But Wednesday Cried by Yvonne Mitchell, Illustrated by Ursula Eason ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5

If you grew up in England in the seventies, you may have very fond memories of this small book, with its clever word play and colourful illustrations. It is long out of print and difficult to find second hand - all the more reason to reminisce over the book's sweetest moments.

There are seven siblings in this story. They are named Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They are all cats, each with their own unique traits.

Mon, Tues and Wed are searching for their other siblings who have taken up residence elsewhere about the town. The cats are skipping through the streets, past colourful houses like you see in Brighton, “when down the street came Thursday in a hurry and a bowler hat.” The delighted cats celebrate with a birthday party, singing in "sharps and flats".

When Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday find Friday, the cats laugh at him because he looks so blissful and plump from living at a Fishmongers. It is at this point that Wednesday cries, as all the cats are boys, except for Saturday, and she longs to reunite with her sister. In response to her tears, the boys light a campfire in a field and hang her big tears out to dry, clipping them to a laundry line with clothes pegs.

While searching in vain for Saturday – they find her. She is so glamorous and beautiful the six cats are inspired to go to the seaside for a full week, spending all of their pocket money. But oops – they forgot to look for Sunday. Once they get around to finding the fluffy white Persian, he is very angry for being forgotten!

...And then left in a huff

and a taxi

Quotable stuff! This book would make a fantastic ebook since it's so hard to find.

First Published in 1974 by Roger Schlesinger R.H.S. (Publications) Ltd London W1

Printed in Italy

Pigaroons by Arthur Geisert ★ ★ ★ 3/5

This dark tale is a bit sci-fi with a dash of Orwell. The Pigaroons are a society of pigs descended from Spanish pirates. The Pigaroons have no qualms about stealing. They wantonly thieve a chunk of ice from the River Patrollers, a nearby pig community. The River Patrollers are furious at the loss of the ice. It was to be carved for the annual ice sculpture contest, which they always win.

The River Patrollers decide that they cannot allow the Pigaroons to walk all over them - they must stand up for themselves and do something. Their non-violent retaliation is so clever, the River Patrollers are still awarded the ice sculpture prize despite having not produced a traditional entry. The bad Pigaroons are told not to steal anymore, but everyone knows they will never change.

The story is chock-a-block with metaphors of the human condition. Like the Pigs in this story, humans live in societies of quasi-warring clans, veering between bursts of glorious ingenuity and upholding the status quo of their own feudalistic repression. Set in the wintertime, the illustrations have a timeless, post-apocalyptic quality to them. The Pigaroon's popcorn balls look scrumptious too. Might try making those at home! Adults may enjoy this story slightly more than children. But sometimes, that is quite OK.

Pigaroons. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Hardcover, 32 pages.

A Ye Olde reading list from THE IDLE PARENT by Tom Hodgkinson

If you long to create for your family a beautiful life full of music and books, parties and naps, bonfires and ponies, look no further than Tom Hodgkinson's inspiring manual on raising kids.

In stark contrast to the supremely un-fun "Tiger Mom" approach and psyche-speak offerings that urge you to "tame your toddler", The Idle Parent is a totally refreshing guide to family life. Follow Tom's advice and you will soon find your creative, independent and non-whiny children bringing you tea while you have a nice lazy lie-in with your spouse. Sweet!

In one chapter, Hodgkinson shares a reading list of the authors, stories and poetry that he and his children most enjoy. He recommends picking the books up at jumble sales for a few cents, because idle parents are thrifty and don't spend lots of money on stuff. More space to dance that way. These books are more suited to kids age 5 and up.

1. The Ahlbergs - Each Peach Pear Plum and Peepo!

2. J.M. Barrie - Peter Pan

3. The poetry of William Blake - in particular, 'The Tyger'

4. Enid Blyton - The Famous Five books and The Faraway Tree

5. Raymond Briggs - Fungus the Bogeyman, The Snowman

6. Lewis Carroll - The Alice books

7. Roald Dahl - Danny the Champion of the World

8. Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe

9. Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol

10. Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes mysteries

Peabirds very very highly recommends
The Idle Parent by Tom Hodgkinson. Hamish Hamilton, Penguin books 2009.

Oh Were They Ever Happy! by Peter Spier ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5

The Noonans are from a simpler, less fearful time. The story begins on their manicured lawn, as Mrs. Noonan looks up at their huge house and asks her husband when, oh when, is he going to get around to painting it? Mom and Dad Noonan then head out for the day in their wood paneled station wagon, leaving their three kids at home.

When the babysitter fails to show up, the kids get to work painting the house all on their own. After gathering the plethora of leftover paint cans piled in the garage and basement, they paint until all the paint has been used up and every surface is covered. The result is outrageous. The kids are absolutely chuffed at a job well done. They even cleaned the brushes in the bathroom (cringe!)

The gulf between adult and child can be so wide and this book captures it with great humour. Oh Were They Ever Happy is a story about the freedom, anti-materialism and non-conformity that is the essence of childhood - or should be. For kids, there is no delineation between work and play. There is no right colour. There is no social norm. Let them rule!

The formidable Peter Spier is also the author and illustrator of the highly recommended and intricate, People.
Out of print. Doubleday, 1978

I Know Here by Laurel Croza, illustrated by Matt James ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5

This is a powerful and exquisitely gentle story about coming to terms with moving away from a beloved place and finding a way to hold onto the memory of it. Set at the building site of a dam in a remote part of Saskatchewan, the little girl in the story finds out that the dam will soon be finished, prompting her family to move away from their tiny trailer village to Toronto.

