Mystic Horse

 I’ve been stuck on this Paul Goble book lately, because it tells the story of an old,...

Paul Goble brings his Mystic Horse from abject…

… to glorious. Mystic Horse, by Paul Goble. 

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

By Paul Goble  The 1979 Caldecott Medal winner, with good reason.  The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses...

From Paul Goble’s The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses I...

“The tired horses slowed and then stopped and rested. Stars...”
— From Paul Goble’s The...

Once a Wolf

by Stephen R. Swinburne I’ve been saving this amazing book for a while, and I think it’s...

Once a Wolf is not all cheery calendar shots of reintroduced...

“We have so much to learn, but the wolves are teaching us. ...”
— Wolf Biologist Doug Smith,...

Common Ground

by Molly Bang Carolyn turns your kid into a tree-hugger, Part II. Common Ground is based on...

from Common Ground by Molly Bang. There is not enough...

“Long ago, a village was built around a commons. …All...”
— Common Ground by Molly Bang.

A River Ran Wild

Written and Illustrated by Lynne Cherry.  A River Ran Wild tells the story of a the Nashua River in...

In the many years that followed, the settlers’ village...

“Once again the river runs wild through a towering forest...”
— A River Ran Wild by Lynne...

Honschi

by Aline Glasgow; illustrated by Tony Chen  A really simple story about a chickadee who has a little...

“Filled with sudden joy, she soared upwards.” ...

Two photos today, because, as I say, the illustrations are...

The Story of Ruby Bridges

By Robert Coles  I actually got this from the library in order to have something special for Martin...

George Ford’s illustration for Robert Coles’ ...

“Every day, for weeks that turned into months, she walked to...”
— The Ruby Bridges Story

The Butterfly Counting Book

The Butterfly Counting Book by Jerry Pallotta works on several different levels. (Or trust me,...

Part of Mark Astrella’s illustration to TheButterfly...

“The Vipepeo with red or purple tips are still called Orange...”
— The Butterfly Counting Book

Butterfly House

by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Greg Shed I’m sticking with the butterfly theme for today (can...

Greg Shed’s illustration from Butterfly House. ...

“I think my Painted Ladies talk among themselves of how...”
— Butterfly House by Eve...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

by Eric Carle  Tonight I’m venturing away from the strange, unusual, and out of print.  Is...

Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s...

“One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and — pop!...”
— Eric Carle’s The Very...

Jafta and the Wedding

Heather has two mommies, but they take over the story. It’s hard to imagine a book that...

Lisa Kopper’s illustration to Hugh Lewin’s Jafta...

“The adults chased us away so we arranged our own wedding...”
— Jafta and the Wedding, by Hugh...

Tree of Birds

There’s much to love in Susan Meddaugh’s 1990 Tree of Birds.  The story begins with...

The birds’ angry eyebrows are priceless.  The the...

“Harry didn’t see the car hit the bird. He heard a...”
— Tree of Birds by Susan...

Goldilocks and the Three Bears (take...

James Marshall’s 1988 Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a exception to my rule about...

What more can I say? Goldilocks is a very bad girl. Her...

“But to tell the truth Goldilocks was one of those naughty...”
—  James Marshall’s...

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Sticking with the Jan Brett theme for today (and being brief because I’m about to serve a...

On the left you see Goldilocks, who’s actually part of...

“And what happened to Goldilocks afterwards, no one can tell....”
— Jan Brett’s Goldilocks

The Hat

By Jan Brett If you’re my age, you may not have known Jan Brett as a kid - the wonderful Fritz...

Poor hedgehog!

“I’ll be dry and cozy when it snows.”
— Hedgie

A Time to Keep

“Granny, what was it like when Mummy was like me?” is how this book begins.  It goes...

“December was the best of all times to keep.”
—  Tasha Tudor, A Time to Keep

Tasha Tudor’s watercolor illustrations are beyond...

Rapunzel

Paul O. Zelinsky’s Rapunzel, that is. The oil paintings that illustrate this book are...

No wonder it’s 1998’s Caldecott Medal winner.

“I thought I had kept you safe, away from the whole world,...”
— The Sorceress from Paul...

Snow White

If you’re going to do a fairy tale, it had better be gorgeous. Illustrator Nancy Ekholm Burkert...

This is a small part of a forest scene. In it you’ll see...

“But they had already put iron slippers over a fire of coals,...”
— Randall Jarrell’s text...

End Content.

 For anyone reading backwards, this post marks the end of content and the beginning of random...

Did you know there was bunny agility? (via Thowra_uk)

Snow collapsed a roof in Boston (AP Photo).  This is the...

Clever. 

Grownup Puppy of the Day, Regrettable Hookup Edition, Part...

For you, glow cat!

Glow cat!  Isn’t science wonderful?   (via...

Marco, it’s beautiful!  I could never kill it to make...

A few err… months ago, inspired by Marco’s weird fruit reviews, Dan bought a chinese melon.  We...

Caboo would like it to be known that...

