What a great idea, Melanie! I’m sure the finished product will be exquisite. Thanks for the reminder about Blurb—I really need to find a way to save my blog, and I think that’s it.
What a wonderful idea! I can’t wait to see pictures! I’ve been slowly working on a Liturgical Calendar for our family and only today might finish January! But I may add a Family Prayer Book to the project list! It sounds great!
That’s a lovely, lovely idea. You might enjoy Rachel Field’s classic A Prayer for a Child (“Bless this milk and bless this bread and bless this soft and waiting bed”). All my children have loved it. Also Sister Wendy has a nice prayer book with, of course, beautiful art work. If you don’t already know it, Lucy Milkelwaithe’s (something like that!) Child’s Book of Art is very special; another book all my children love. I will never forget overhearing my eldest (when 3) chattering on about the woman with the upside-down face while looking at some Picasso in the book. So many lovely books to discover.
Do you have any books illustrated by Eloise Wilken? Poems to Read to a Very Young Child is a must-have (and available in board book format) collection. I’ve given many copies as baby gifts. And Wilken illustrated several prayer books for children, published by Golden Books. Sweet and appealing. Put on your wish list a lovely old book called The Little Lamb of Bethlehem (I don’t know where I got it and it’s out of print but available for a penny) and my children have enjoyed Tomie dePaola’s The Clown of God and The Night of Las Posadas (sp?). I remember they loved pointing out the face of “Diablo!!!” Very Catholic vision. It inspired me to have a Las Posadas birthday party for my Christmas daughter. We processed all over the neighborhood seeking “room at the inn.” So much fun and half the people not even Catholic! Now I am babbling. But you would love dePaola’s Legend of the Bluebonnet; I can’t read it without remembering vividly the springtime blue hills of Las Colinas. God bless and keep you.
Oh yes, I’d like at some point to take all my blog entries about Isabella and my favorite photos of her and make them into a baby book for her. That’s the only kind I think blurb will be the perfect medium to do that. Though I hate to think what it will cost! I have a lot of material to go into such a book.
Sheila,
Oh yes, thank you for the recommendations. I do love books with good art in them.
I think the Rachel Fields book is on my wish list already, if not I’ll be sure to add it. I know the Micklethwaite book is on my list.
We do have Sister Wendy’s Child’s Book of Prayer in Art, which has lovely pictures (though not necessarily all pictures I’d have selected) but the meditations are a bit over Bella’s head.
Ah. I am guilty of doing that with books as well. I don’t do it with toys though. Cecilia is blessed with a grandmother who enjoys shopping on her wishlist so anything I put on it I have to make sure I want. Sometimes she shops randomly and I won’t even know to expect boxes. I’m in total agreement on the books though – you never know when they will not be in print and I’m a sucker for hardcovers. I’m hoping one day to be able to have a whole room as just the family library.
Cecilia likes the Melissa/Doug blocks though. She got a small stuffed bunny at Easter and at least once every day she insists we build a house for him with her blocks. Of course it never really has a roof, but it looks different every day!
oh oh oh!!! I have a beautiful child’s prayer book for you! I found it at a used book store and its from the 60s. It isn’t Catholic, but is full of beautiful real payers, not treacly except for one or 2. and the artwork is gorgeous. I have scanned and framed some of the art for Claire’s room. It is called “We Say Our Prayers” and is by Ideals Publishing. it can be found online and on ebay. Or I can find our flatbed scanner again and send you some pics. it is so so lovely!
With all the talk about books, I wound up on Amazon browsing and also looked at Bella’s wishlist. I noticed she has on there several of the Haba block sets. I just thought I would tell you that we have the medieval set and I’m thinking of selling it. They are nice blocks overall – smaller and lighter than the Melissa and Doug set. My issue with them is that their edges are much more defined so they have pointed corners. I also had one long triangular piece have a nice long strip splinter come off the edge, which I threw out and then had to sand down the piece before giving it back to Cecilia.
