Who Will See Their Shadows This Year?
By Jerry Pallotta and David Biedrzycki
As February 2nd approaches, the focus on the popularity of the groundhog skyrockets and his folkloric history as weather prognosticator extraordinaire comes to the fore. Namely, if he comes out of his burrow and sees his shadow, we’re in for six more weeks of Ole Man Winter and if not, the zephyrs of spring breezes will come early.
But what if the sudden once a year celebrity of the groundhog causes jealousy to rear its petulant head in the animals of the forest? Such is the result of animal competition in “Who Will See Their Shadows This Spring?” “Their” is definitely the operative word with this group of groundhog wanna bees. Hey, they’re in a grumpy mood to begin with as winter drags on…and on. The fed up faces of these denizens of the forest in the midst of the winter doldrums are very funny. They’ve had it and are heavy lidded and harried! Check out the beleaguered buffalo in the initial gathering of this winter weary lot. He’s beat and ready to bellow.
Leave it to the chicken to start the green eye of envy rolling with the quote, “But…why should groundhog get all the attention?” “What about us”? The chicken throws down the gauntlet to groundhogs everywhere with, “Let me try my shadow!” Her attempt is met with a driving rainstorm, followed quickly by a succession of other animals attempting to bring spring. The polar bear’s shadow causes a blizzard with the dog’s outline leading to a sudden influx of dense fog. The shadow of the pig causes a hurricane to ensue and the buffalo fares not much better with sleet pelting the forest folk as his shadow hits the ground!
Frustration is beginning to settle heavily on the shoulders of the animals as they try to cajole and conjure spring into appearing. Maybe if they try a panda shadow, he might be able to wield a little extra clout with Mother Nature. HAIL STONES appear in buckets. A koala, camel, butterfly and even a ring-tailed lemur and peacock’s attempts are variously met with mist, gale-force winds, tornadoes and hot, muggy weather. Not exactly the spring they had in mind.
Are they ready to say “Uncle” and let the groundhog do what he does best and will he awaken in time for February 2nd?
This is a perfect read aloud for the younger set that may identify with the feelings of animals tired of the groundhog getting the American Idol-like spotlight every 2nd of February. For a culture that thrives on celebrity, this book is a humorous take on the light shown, even in the animal world, on the 15 minutes of fame given every February 2nd to a groundhog.
Punxsutawney Phil, get ready for the flash bulbs and your photo op. Smile for the camera, please! And this picture book is apt to put a smile on any young reader’s face.
Millions of Cats
By Wanda Gag
One of the reasons I started The Snuggery and the Way Back Wednesday portion of it was the belief that there ARE “essential classics” in the realm of the picture book world that should be part of a canon of literature for kids. And, more than that, these “essentials” had, for a variety of reasons, fallen off the radar for parents, grandparents and anyone interested in introducing great picture books to children.
So, as the year winds down and the weather grows colder and we move many of our activities indoors, it’s a perfect time to highlight the “essentials” with your young readers.
In case you’ve forgotten THIS title, Way Back Wednesday today features the oldest American picture book in print, “Millions of Cats” by Wanda Gag.
One of the very few picture books to win a Newbery Honor book designation, it was given in 1929. Wanda also pioneered the double page spread as Anita Silvey, prominent reviewer points out in her book, “100 Best Books for Children,” “She used both pages to move the story forward, putting them together with art that sweeps the entire page spread…..”
And its popularity stemmed from the hand lettered text that Wanda’s brother contributed to the book, its black and white folk art style, and, of course the repetitive phrase that has stayed alive and been repeated by young readers since its printing:
“ Cats here, cats there,
Cats and kittens everywhere,
Hundreds of cats,
Thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats.”
A sweet, but lonely peasant couple living in the country are looking for a cat to keep and love. So, off the husband goes in search of one. But trouble ensues when, after finding a cat, he is tempted by additional ones that make final decision making quite a task. Instead of just one, he opts for a coterie of cats, a cacophony of cats and a conglomeration of cats that drain ponds as they each take one sip, de-blade a hillside of grass as each takes a munch on the trip home and, ultimately get into the biggest “cat fight” in history!!
Prompted by a final cat selection question from the couple somewhat akin to the queen in “Snow White” asking the mirror, “Who’s the fairest of us all?”, a cat calamity begins with a row of epic proportions among all but one of the cats.
Can you guess who is picked as the prettiest?
Read and remember right along with your young reader, this cat tail er tale that is still essential some 85 years after its printing!! It’s a “cat astrophically” essential picture book classic.