Why is Paypal being such a bitch about confirmed addresses?  It’s a GIFT, no, I don’t...

My friend’s floor is strewn with German Shepherds. ...

Awesome, found on Digg National Geographic.

“I can’t figure out if the fact that the roads are...”
— Friend Paul, on winter in...

Broken reins? No problem.

Nine years old & still kicking ass.

Bluer than you.  Dan looked so good in his new suit that I...

This is a tremendous book of essays.

Ever classy, CNN.  I don’t believe I’ve ever...

“It would have been just another Q and A session. That is, if...”
— CNN.com - CNN Political...

I am so small and the Golden Gate bridge is so tall!  (Daily...

Delaware 'Sponging' Incident Probed |...

Dan’s not used to having hair that involves styling...

 The Daily Coyote: If The Cat Can Climb It, So Can I

The Daily Coyote

The 9 Most Badass Bible Verses | Cracked.com

“The training that goes into becoming an academic is...”
— Comments on Confessions of a...

My God.  I, too, did not think this was a real...

“His question was did I need to have a Muslim in my Cabinet...”
— CNN.com - CNN Political...

“It’s been kind of confusing following his description...”
— Hillary Clinton Seriously,...

A portrait of Queen Elizabeth that you've...

Adorableness: the world’s oldest equine twins -...

The relationship between horse slaughter and...

FHOTD was a bit sappy for Thanksgiving, rather delightfully...

Uh-oh.

You know how fruit flies increase in number until a critical point and then all suddenly die?  I...

ISO 100F4.5, 20 secondsWendover, UTA rest stop on the salt...

Yesterday's grownup puppy? It was like the...

Edinburgh, Scotland, Swans — National Geographic

Thanks, Marco.  Actually, it was this one that you scanned...

Have you seen today's Grownup Puppy of the...

Photodump, why with the sucking? About Carolyn 

They made my picture little.  It me displeases!

Why Does a Salad Cost More Than a Big Mac — azspot —...

I shook his hand with both of mine, and I said: “Thank...

“The oil tanker — designed during Soviet times to...”
— Russian oil tanker breaks in...

What on earth is this piece of tack?

Today’s Grownup Puppies are so snuggly!

I collect many cups on my desk by the end of the day. — marco Do we need to buy you a nalgene or a...

FreeRice

Why do I follow the auction news with such glee? I am...

Big Ten football worth three Super Bowls to...

Joe Bravo picks up three mounts for the...

Iris has said we should come visit her here.  The snow comes...

Last year Boston’s pumpkin festival was held on the...

[The Boston Pumpkin Festival] was held at Government Center...

Giant Lego man washed up on Dutch beach - ABC News

“Being a responsible newspaper, we must note that this is a...”
— Taking a Whack Against Comcast...

“Senechal has claimed that until she came along no one had...”
— A fool for the Folio |a review...

“The debate over whether or not women should be allowed to...”
— Confessions of a Community...

A Normal Lesson in Vocabulary, Until a Deer Bursts Through a...

Thanks, Jeff. 

Fall is here in Ann Arbor (as modeled by Elaine) (via Rich...

Conversation between Melanie and...

Mel: Oh, do you want to see this picture of Master Choi that my friend from France sent me? Amazing,...

National Geographic captioned it wrong! Both my eyes &...

Young Attwater’s prairie-chickens bask under a heating...

John Henry himself wasn’t much to look at as a baby,...

At a fiction reading tonight, Alan Cheuse quoted an interview in which Gabriel Garcia Marquez...

Mumtaz writes: I had the pleasure of seeing John for many...

I like it.

Ah, John Henry. Visiting you at the horse park was …...

The Liberty Tree and the Whomping...

Yes, that’s a real paper title from The Lion and the Unicorn.  It is my new literary-journal...

“The design of book covers helps to make a book something...”
— Alan Powers, Front Cover.

“The possible encounters.  A dead rat.  What an addition to...”
— Beckett, Company.

“The arguments are ridiculous to anyone who has been inside...”
— Hellen Mirren (Queen...

“Inasmuch as it is normal RSC practice to devote an entire...”
— Homer Swander’s...

This is the pretty daughter of Saddler’s Wells who...

Crew Parade

Who doesn’t like parades?One of the big events during the Tall Ships Race visit was a parade...

Since Dan is obsessed with fat Akitas and fluffy animals in...

A big weekend in horse-racing, with lots of horses having...

Curlin, facing older horses for the first time, noses out...

Hard Spun beats Street Sense, avenging the Derby.

Most girls only get to wear their wedding dress once… ...

National Geographic

A Barbara Livingston photo of Puchilingui.  Yes,...

Horrible cover art for the new printing of King of Shadows. ...

Compare to the hardcover version.

“At night I drank and my hostility came roaring out of its...”
— By God, I find something...

A photo a day - I like this one too.

A photo a day -  I love long exposures at night.

Workers collect colorful laundry from a rooftop clothesline...

“The modernist, touting the abyss like so much salable real...”
— Saul Bellow

John Henry's Health M