Petunia

With the conviction that "he who owns books and loves them is wise," Petunia the silly goose, upon finding a book, sets off on a mission to help all her friends on the farm with her new found wisdom.

"If I take this Book with me, and love it, I will be wise, too And no one will call me a silly goose ever again," she concludes.

A series of slapstick calamity ensues and somewhere in the midst of all the mishap is the moral that it is "not enough to carry wisdom under my wing. I must put it in my mind and in my heart."

Roger Duvoisin wrote many other children's books in addition to creating the Petunia series. Interestingly, he liked to intertwine characters from one story into another, thereby weaving a number of cameo appearances of Petunia in his Veronica books and vice versa.

While some of the Petunia tales are out of print, fortunately, this vintage classic is still in print! I picked up my copy from a used bookstore some years ago and it warmed my heart to see that it was also a Weekly Reader Children's Book Club edition. Although I didn't originally receive it as part of my subscription as a child, it is a glad addition to my book club books collection.

Petunia
words & pictures by Roger Duvoisin
© 1950 Alfred A. Knopf

I Am An Owl

Rather like a book of riddles, part of the fun of reading through the pages is to guess what animal is featured as you watch their eyes disappear into diminishing concentric circles. At the very end, guess which animal falls asleep?

This book can be a nice interactive diversion when you want a break from toys but your child is still in a playful mood. Alas, this is an out-of-print book, and I can't even remember where I picked up my copy. This type of book never claims perpetual reprintings yet often ends up as a perennial favorite if part of your home library. A friend's daughter has something similar, where you can turn different pages to guess different animal heads and bodies as well as mix and match them to create new animals. It was another thrift shop find at $1, but it was her FAVORITE book. Books like these are more or less rarities nowadays, so keep your eyes open when perusing garage sales or thrift shops.

We live in water, in rivers and seas,

Blowing out bubbles, not making a sound.

Men try to catch us with nets and with rods,

But we flick our tails and swim round and round.

What are we?

Fishes.

I am an Owl

words by Yvonne Hooker

pictures by Giorgio Vanetti

© 1983 Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

Pulelehua and Mamaki

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday marks the end of a long week and is the day to relax, take it easy, and embrace the promised leisure of the weekend. As fun as it is to hit the waves at the beach, sometimes curling up with a nice book can be just as pleasurable, if not an easier way, to fill up a lazy afternoon, especially when you have one or more toddlers in tow.

Surprisingly, in Honolulu alone, there are more than a dozen or so locally owned publishing houses that produce everything from tourist publications to local fiction. To acknowledge these brave efforts of regional publishing, Little Paper Hen will feature a Hawaii children's book every week.

Our first Aloha Friday book comes from an imprint of Bishop Museum Press, the publisher that is indeed linked to that famous museum. True to their mission, they specialize in books about Hawaiian culture, literature, history, and all things Hawaiiana.

Pulelehua and Mamaki is at once many things: a story, a lesson, a gentle message that mother nature is intertwined harmoniously and perfectly.

Though it tells the familiar tale of a caterpillar who turns into a butterfly, this book goes deeper by starring the Kamehameha Butterfly and the Mamaki tree, two species that are endemic to Hawaii. Because they are found nowhere else on earth, the account of Pulelehua the caterpillar's journey from egg to butterfly, and the role Mamaki the tree takes as his protector, is all the more metaphorical of the larger story about mother nature's challenge to thrive.

Janice Crowl, local writer and resident, who shares her passion for gardening and botany with children through her story books, captures the sentimentality we should all feel towards nature and her kingdom. It is marvelous and complex, but also very fragile. Books like hers inspire us to take a mindful look at the natural world that surrounds us.

The illustrations are beautifully done by local native Hawaiian artist, Harinani Orme, whose signature style has always been her portraiture of Hawaiian aumakua (family gods) and folklore characters. Here, she creates a microcosmic world that seems magical but is indeed very real, and can continue to survive, if we as humans do our part to be good stewards of mother nature.

This wonderful book offers a little bit of fable, culture, and natural science, making it a very valuable addition to your child's collection. At the end, there is a short section that presents a Hawaiian glossary, a gardening tutorial, botanical facts as well as an exquisite diagram of the Kamehameha Butterfly's life cycle.

Pulelehua and Mamaki rightly won the 2010 Hawai'i Book Publishers Association Award for Excellence in Children's Literature at the Ka Palapala Po'okela Awards, which means many others love this book too.