I think they are nice blocks for older children who can handle the corners and for whom I wouldn’t have to worry as much if some wood splinters off but with Felicity following close on Cecilia’s heels and hopefully more children to follow I am thinking of selling the Haba set and just getting a second Melissa and Doug set when Felicity is old enough.
Thanks for the advice about the HAba; but I’m not too concerned because I doubt we’ll be getting them any time soon. The wish list is really not age-specific; but a catch-all of things we can use now and things that I see now that I will want at some future point. Its mostly a reminder so I don’t forget. Almost no one actually buys off of it. At most we tend to get gift certificates. And many items on the list, such as the blocks, are things that I want as much for myself as for Bella. I saw those blocks and started drooling… oh how I wish I’d had them when I was younger! Thus there are frequently items on the list that even if we got now would not see use for years.
Bella doesn’t use the blocks we have now very often. Really only when I pull them out to play with her. But I’m glad we have them because I know that they’re there when she is ready for them. And in the meantime I have fun with them and her cousins play with them when tey come over.
Same thing with many of the books. I’ve acquired books for our library that she may not use for years and years, books appropriate for ten and twelve year olds. But if I can get them for cheap now, I do so because they may not be so available when she’s ready for them.
I have started spinning off some of the books meant for much older children into a separate “homeschooling wish list”, just to make it easier for anyone who might want to buy Bella a book she can use now. I might move the blocks to that list as they really are meant for an older child.
Oh yes, I love Tomie dePaola. I remember we had the Clown of God when I was a child, it was one of my sister’s favorites. But my favorite was the Legend of the Bluebonnets. I even tried to write my own variation of that story when I was in junior high. It was one of the first books I got for Bella.
I love New England springs; but oh how I miss the bluebonnets in Texas. One of these years we’ll get back for a visit during bluebonnet season so I can get a photo of Bella and Sophie in the sea of my favorite blue flowers.
What a great idea, Melanie! I’m sure the finished product will be exquisite. Thanks for the reminder about Blurb—I really need to find a way to save my blog, and I think that’s it.
What a wonderful idea! I can’t wait to see pictures! I’ve been slowly working on a Liturgical Calendar for our family and only today might finish January! But I may add a Family Prayer Book to the project list! It sounds great!
That’s a lovely, lovely idea. You might enjoy Rachel Field’s classic A Prayer for a Child (“Bless this milk and bless this bread and bless this soft and waiting bed”). All my children have loved it. Also Sister Wendy has a nice prayer book with, of course, beautiful art work. If you don’t already know it, Lucy Milkelwaithe’s (something like that!) Child’s Book of Art is very special; another book all my children love. I will never forget overhearing my eldest (when 3) chattering on about the woman with the upside-down face while looking at some Picasso in the book. So many lovely books to discover.
Do you have any books illustrated by Eloise Wilken? Poems to Read to a Very Young Child is a must-have (and available in board book format) collection. I’ve given many copies as baby gifts. And Wilken illustrated several prayer books for children, published by Golden Books. Sweet and appealing. Put on your wish list a lovely old book called The Little Lamb of Bethlehem (I don’t know where I got it and it’s out of print but available for a penny) and my children have enjoyed Tomie dePaola’s The Clown of God and The Night of Las Posadas (sp?). I remember they loved pointing out the face of “Diablo!!!” Very Catholic vision. It inspired me to have a Las Posadas birthday party for my Christmas daughter. We processed all over the neighborhood seeking “room at the inn.” So much fun and half the people not even Catholic! Now I am babbling. But you would love dePaola’s Legend of the Bluebonnet; I can’t read it without remembering vividly the springtime blue hills of Las Colinas. God bless and keep you.
Karen,
Oh yes, I’d like at some point to take all my blog entries about Isabella and my favorite photos of her and make them into a baby book for her. That’s the only kind I think blurb will be the perfect medium to do that. Though I hate to think what it will cost! I have a lot of material to go into such a book.
