retro clifford the big red dog!

April 3, 2017 ashley donati

Did you love Clifford, the big red dog, when you were a kid? I loved this book series, and now my kids do too. There are so many great titles in the Clifford series by Norman Bridwell. What's your favorite? I love the Halloween story where Clifford goes trick or treating.

I was at my local bookstore recently, and I found these two little cuties on display. These are reproductions of the original Clifford stories. I love the hard covers, the original red, black, and white illustrations, and even the way they "aged" the edges of the pages to make it look like it's an old copy. They have the same great stories of everyone's fave big red do with a dose of retro cute.

These vintage style books got me thinking about the history of Clifford. Here's what I found out.

The first Clifford book was written by Norman Bridwell and published by Scholastic in 1963.
Clifford is still the official mascot of Scholastic Publishing.
Bridwell wanted to name the dog "Tiny" but his wife convinced him to name the dog Clifford after her childhood best friend.
If you were to meet Clifford in real life, he would stand at about 25 feet tall!
There are over 80 Clifford titles as well as movies and a tv show.

the thing about vintage picture books

January 23, 2017 ashley donati

I love vintage picture books! Love them so much, but an experience with an out-dated story book taught me something. Let me tell you about the time that I learned something about story books of old.

I wanted (and still want) my sons to read from the canon of children's literature. There are so many classics that I wanted to be in my sons' wheel house, from picture books like Madeline and anything by Maurice Sendak to chapter books like the Anne of Green Gables series and many others. I purchased a copy of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. It looked very kid-friendly with beautiful water color illustrations and short little stories teaching lessons like fables with animal characters. No red flags anywhere until we started reading together. The first story about a naughty elephant was rife with details that frankly I just wasn't cool with. The elephant gets spanked excessively throughout the story, and there were a lot of colonial-mindset derogatory descriptions about people from India. Not the experience I was expecting.

What I learned that day was the importance of pre-screening older books before I give them to my kids. Now I'm not saying that I ban books with anything controversial inside. A lot of times books with material that I find doesn't jive with what we want to teach our kids act as a good conversation starter and teachable moment. For example, an 1950s Little Golden Book that shows a mom and a dad acting out staunch gender roles is a moment to talk about how men and women can do whatever they want today. Dads can stay home. Moms can work. Reading a Little House book where they sing a song about "blackies" (cringe) is a moment to talk about diversity and discrimination.

But wait, didn't you just say you love vintage picture books? What's to love? So much! The window into the past is such a valuable teaching tool for parents and kids. Our modern world is fascinating but complicated. I love the nostalgic simplicity of a vintage Little Golden Book or an old easy reader. Every time I read a vintage picture book, I am reminded to bring some of that same simplicity back into my home.

What do you think? Have you had the same experience with older kid's books?

vintage picture book to love! a boy named john by ruth and roland tiemann

October 13, 2016 ashley donati

Hi there! Welcome to our little cozy corner of the internet! I found this little retro gem online recently, and I had to have a copy. There is just something about the illustrations in vintage children's books that tug at the heart strings, and A Boy Named John is filled with that nostalgic charm. It is the story of John, a boy from London, England. John travels around the world, and he learns that in different countries, his name is different in different languages. In France, he is Jean. In Scotland, he is Ian.

Along with a different name, John learns that kids from each country like to eat different things, play different things, and more. I loved looking through this with my kids. I would love to get a second copy of this and frame some of the pages for our playroom!

Do you remember taking foreign language classes in junior high and high school? In the US, we typically can choose to learn French or Spanish, and on the first day of school, our teacher would give each student the French or Spanish version of their name. All of my classmates were Marie for Mary, Jaques for Jack, you get the picture. Apparently my name doesn't translate into French. Sadly, in any language, Ashley remains Ashley. A lovely name but I wanted the sophisticated mystique of a fancy French name. Ah, well. Moving on . . . .

Inspired by this book, it's fun to look up how your name changes in different languages and countries. My kids enjoyed googling our names and finding the ways they morph into new names around the world. Give it a go!