She expresses her concern- "This is where I live. I don't know Toronto. I know here." She describes her surroundings: the school she attends with eight other kids from the site, the road lined with trailers and the trailer she shares with her parents and four siblings, the wildlife, the solemn and majestic forest and swooping over her hamlet in a small plane. She then asks, "Have people in Toronto seen what I've seen?"

An inspired centerfold depicts the girl gazing up at the sky, facing the profound unknown. She says simply "I know what to do". She will draw pictures of her home so she can remember it and pay respect to the life she has known. Leaving is hard. Adult readers may be moved to tears by the universality of her ordeal and the courage with which she faces it. Read this book.

Unpaged. Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press. $18.95

LIST: Great Books About Children's Literacy

1. Mem Fox: Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. Mariner Books.

2. Paul Kropp: Raising a Reader: Make Your Child a Reader for Life. Broadway Books.

3. Esme Raji Codell: How to Get Your Child to Love Reading: For Ravenous and Reluctant Readers Alike. Algonquin Books.

4. V. Susan Bennett-Armistead, Nell Duke, and Annie Moses: Beyond Bedtime Stories: A Parent's Guide to Promoting Reading, Writing, and Other Literacy Skills

5. Mary Lee Hahn: Reconsidering Read-Aloud. Stenhouse Publishers.

The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5

The Pink Refrigerator quite literally speaks to those of us who spend too much time in front of a screen. Dodsworth the mouse is in a bit of a rut. Every morning he visits the junkyard, where he scrounges for items to sell in his thrift shop. He makes a living from his thrift shop, but it doesn't keep him very busy, and he spends most of his time sitting around watching TV. One day Dodsworth notices an old pink refrigerator in the junkyard. The refrigerator has a note on it that says "Make pictures". Opening up the fridge, he finds "a beautiful assortment of paints and brushes and a little red sketchbook." Initially, he takes the items so that he can sell them, but something in the note compels him to try them out instead.

Every day, Dodsworth finds a different note on the refrigerator and a different set of items inside. He learns that there are other interesting ways to spend time besides watching television (like reading, cooking, gardening, etc.). By the end of the book, Dodsworth is a changed mouse, with a broader perspective.

The message of The Pink Refrigerator is clear. Life is more interesting if you get out of your own rut and try new things. A gorgeous story made more beautiful the treasure trove junkyard and the LoType font.

Houghton Mifflin, 2007, 32 pages

Not So Tall For Six by Diana Hutts Ashton ★ ★ ★ 3/5

This story is about a particularly small six-year-old girl named Kylie Bell, who "comes from a long line of not-so-tall people." She has a few run-ins with Rusty Jacks, the school bully who torments her because she is small and - he assumes wrongly - easily picked on.

When presented with an opportunity to help Rusty Jacks out of a bind, Kylie triumphs by doing the right thing and helping the kid out.

Kylie does not sink to the level of the bully because she is inspired by legends of her diminutive ancestors rallying their courage and overcoming big bullies. She remembers "Great-great grandmother Beulah Bell, who kept hold of her good manners even when the cowpokes didn't, pops into her mind."

The pen and ink watercolour illustrations are surreal, with Rusty depicted as giant and then a half human/half snake. When Rusty is in need of help, he is represented as a regular child. Not So Tall for Six was written by 2006 Cybils nonfiction picture book winning author Diana Hutts Aston. 2008 Charlesbridge $14.95 CAN

Alego - story and pictures by Ningeokuluk Teevee ★ ★ ★ 3/5

A young Inuit girl named Alego ᐅᓕᒍᖅ goes clam digging with her Anaanatsiaq (grandmother). They live in a small community called Kinngait (Cape Dorset) on Baffin Island, Nunavut. This delicate tale portrays life in the Arctic with stark realism – a welcome change from the cartoon-ish polar bear characterizations of the North we often see.

Alego explores the inter-tidal zone, discovering the diversity of life on the sandy shore. After getting squirted by a clam burrowed in the sand, she collects clams, an orange starfish, a snail and a creepy, crawly ugunnait in her bucket.

The story is told in two languages – English and Inuktitut. It’s a treat to see the exotic Inuktitut syllabus, rarely seen outside of Nunavut. The pencil-crayon illustrations are simple and graceful. This is a very sweet, if subtle story, particularly pleasing to ages 3 and up.

Cape Dorset artist Ningeokuluk Teevee has been nominated for the 2009 Governor General's Award for children's literature illustration for Alego, her first children’s book. Groundwood Books 2009, 24 pages, $17.95 CAN

Gallop! A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Butler Seder ★ ★ ★ 3/5

This is a nifty little book worth having if only for the sparkle of interest it adds to a bookshelf. Each page is a “scanimation” of a different animal, depicting with biological accuracy the movements they make. A question accompanies each folio, e.g. “Can you flutter like a butterfly?”

Reminiscent of its primitive cousin, the flip book, Gallop! provides a glimpse into how animation works. Filmmaker parents will want their kid to have this book. In the final analysis, this book is fun to look through now and then, but it’s more a clever device than it is a story and won’t make it into your crucial bedtime story repertoire. Printed by Workman Publishing 2007, retails for $14.95 CAN. 12 pages.