




It came. And it is every bit as wonderful as I remember. All four seasons with poems and stories and songs. I forgot how I loved dramatic Mathilda Mouse and all the little problems she had that were gently solved by her sensible parents. And there's the poem at the end that I remembered (shown above). It has a whole other verse I didn't.
So while I was diligently searching for this
book I saw some other books I could not resist. Some are childhood faves, but some I only bought because I love the artwork.


I never had 366 Goodnight Stories, but I fell in love with the cover. It is kinda like the Around The Year Storybook because each story corresponds to the day of the year (including Feb 29, hence 366 stories) and it is broken into sections according to season. The unusual part is the first page is March 21, because it says Spring is the first season, so the book ends with March 20th. The illustrations inside are done by a variety of artists, and a different style each time you turn the page.
I did have The Whispering Rabbit, and was
so happy to find this copy on
etsy finally. I just love every little story in the book.

There's the cover story illustrated by Lilian Obligado about a rabbit who swallows a bee as he is yawning. It goes to sleep in his throat, so he has to whisper. And he asks all his woodland friends how to get it out. I won't spoil the ending for you. :-)

And then a couple ones with dogs, that's illustrated by one of my favorites, Garth Williams.

And then the Golden Egg Book about a rabbit who keeps trying to open this egg he finds.

I also got this copy of the Cinderella I had as a kid, and this Pinocchio was in impulse buy because it looks like stills from those hokey stop-motion features I just adored. Adore.

I never saw this Pinocchio, but the stills are so cool. I think making a movie like that would be the best job in the whole world.

Do you experience a strange, warm feeling when you open a book you had as a kid and the illustrations you used to stare at so much hit you and you feel the way you did when you were holed up in a cozy nook somewhere as a young tyke looking at picture books?

Well, I do. I used to look and look at these pictures in Cinderella for minutes at a time. I think it is great that you can only see touches of the animated Cinderella film in some of the characters, and that these illustrations are very distinct unto themselves and not carbon copies of the film.

And I bought this one because I loved the three color style and 'tis the season. It came with a crinkly clear library binding, but I think I might take that off.

Did you know on day four it is Colly Birds and not Calling Birds? Yep, I looked it up when I saw this page in the book and thought surely it was a mistake. But a Colly Bird is a blackbird and was in the original text of the song.