Bonnie Wright reads Dickens' "A Christmas Tree" at Children & the Arts concert

We'll have a thrifty books Christmas!

Yesterday I visited my local thrift store with pretty much one intent, books and I believe I have found some real gems! I came home so excited at the amount of books purchased (26 in all!) and the amount of vintage ones I scored on as well. Most of them will be wrapped as part of my daughter's Christmas presents. A couple of them are going to children of a friend of mine (she too, loves 'new' books from thrift stores). Here are some of the goods:

 This book I simply grabbed because I really enjoy the way it looked at me (yes, books can see me). It's from Penguin Books, Middlesex 1953. The pages are all brown tinted with age yet still is in quite good shape. This book is actually volume two from a set and begins with chapter nine: Christianity. I'm very pleased to have this as part of my collection.

 I also liked that it has a personal message written inside it's cover, dated 1958. For some reason, these human touches on books seem priceless to me because it tells me this book did have another life (or more). Who knows the people who bought it, read it, gave as a gift or received it as one.

 This next book I picked up immediately for my friend's sons. I went over to their house once and her youngest showed me a few of his favorite books and I think he will like this one as well.

 We love Eric Carle and do have a small collection on his books with us. This one, we did not have but soon on Christmas Day, it will officially join the pack.

 I immediately picked this out and put it in the cart. I knew I didn't even have to look at it right away to judge whether I wanted it or not. I was completely right with my first instinct. The book is from 1979 and it's filled with beautiful illustrations. When I showed my husband I was pleasantly surprised when he said he knew this book. Score!

 The inside of Ox-Cart Man. More history here. I think I'll begin collection old library cards too but I don't think I want to remove them from the books they are found in.

 Another delightful book that I will be giving to my friend. I almost want to keep it for myself it's so nice! It's also from 1979 and as the title says, is filled with facts and fables of various animals. The illustrations are beautiful (and some humorous) and I can't wait to give it to them.

 This one I will be pulling out on Christmas Eve. It is from 1977 and I love when you open it to the second page, the illustration shows a mother nursing a baby. You really don't find those 'kind' of books anymore unless it's specific to nursing or something so it was a nice surprise. I also enjoy how the illustrations setting was inspired by the illustrator, Elisa Trimby's favorite house on the Atlantic Coast of Cornwall England.

Pop up books! So much fun aren't they, you can't really pass them up. These two are not vintage but still has that feeling based on the illustrations. It seems that I have found two of the four that were published together so I must keep my eye out for Pinocchio and Peter Pan.

 A book from 1973 and adapted from a Russian story? I'm so there! I can't wait to read this one with Nat and enjoy the story as well as the beautiful color palettes of the birds and animals in it.

I had to have this one as well. From 1965, an instructional book for Campfire Girls. True to the time era, the illustrations are perfect with their white, blues, pink and corral colors. It is filled with great ideas and activities and I am sure my Brownie Girl Scout and I will make good use of it.

 From one little girl to another and now to my little girl too.

 She'll also enjoy that very popular book girl name of the sixties, Jane since it's her middle name.

 All of these books were found in really good condition. This one actually seems like it was hardly used at all. I am sure we can fix that by reading over and over the classic English fairy tales inside. What makes it even better is the illustrations are by Arthur Rackham along with Jessie Wilcox Smith.

 I love pretty and patterned book cover insides.

 One of my favorite illustrations in the book.

Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak are a must for our children's library. Especially since Sendak was one of my very first favorite illustrators. This one is from 1958.

 Not a true vintage book since it was published in 2003 but has the illustrations from 1965. It has a funny little tale and is practically brand new.

 Finally, we have Mathilda! Nat loves the movie and I can't wait to read the book to her. Also found was this paperback 1959 edition of Pippi Longstocking. I think every girl should know about Pippi, don't you? :)

 Lastly, I found a handful of Beatrix Potter books missing from our small collection. The Beatrix Potter sized ones (the smaller ones as I call them) were all a part of gift for a two year old boy more than ten years ago. Now, they are ours. :)

Soleil Moon Frye Reading MOUSE COOKIES & MORE to Benefit FIRST BOOK (@moonfrye)

Teatime: The Perfect Time For Sharing Family Stories

Bigelow Tea posted a nice article on Teatime and Storytelling for National Family Story Month (which was November but really, can be anytime of the year)! Get a cup of tea, click the link and read the short article which will encourage and inspire sharing more stories with the ones we love...

(artwork my own, littlebighead)

Hedgehog in the Fog [Yuriy Norshteyn, 1975] HQ

Memetales hosts a Chronicle Books giveaway!

Memetales is hosting a giveaway from Chronicle Books. Just leave a comment on their blog (become a fan of Memetales on Facebook for an additional entry) for a chance to win $500 worth of books from Chronicle! Memetales has a few choices for the win too, like:

the spider and the fly

Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there."
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

My newest favorite book we recently added to our family library is The Spider and The Fly  illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi of (Spiderwick Chronicles fame, etc.). It's actually a poem written by Mary Howitt (1799-1888), that was published in 1829. Tony DiTerlizzi has done an amazing job with it, bringing it to life with his illustrations inspired by classic Hollywood horror movies of the 1920's and 1930's. It is quite the dark cautionary tale but I fell in love instantly. My heart further rejoiced when we brought it home to Nat and she quickly exclaimed, 'I love this book!' . We found out it had been read to her at her school so she was well familiar with it and I think that helped us a bit with the storyline with her. With so many sugarcoated stories out there you never know how a child (especially my sensitive one) will react but I think Tony DiTerlizzi's illustrations really bring it in the right way.