Jack
by Tomie de Paola
Jack is on a journey – and the message is – so are we! That is what is so unbelievably appealing to me about the picture book. For our very young readers, it takes them on their very FIRST journey into reading with stories told in pictures and a chance to see what lies ahead for a lifetime of reading.
And who better to be their escort on these early journeys than the inimitable picture book author, Tomie de Paola? His picture books are legend and his awards in the arena of the picture book are legion. And here in ‘Jack” is a deceptively simple tale of a young boy living on a farm with his grandpa “way out in the country” who goes to the city to seek his future. But, as you may see it has a powerful message
According to Jack, HIS perfect future involves an opportunity to “see the world and make new friends and live in a house in the city?” Sounds doable, right? And it sounds like the dreams of thousands of young people today as they enter young adulthood. But Jack relies on Grandpa for a plan and a mentor at the journey’s end. Smart Jack! The wisdom of the older generation is a treasure just WAITING to be plumbed – and so many times – it isn’t!
Kings too, make great mentors, being “wise and generous men, says Grandpa. And off Jack goes – alone – but not for long. He is joined on his journey to the city by a very noisy and diverse group of tag alongs. After hearing Jack’s plans, they, too, want to come along for the ride er walk. In beautifully nuanced artistic succession, Jack takes on a veritable armada of animals, all added on after a simple Q and A of “Where are you going?” and “We’re going to the city to ask the king for a house.” Naive? Maybe. But in the words of a Rogers and Hammerstein song called, “ Happy Talk”, it affirms the truth that Jack knows. And that is “You gotta have a dream – If you don’t have a dream – How you gonna have a dream come true?”
Jack has a dream and it is shared by a quacking, squawking, barking, cheeping, mooing, oinking, croaking menagerie of add on dreamers. I forgot the ones that are the late comers like the ones that baa, neigh and hoot!
I had to chuckle when I read the answer the guard gives Jack at the palace when he asks for admittance. ‘Go right in.” says the guard. The parallel to modern “white houses” is pretty funny – or not.
Jack gets his audience with the king accompanied by his noisy companions where he is handed the “key” to a house that is a veritable fixer upper – but doable as the king expresses confidence in Jack’s abilities.
Some say, as Jack moves in, “There goes the neighborhood,” as people have mimicked for years, BUT, others chime in with – “And it’s about TIME.”
Tomie de Paola has created a beautiful metaphor for the shared dreams of generations of people that go to the city to pursue a dream. The city IS a melting pot of different tongues and talents. But the dream is the same – a better life. And the best part of realizing a dream is that along the way, you usually have, if you are lucky – a ton of tag along friends that buoy you up in your dream. They may be create a din at times, and they may be diverse – but they share your dream! They believe in you – and the dream.
And as Tomie so wisely imagines in his simple tale – if you are dogged and determined – you just may be handed the key to a very small kingdom called a house where dreams come true. For Jack, it’s a house, but for others today, it may just be a job. BUT, kids will intuit the message that whatever your dream is, it may be shared by many who are NOT like you. And, in the end, journeys are made to be shared – as well as dreams -and there is room for all! Well done, Tomie! It needs to be said again and again for each generation of dreamers.
It's been an exceptionally crummy day today or so. Yesterday my cell phone/PDA (aka "Mummy's Electronic Brain") died. Of course because I've been in the middle of transitioning from my PC laptop to my new MacBook, I hadn't synced it for a little while. So now I'm freaking out about what appointments I've made that I'm going to forget.
Then today, my daughter's insulin pump went on the blink. While I can do without my electronic brain (at least, kind of) managing without her electronic pancreas is considerably more complex. It required frenzied calls to Yale to figure out what doses of insulin I should use as we resort to injections while waiting for the replacement pump to arrive, and of course because I was in PC/MAC transition I hadn't synced her pump in a bit either. It required a trip to the pharmacy when I realized the Long-acting insulin I had in the fridge was a least a year out of date. Now I've got to wake up to test her at midnight, 3am and 6am to make sure we've got the doses right. Diabetes sucks.
Meanwhile, been busy packing, packing and more packing for the big move.
And watching movies on DVD. Watched "The Queen" Friday evening. Helen Mirren was brilliant as HM the Q. It brought back many memories because I was living in the UK when Diana died. I remember coming downstairs with one of the kids at 6am and turning on the radio. I caught the tail end of the top of the hour new bulletin and couldn't believe my ears - I thought it was an April Fool's joke on the wrong day, it seemed so impossible that she could be dead. The movie captured very accurately the growing anger against the Royal Family.
Tonight watching "The History Boys", which I'm really enjoying. Bit of witty Brit humor after a crummy day.
