is seven years old at the time of the story and she is very excited about December. In the Austin household, December not only means Christmas but it also means that each day of December they do something to prepare for Christmas. And on top of that excitement, Vicky is going to be the angel in the Christmas play.  Vicki feels that she is the ugly duckling of the family and is worried that she will ruin the play with her awkwardness.

The children keep hoping for snow but as each day passes the December snow is absent.  On the thirteenth day of December, Vicky is told that she is doing so well with her part that she is given some lines in the play. The director also mentions that they miss Vicky’s mother in the choir.  Vicky’s mother is not currently in the choir because she is pregnant and due to give birth in early January. And then the director said something that Vicky had never even considered. “I wonder if she’ll be in the hospital for Christmas?” Those innocently spoken words shake Vicky to the core.  Vicky seeks assurance from her parents that her mother will be home on Christmas but they are honest and tell her that babies come on their own schedule but that everything will work out.

On December 23, the snow starts and it has a big influence on the rest of the story.

This book is part of the L’Engle series about the Austin family. While published first, Meet the Austins, actually takes place five years after The Twenty Four Days Before Christmas.  There is also a short story, A Full House: An Austin Family Christmas, which takes place about a year before Meet the Austins.  After Meet the Austins, there are four other books with the Austin family. They are (in chronological and publication order) The Moon by Night, The Young Unicorns, A Ring of Endless Light and Troubling a Star.

The Twenty Four Days Before Christmas is a wonderful book about Christmas traditions and the joy that children find not only in Christmas but in the preparation for Christmas.

Thanks for reading.

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