Pelelehua and Mamaki
words by Janice Crowl
pictures by Harinani Orme
© 2009 Kamahoi Press

Miffy at the Zoo

Dick Bruna is quickly becoming one of our household's favorite author/illustrator. He was set to inherit a family publishing business but instead decided to branch out on his own as a graphic designer and maker of children's books. Bruna defined his own style through his Miffy series, a repertoire of eponymous stories about a little bunny. His drawings are so distinctive that Miffy has become a brand of her own, especially embraced by a large Japanese following.

A design aficionado myself, I love Miffy's aesthetic nod to Hello Kitty and other assorted kawaii (cute) characters. In fact, over the past year, I have made a concerted effort to collect as many Bruna books as possible, finding a few at bookstores and the rest at random sources such as library sales, thrift shops, and even the Punahou Carnival.

From our modest stash of Miffy books, Wa-wa's favorite is Miffy at the Zoo.

While it is a pretty straightforward story, the prose has a nice rhyming pattern like a poem. Miffy's father takes her to the zoo and they visit all kinds of fun animals. They even hop on a train to get to the zoo, and while it is not the plot's highlight, any book with a train is a winner with Wa-wa. Miffy is such an adorable little bunny that she is sure to win over many hearts, little boys included. 

Miffy at the Zoo
words & pictures by Dick Bruna
© 1963 by Mercis Publishing, Amsterdam, Netherlands
© 2003 English translation by Mercis Publishing

I am a Bunny

Many fields and forests away from the world of busy town, on the outskirts of a nearby countryside, lives a little bunny named Nicholas.

Nicholas is the child in all of us. He likes to chase butterflies, watch the frogs, and blow dandelion seeds into the sky.

The theme of seasons and the beautiful changes that mother nature cycles through are vibrantly illustrated by veteran children's book illustrator Richard Scarry. And here's a sweet (but unverified) tidbit: Author Ole Risom must have written the story for his son, who is named none other than Nicholas.

The details in the illustrations—from the splash of rain drops and fiery autumn leaves to the intricate patterns on butterfly wings—are so vivid yet dreamy enough to capture the gentle tone of Nicholas's world. There is also an innocence about Nicholas and his days playing outside and interacting with the natural world around him that I appreciate.

Last year, I had the privilege of meeting a Portland filmmaker named Meg Merrill who screened her latest film PLAY AGAIN in Honolulu last year. She shared that since the onset of the digital "revolution," today's kids spend most of their time indoors, behind screens (tv, computer, video games, cell phone) than they do playing outside, unplugged. Statistics average it to a boggling 7 daily hours per child, which is almost a work day! I know as adults, most of us are engaged in important, world-saving tasks when behind a screen (ahem), but these are children! How productive and healthy can their virtual habits—in some cases, addiction—be?

Perhaps it's time to go back to the basics. 

Play outside, go bare feet, feel a ladybug crawl on your arm.

Simplicity is sublime.

And don't forget to read a real book, the kind with pages where you feel its weight in your hands. Even that book with the old musty smell. Sometimes, those books have the best stories inside.

I am a Bunny
words by Ole Risom
pictures by Richard Scarry
© 1963, renewed 1991 by Random House/Little Golden Books

A Day on the Farm

With the exception of that initiation period into parenthood when we couldn't manage anything beyond the diaper changes and feedings, I am happy to realize that my husband and I have made reading together with our little boy a household tradition since he was two months old!

A Day on the Farm is a favorite read that started since Wa-wa was in fact, in utero. Our copy is a bona fide vintage Little Golden Book as it belonged to my husband since he was a little boy. This book has been so loved and well-read that the cover is long gone and the title page had to be taped back in place.

Follow Farmer Brown around his farm as he feeds the animals in the morning.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!" says the old red hen.

This happens to be Wa-wa and Baba's favorite page: The pig likes to have his back scratched with a stick. "Oink, oink," he grunts. He is very pleased.

While Farmer Brown works outside, his family gets ready for a full day ahead too. Sally and Sam go to school while Mrs. Brown bakes a chocolate cake because Aunt Alice and Uncle Tom are coming over to supper. 

The cake is so delicious that Uncle Tom eats three pieces!

After everyone goes home it's time to go to bed. Tomorrow is another busy day.

This book is a gem in our collection for its sentimental value more than anything else. After all, there are lots of farm and country living tales out there to choose from. I do admit, however, to an almost obsessive penchant for Little Golden Books, especially the ones that depict wholesome stories from the days of yesteryear. I would love for my little Wa-wa to enjoy such an idyllic childhood as Sally and Sam, and we try in our own way here in sunny urban paradise (beach, anyone?)

A Day on the Farm

words by Nancy Fielding Hulick

pictures by John P. Miller

© 1960 by Western Publishing Company, Inc.