Display: Vintage Picture Books

The Merry Chase (1941)

Written and Illustrated by Clement Hurd

Upon meeting a dog at a street corner, a cat runs as fast as she can and leads him on a merry chase through kitchens, across tables, over people, and under traffic until finally reaching a safe haven.

The Little House (1942)
Written and Illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton

A country house is unhappy when the city, with all its buildings and traffic, grows up around her.

Angus Lost (1932)
Written and Illustrated by Marjory Flack

A little Scottish terrier leaves his home to see what the outside world is like.

The Little Island (1946)
Written by Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard

Depicts the changes that occur on a small island as the seasons come and go, as day changes to night, and as a storm approaches.

Petunia (1950)
Written and Illustrated by Roger Duvoisin

Petunia, the goose, learns that possessing knowledge involves more than just carrying a book around under her wing.

Katy and the Big Snow (1943)
Written and Illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton

Katy, the red crawler tractor, helps to clear the streets of snow after a big snow storm.

The Happy Hunter (1962)
Written and Illustrated by Roger Duvoisin

A man who lives at the edge of the forest buys himself all the proper hunting equipment, and is very happy walking through the forest and aiming his gun, but never shooting.

The Important Book (1949)
Written by Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard

What is the most important thing about a spoon? The fact that you can eat with it? What about an apple? Or a shoe? This book helps curious preschoolers notice important details about their everyday surroundings, like daisies are white, rain is wet, and a spoon is used for eating.

Amos and the Moon (1948)
Written and Illustrated by Jan Balet

Amos goes around town asking the townspeople to help him capture the moon. Will he succeed?

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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