Panda Cake

Mama's making a panda cake. A panda cake is not like any other cake. It's special. It has has many wonderful ingredients, but before she can make the cake, Mama has to send her two boys shopping. So, she sends them on their way with money, a list and a basket.

Instead of going to the store with Mama's list and money, the the big brother, Willy, decides to take the sunflower seeds, huckleberries, eggs, cherries, apples, roots, honey and bamboo shoots needed to make the cake from the other animals. Then, he sends his little brother home with Mama's basket while he takes her money and goes to the fair.

When the cake is done, Mama invites all of the animals to join her and baby brother for tea and cake. When Willy gets home, after spending all of Mama's money at the fair, there was no cake left for him. All he got were two pieces of leftover bread.

I think there's a moral to be found in this story.

If you have the time for another great children's book, you can read about my favorite, "Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!", in this post.

Happy Jack and The Princess

Once upon a time a book was written about a princess. This princess, though beautiful and very priveleged, never laughed. She "just didn't feel like laughing". Her father, the king, brought in clowns, monkeys, court jesters and circus dogs, any funny thing he could think of to get the princess to laugh. When that didn't work, he called in physicians that examined the princess, prescribed medicines, exercise and plenty of rest. The princess "just didn't feel like laughing". So the king sent out a proclamation that whoever could make the princess laugh could marry her and have half of the gold in his kingdom.

After many suitors fail to make the princess laugh, a happy-go-lucky young man called Happy Jack, through a simple thing, is finally able to make the princess laugh!

*I was not able to find a picture anywhere of this book. My copy has ink marks on the front, back and inside. Please ignore these. It was (and still is) a well loved book. The copyright inside mine is 1978.

Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel

This has always been a favorite of mine. Mike Mulligan has a beautiful red steam shovel named Mary Anne that he is very proud of. Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne, along with others, have dug together for many years. They have dug great canals, paths for trains and roads to go through and holes for the cellars of tall skyscrapers in the cities. When people watch them, Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne always dig faster and better.

Then along come the new gas, electric and diesel shovels that take all the jobs from the steam shovels. Until one day when Mike Mulligan reads about the town of Popperville that is about to build a new town hall. Mike and Mary Anne leave the big cities and goes to the country where they meet the people of Popperville, as well as people from the nearby towns of Bangerville and Bopperville and Kipperville and Kopperville, and one very persistent little boy that encourages Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne to dig the cellar for the new town hall in just one day!

A Few of My Favorite Children's Books

Here is a list of some of my favorite Children's Books:

"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!", by Patricia Thomas
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton
Panda Cake, by Rosalie Seidler
Owl at Home, by Arnold Lobel
No One Noticed Ralph, by Bonnie Bishop and Jack Kent
Corduroy, by Don Freeman
Happy Jack and the Princess
Mister Dog, by Margaret Wise Brown
Barney Beagle Goes Camping, by Jean Bethell
The Mystery at Number Seven, Rue Petite, by Ellen Shire
Uncle Louie's Fantastic Sea Voyage, by Jan Loof
Lizzie's Twins, by Doris Adelberg
Melissa's Friend Fabrizzio, by Lisl Weil

H. A. Rey's books about Curious George
Stan and Jan Berenstain's books about The Berenstain Bears
Peggy Parish's books about Amelia Bedelia
Judy Blume's books about Fudge & Peter
Beverly Cleary's books about Ramona
Russell and Lillian Hoban's books about Frances
Jean de Brunhoff & Laurent de Brunhoff's books about Babar

National Children's Book Week

Image via here

May 11th through May 17th is National Children's Book Week. According to Book Week Online, Children's Book Week has been celebrated nationally since 1919

Children's Book Week is a time to celebrate books and reading in classrooms, libraries, bookstores, and homes.

This week can be celebrated in many different ways. The Children's Book Week website has a lot of fun suggestions. You can also come up with your own creative way to celebrate children's books this weeks. Use your imagination!

I am going to post about some of my favorite children's books this week. I still have a few of the books that we used to read when we were kids, and I have a long list of favorites.