used book shop - chapter two

*

& now for the treasures i mentioned yesterday! this first one is a 1965 copy of punch & judy, illustrated by ed emberley. the cover is gloriously faded & tattered, & just look within:

i was telling manlyman how i never much cared for illustrations from the 50s through 70s, until now. there must be a hormone that is released, when one becomes a certain age, that makes us crave the things we saw in our youth. (i am not a child of the 50s or 60s mind you, most of my books were used even then.)

the other treasure was an old copy of the night before christmas, illustrated by leonard weisgard.

the original was done in 1949, but my copy has a print date of 1978. i nearly walked past the book, as i am not in the habit of buying holiday items once a holiday has passed, but something made me take a peek. oh am i glad i did!

the illustrations are beautiful in their simplicity, & (unlike the cover) there is not a smudge or tear to be found within. i think i need to start a holiday book bin. i imagine the books would last longer were they not stuffed in the bins with their respective holiday decorations. anyway...

do vintage books get you all swoony too? what are some of your favorites?
~peace.

used book shop - chapter one

*

my new most favorite place in the world is piccolo's books; a used book shop of gargantuan proportion. it is not just the size of the shop that has me all swoony, it is that they charge only one dollar per book! just writing that last sentence made me a bit dizzy.

i have no intention of admitting how often i shop there, nor how much i spend each time, but i will say that there is talk of naming a wing after me.

that stack pictured above was from my most recent visit. take a close look at the board book teetering at the top of the stack. not just your average book of trucks, this one is in french!

of course to elfling it is just another book of trucks, but one day that won't be the case. & that wasn't the only french book i found for him.

 les dinosaures is ever so cute, as far as dinosaur books go. this one has to be put away; until he's over his love of tearing books; as it is has flaps & fold-outs.

elfling wasn't the only belfry to get new books:

the book of classic board games is going to get a lot of use on lazy summer eves.
flash! bang! pop! fizz! will be thehobbit's science curriculum for summer. we do have a bunch of science experiment books, but this one has pages for recording observations & the like.
botany for all ages is perfect for herbology class.
the roman record will be used in the fall, when we study ancient rome.
the new vegetable & herb expert taunts me each time i walk into the room. (i couldn't find an exact link for you.)

i'm off - a bowl of angel food cake, with strawberries & whipped cream is waiting for me. tomorrow i will share two of the treasures that were found that day.

~peace.

thursday things - books, vintage & odd

*

this week's thursday things is about books for  kids: old ones, strange ones, & just plain creepy ones. in other words - wonderful ones.

i spotted the utter zoo alphabet on a thrift shop's shelf, moments before thehobbit did. a better parent would have stood back, knowing that her son, her firstling, was about to reach for the book. i, am not that parent. i snatched that book so quickly, that you could hear the woosh! as i brought it to my chest to be rocked in my loving embrace.

mine.

mine!

wonderfully mine.

don't judge me too harshly, i told him that he was allowed to borrow it whenever he liked. so long as he wears white gloves. & he does not breathe on it.

now that you are suitably horrified by my parenting, here are two blogs that you will adore:

* vintage kids' books my kid loves is sublime. i stumbled upon her blog early last year, & immediately liked her page on facebook. that is how i keep up with blogs these days, by the way, it's much easier for me than subscribing. anyway, give her blog a look-see; i know you'll enjoy it.

* curious pages has the best tag line: recommended inappropriate books for kids. yes, please! i have not had time to go through the archives on this blog yet, as i only discovered it last week. from what i have seen however, the blog is packed with lovely oddness. i did not even know of this amazing book, until i saw it on  curious pages.


that is all today. my not-so-vintage-but-ever-so-wonderfully-odd children are both still swimming in pestilence's waters. i suppose i should stop ignoring them ;)

~peace.

an old book of old cars

*

this is one of the vintage books we gave elfling for xmas. i had been looking for a book of cars for him, but everything i found was ever so ugly.

when i spotted this at a used book store i may have actually squealed. the illustrations are sweet & simple, & not one car pictured has a face. do not get me started on that rant.

that is one funky van! i know it is supposed to be bicentennial, but it reminds me of a circus. must be the stripes.

this illustration has to be my favorite. manlyman is planning to get a mini. this is sort of what i imagine he'll look like driving it.

i was going to put it away for when he is older, because he is brutal to books, but i didn't. after all, it isn't as if this book is rare, or cost a lot of money; i just wanted it kept pristine because i think it is so wonderful. i eventually realized that if that was the most important issue then i should keep the book for myself. but if i truly wanted elfling to have it, i needed to just let him have it.

hopefully he'll learn to be more gentle with books, until then i shall just focus on not hyperventilating each time i see him reach for this particular one.

do you buy vintage books for your kids too?
~peace.

vintage books for kids

*

photo :: property of this site

a few months back a used book store took over the space that was once a border's. this shop is the most amazing place that ever there was! it is a huge space, filled with shelf after shelf of gently used books (my favorite kind!). most are priced at $1 or $2, which is unheard of even at thrift shops nowadays. 

i have yet to get myself more than a handful of books, because i find that i spend all of my time digging through the children's section. thehobbit has come home with many treasures, & elfling is now the proud owner of a large stack of some very cool board books. 

the best part? i have found some gorgeous vintage kids' books like the one pictured above. elfling likes charlie brown & snoopy, so i tossed the book onto my stack, without even looking at the condition. after all, a 2 year old doesn't much care if pages are torn, or scribbled upon. imagine my surprise when, once home, i discovered the book to not only be in pristine condition, but a first edition. needless to say it was elevated to books we look through only with mama or dada status.  i know, i'm a killjoy.

here are a few more vintage books we have recently added to our collection:

* richard scarry's busy, busy world was one of my favorite childhood books. my mother bought thehobbit many scarry books, which we saved, but not this one. i was thrilled to find a 1970 copy! apparently later editions were edited to be more p.c. - blah. our copy is missing half of one page, but as i only paid two dollars, i am not going to complain. besides, elfling enjoys stopping on that page to say "dis page es teared. bébé not teared et."

* richard scarry's best counting book ever is one i had not seen before. elfling is swoony for this book because it has green bug on nearly every page. our copy is from 1975, but looks as if it's never been read.

* little golden book - cars from 1973 is so cute! elfling loves vehicles of all sorts, so is going to adore this book. unlike the others i chatted about, this one has been set aside for xmas. 

like with other vintage treasures, searching for old books is not for the faint of heart. you have to love the hunt itself beyond measure, because it can be grueling. you also have to be willing to spend hours searching, knowing that most likely you will leave empty handed.

ok, i don't enjoy leaving without a treasure, but i do love, love, love the hunt. so tell me, what books from your childhood have you given your child(ren)?

~peace.