Lost Boy

I think there's a Peter Pan inside of every reader. Here's a lovely biography by Jane Yolen about the man who created Peter Pan, J.M Barrie.

Aren't Steve Adam's paint on board illustrations terrific?

"Wake up," she cried, "Peter Pan has come and he is to teach us to fly."

FROM PETER AND WENDY

Here's a very clever idea- stencil Peter's shadow on your bedroom ceiling!

IMAGE COURTESY OF PINTEREST.COM

"I'm youth, I'm joy, I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg."

PETER TO HOOK, FROM PETER PAN, THE PLAY

Whether it's called Oz or Hogwarts or Narnia, there's always a Neverland waiting for you in books. And how do you find it? Crack open the cover and then it's

 "Second star to the right and straight on until morning."

Friday Finishes

SEVENTEEN

THE HUNTING OF THE WHITE STAG

AND THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE VERY END OF THE STORY if it hadn't been that they felt they really must explain to the Professor why four of the coats out of his wardrobe were missing. And the Professor, who was a very remarkable man, didn't tell them not to be silly or not to tell lies. but believed the whole story. "No," he said, "I don't think it will be any good to get the coats. You won't get into Narnia again by that route. Nor would the coats be much use by now if you did! Eh? What's that? Yes, of course you'll get back to Narnia again someday. Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don't go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don't try to get there at all. It'll happen when you're not looking for it. and don't talk too much about it even among yourselves. And don't mention it to anyone else unless you find that they've had adventures of the same sort themselves. What's that? How will you know? Oh, you'll know all right. Odd things they say-even their looks-will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open. Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?"

And that is the very end of the adventure of the wardrobe. But if the Professor was right it was only the beginning of the adventures of Narnia.

 Now. Where to next in Narnia? Consult the map. And take a quick review of this post.

Monday Begins

 

ONE.

LUCY LOOKS INTO THE WARDROBE

ONCE THERE WERE FOUR CHILDREN whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids.  There were sent to the house of an old Professor who lived in the heart of the country, ten miles from the nearest railway station and two miles from the nearest post office. He had no wife and he lived in a very large house with a housekeeper called Mrs. Macready and three servants.

We read a little further and discover the siblings doing the thing that all children do when stranded in a manor home: exploring and getting into mischief - Miss Kitty

And shortly after that they looked into a room that was quite empty except for one big wardrobe; the sort that has a looking-glass in the door. There was nothing else in the room at all except a dead blue-bottle on the window-still. 

You'll have to turn the key to find the book.

Miss Lucy had a baby, his name was Tiny Tim

Gif courtesy of thisanimalisawesome.tumblr

..she put him in the bathtub
to see if he could swim 

he ate up all the water

he ate up all the soap

he tried to eat the bathtub

but it wouldn't go down his throat

Miss Lucy called the Doctor

Miss Lucy called the Nurse

Miss Lucy called the Lady with the Alligator Purse

We have lots of fun jump rope rhymes in the library.  Just click on the book covers to go the catalog.

These books are great for hand clapping, too. 

The weather is so gorgeous today! Grab a partner, 15 dogs, and jump to it.

* Also, please please please take it from me and do not try the Miss Lucy jump rope technique with cats. They just WON'T jump and end up playing with the rope and then the minute you leave, they jump at nothing. Sigh.

From your secret admirer

Happy Valentine's Day dear reader! This sweet vintage valentine is a rebus. Hope your mailbox is stuffed with valentines.

Meow, meow, meow, xoxoxoox Miss Kitty

Here's another fun rebus you might enjoy (click on the photo to go to the catalog.) I love Will Hillenbrand's sweet illustrations.

Friday Finishes

Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland

CHAPTER 20. The Last Message.

They wrapped the message in Doon's shirt and put a rock inside it. Then they stood in a row at the edge of the chasm, Doon in the middle holding Poppy's hand and Lina's. Linda took aim at the heart of the city, far beneath her feet. With all her strength, she cast the message into the darkness, and they watched as it plunged down and down. 

Mrs. Murdo, walking even more briskley than usual to keep her spirits up, was crossing Harken Square when something fell to the pavement just in front of her with a terrific thump. How extraordinary, she thought, bending to pick it up. It was a sort of bundle. She began to untie it. 

City of Ember. Jeanne DuPrau

Monday Begins

THE INSTRUCTIONS.

When the city of Ember was just built and not yet inhabited, the chief builder and the assistant builder, both of them weary, sat down to speak of the future.

"They must not leave the city for at least two hundred years," said the chief builder. "or perhaps two hundred and twenty."

"Is that long enough?" asked his assistant.

"It should be. We can't know for sure.

"And when the time comes," said the assistant, "how will they know what to do?"

"We'll provide them with instructions, of course," the chief builder replied.

CHAPTER 1: Assignment Day

In the city of Ember, the sky was always dark. The only light came from great flood lamps mounted on the buildings and at the tops of poles in the middle of the larger squares. When the lights were on, they cast a yellowish glow over the streets; people walking by threw long shadows that shortened and then stretched out again. When the lights were off, as they were between nine at night and six in the morning, the city was so dark that people might as well have been wearing blindfolds. 

The City of Ember. Jeanne DuPrau.