(photo from The Book Griffin. For their review of this book, click here)

This book was published in 2003 but as in life, sometimes I don't get to the new things when they are still new. However, it still is quite exciting when I do and I absolutely love this one!

(photo from The Slade Tales where you can here the story told in audio)

13 Words Book Trailer by Lemony Snicket

everything's a mystery...

Today was a gray and rainy day, perfect for having breakfast with a childhood friend and thrift store shopping afterward. Like usual, we hit up my favorite local place and of course, I couldn't get my mind away from the book section and promptly headed in that direction. Today I brought home two books. Another hardback, The Mystery of the Musical Ghost by John and Nancy Rambeau (part of the Morgan Bay Mysteries) and illustrated by Joseph Maniscalco from 1965 and The Curse of Ravenscourt, A Samantha Mystery (part of The American Girl Mysteries) by Sarah Masters Buckey. With it being October and Natalie getting older, she is showing more of an interest in 'scary' books which I take it to mean books that are slightly scary with a lot of mystery to them. I believe these new additions will fit perfectly into that aesthetic.

Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves

A couple of weeks ago I was sent a link of some really amazing owl illustrations from a vintage book a friend of mine had found on a blog. I quickly had to see this blog that she got it from and discovered for myself, Vintage Kids' Books My Kids Loves. What an awesome blog! It completely encouraged me to be more dedicated to this blog, The Black Hare all the more. The blog title encompasses the entire blog with wonderful entries, suggestions and giveaways as well. There is also an etsy shop that accompanies the blog with an vast collection of vintage kid books for purchase. Check out the profuse list of 'favorite authors' and 'links we love' that's worth a perusal.Visit the blog, follow it if you like as well as the twitter, facebook and 'Other Stuff My Kid Loves' tumblr.

thrifty books

Last week Nat missed school for a dental appointment. She ended up having some work done that was not previously anticipated and after her appointment, we had the rest of the day free for us. One of the stops we made was to our local thrift store and I was quite proud of us. We looked around but what we came home with was not a load full of clothes but a few books.

Our score was Monster at Loch Ness by Sally Berke, a hardback from 1977; A paperback copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, copyright 1960 and The Ersatz Elevator, Book Six in the Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.  I was absolutely thrilled with our finds for several reasons. I love old books and the older I get, the more I want to add to my collection. The Monster at Loch Ness and the Alice book both fit that and I am thrilled with how great the condition of both books are. Especially the Alice book. It had never been cracked opened it seemed. You can always tell with a paperback if it has been use and the pages are pristine with no bends or cracks. I myself don't even want to read from this one so as to maintain it's condition (fortunately for me, I have other copies).

Another new mission of mine is to collect all of the Lemony Snicket books. I once borrowed the first three books from my little cousin when the first came out. I never had a chance to read the rest of the series but was always drawn to everything about them, from the content to the author to the illustrations. One of Natalie's favorite movies is The Series of Unfortunate Events with Jim Carrey as Count Olaf. Our library only has a paperback of the first book, The Bad Beginning or, Orphans! with a few 'extra stories & extra art for no extra cents!' in the back. My other copy is book 2, The Reptile Room. The first book I found to take home that day was book 6 and I was eagerly looking for more but that's all they had.

When we came home that afternoon, I began reading to her from the Loch Ness book and we had so much fun as I tried to do an Irish accent when describing the 'monstah'. It worked some of the time but the read was very much enjoyed by the both us.

a book wizard's wish list

We are lovers of Harry Potter, of books and of Etsy! Here, I combine a wish list (from Etsy!) that I would love for my girl and I...

A bookbag worthy for all magical texts and notebooks--Snow Owl (hedwig) book bag by Atlantis804 (see also the silver lightening bolt bag and gold bolt as well).




Speaking of notebooks, here are a few from Celeste Frittata's line:


My favorites are Herbology, Astronomy and Care of Magical Creatures. She also carries stationery for Owl Posts and The Daily Prophet.

You may want to curl up with a nice hot cup of tea as you read. Knitstorm can help your tea stay 'cozy' with her tea cozies! A few favorites:







Books are not complete with adorable bookmarks to save your place. It doesn't get much cuter than this owl bookmark by Blue Eyed Night Owl's (she also has other adorable bookmarks too)!



Or you can use a cute green crystal bookmark with an owl from Motherrap's shop.



Sometimes we can get so engrossed with reading that we want to make sure we are nice and comfy. This owl silhouette pillow from Under The Pyramids can help.




And while you are comfy, why not have some snacks in cute reusable snack pouches on hand


The Green Spotted Owl Eco Friendy Handmade Reusable snack bag by SackSavers and the Blue Spotted snack bag also.



If you need an eco friendly bag for when you are purchasing all your reading goods, this Maurader's canvas tote bag from Evietees may come in handy.



Or you can use this flying barn owl bag from Happy Family




Of course I know there are a ton of other themes I could use derived from the Harry Potter world but I'm partial to owls (as if you couldn't guess). I'll keep my eye out for more things a book wizard could use :)