Sheila,
Oh yes, thank you for the recommendations. I do love books with good art in them.
I think the Rachel Fields book is on my wish list already, if not I’ll be sure to add it. I know the Micklethwaite book is on my list.
We do have Sister Wendy’s Child’s Book of Prayer in Art, which has lovely pictures (though not necessarily all pictures I’d have selected) but the meditations are a bit over Bella’s head.
Ah. I am guilty of doing that with books as well. I don’t do it with toys though. Cecilia is blessed with a grandmother who enjoys shopping on her wishlist so anything I put on it I have to make sure I want. Sometimes she shops randomly and I won’t even know to expect boxes. I’m in total agreement on the books though – you never know when they will not be in print and I’m a sucker for hardcovers. I’m hoping one day to be able to have a whole room as just the family library.
Cecilia likes the Melissa/Doug blocks though. She got a small stuffed bunny at Easter and at least once every day she insists we build a house for him with her blocks. Of course it never really has a roof, but it looks different every day!
oh oh oh!!! I have a beautiful child’s prayer book for you! I found it at a used book store and its from the 60s. It isn’t Catholic, but is full of beautiful real payers, not treacly except for one or 2. and the artwork is gorgeous. I have scanned and framed some of the art for Claire’s room. It is called “We Say Our Prayers” and is by Ideals Publishing. it can be found online and on ebay. Or I can find our flatbed scanner again and send you some pics. it is so so lovely!
Hey Melanie,
With all the talk about books, I wound up on Amazon browsing and also looked at Bella’s wishlist. I noticed she has on there several of the Haba block sets. I just thought I would tell you that we have the medieval set and I’m thinking of selling it. They are nice blocks overall – smaller and lighter than the Melissa and Doug set. My issue with them is that their edges are much more defined so they have pointed corners. I also had one long triangular piece have a nice long strip splinter come off the edge, which I threw out and then had to sand down the piece before giving it back to Cecilia.
I think they are nice blocks for older children who can handle the corners and for whom I wouldn’t have to worry as much if some wood splinters off but with Felicity following close on Cecilia’s heels and hopefully more children to follow I am thinking of selling the Haba set and just getting a second Melissa and Doug set when Felicity is old enough.
Thanks for the advice about the HAba; but I’m not too concerned because I doubt we’ll be getting them any time soon. The wish list is really not age-specific; but a catch-all of things we can use now and things that I see now that I will want at some future point. Its mostly a reminder so I don’t forget. Almost no one actually buys off of it. At most we tend to get gift certificates. And many items on the list, such as the blocks, are things that I want as much for myself as for Bella. I saw those blocks and started drooling… oh how I wish I’d had them when I was younger! Thus there are frequently items on the list that even if we got now would not see use for years.
Bella doesn’t use the blocks we have now very often. Really only when I pull them out to play with her. But I’m glad we have them because I know that they’re there when she is ready for them. And in the meantime I have fun with them and her cousins play with them when tey come over.
Same thing with many of the books. I’ve acquired books for our library that she may not use for years and years, books appropriate for ten and twelve year olds. But if I can get them for cheap now, I do so because they may not be so available when she’s ready for them.
I have started spinning off some of the books meant for much older children into a separate “homeschooling wish list”, just to make it easier for anyone who might want to buy Bella a book she can use now. I might move the blocks to that list as they really are meant for an older child.
Oh yes, I love Tomie dePaola. I remember we had the Clown of God when I was a child, it was one of my sister’s favorites. But my favorite was the Legend of the Bluebonnets. I even tried to write my own variation of that story when I was in junior high. It was one of the first books I got for Bella.
I love New England springs; but oh how I miss the bluebonnets in Texas. One of these years we’ll get back for a visit during bluebonnet season so I can get a photo of Bella and Sophie in the sea of my favorite blue flowers.