A Great Celebration and Two Great Books

This past week we celebrated Easter and my youngest nephew's birthday. His birthday is significant because my father passed away three days before he was born, and this is how I keep track of how long he's been gone. In addition, during our time of sorrow those six years ago, my nephew's birth gave us a reason to rejoice and to this day he continues to bring great joy to our family!

The first book I read for my review brought me joy as well. When I saw it on the shelf at my library, a little tingle went up my spine as I immediately recognized it as a book by my friend and fellow Ohioan, Lisa Amstutz. Lisa's book, Applesauce Day, tells the tale of a family and a special pot. A pot that has been used through the generations to make applesauce. A simple, ordinary pot signifying family ties, stories, love, and traditions. A pot passed from Great Grandmother to Grandmother to Daughter. A pot that causes a little girl to dream of the day it will be passed on to her.

Besides a wonderful story that both children and adults will enjoy, Lisa gives added value by including her family's recipe for applesauce and some interesting apple facts. So if you've never tried home made applesauce and have a love of stories that encourage family togetherness, run out and grab a copy for yourselves.

The second book I read, made me laugh. I laughed not because the pages contained humor, but because it rang true. In Little Rabbit and the Meanest Mother on Earth, a small rabbit wants to go to the circus, but his mother tells him he can't go until he cleans his playroom. Grumbling and complaining the entire time, Little Rabbit manages to make more of a mess instead of tidying up and loses his chance to attend. He decides to sneak out and only to find that the Ringmaster will not let him join the circus unless he has a talent causing Little Rabbit to declare that he has the Meanest Mother on Earth.

The Ringmaster tells him if he can sell 100 tickets he can bring his mother and join the circus. Several exaggerations later he has sold his tickets and conned his mother into coming. Needless to say the crowd are not wowed by the ordinary, non mean looking mother. How the story ends is quite heartwarming, but I don't want to give too much away, so just grab a copy from your nearest book store or library.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.