We're Going to the Farmers' Market

 By Stephan Page

You know me.  I'm a pretty big hippie.  And I'm all about fruits and veg and farmers' markets.  But I picked this book up primarily because the art was appealing.  It was the nicest looking book at the library that week and, believe me, I looked through each one.  I thought maybe my son would recognize the food and be mildly interested.  Plus it's in verse, and he will currently only sit still for board books with verse.

Well, the verse is not metered.  They tried and failed.  Badly.  So my son hated it because he's so damn picky.

 But the pictures are still nice.  Lots of geometric  shapes and symmetry and simple colours and patterns.  It's very pretty.

I wish there was no text.  They tried to do a version of "To Market, To Market to Buy a Fat Pig" and got lost in this sustainability message.  It's so heavy handed that it felt like they were trying to make my children feel bad for straying from the 100 mile diet.

Plus, this meal.  Like, I would eat that, sure.  And I always serve good food for my kids.  We eat food from just about any culture and keep a variety of spices in the house.  But my one year old is not eating fish and olives.  In fact, he's teething and refuses anything that isn't blended into mush and snuck into his mouth in between bites of cracker.  And furthermore, with a baby in the house, is it possible to make labour intensive meals?  No, really, I'm curious.  When do I get to stop making casseroles?  Also, I don't take kids to market under the age of 3 if I can help it because grabbing groceries and paying for them with an angry toddler in your arms is the worst experience.

Is this a board book that teaches toddlers about everything they're missing out on because they can't get it together and eat real food and behave at the store?  Or is this is a board book for 6 year olds?  I can't decide.

Moose

 By Michael Foreman

This is an anti-war book.  Moose won't fight like Eagle and Bear, and instead builds a monument to peace that inspires all the animals to lead peaceful lives.

 This book is also about teamwork, building a community, and the pleasure that singing brings.

It is also full of puns.

It's pretty heavy handed, but it isn't completely terrible.  Dated, maybe, but not terrible.  The kids really like it, and it has a seriously hippie message (and I'm a pretty big hippie in a lot of ways), so I give it a pass.

The Lorax

By Dr. Seuss

I assumed this was a classic because they made a movie.  I don't have a lot of positive feelings towards this book.  I mean, I'm an environmentalist, for sure, but this was pretty heavy handed.

I feel like either you tell a morality tale, or you teach kids to read with nonsense words.  I guess it might be possible to combine the two, but this seems to me to be a failed attempt.  Too much compromise on both counts.  No kid learning to read is going to work his way through this many paragraphs. 

The morality part of it seems a little far to the left.  Like, of the "let's all live in the forest and eat bird droppings" variety.  Understand, I'm about as left leaning as they come, politically speaking, and this book still seemed a little weird.  And then the ending is kind of up in the air, which doesn't work for young kids. 

My 3 year old did not understand this story at all.  And was bored.  It's probably appropriate for a 5 year old.  By the time I was 5, I was bored with Dr. Seuss, but to each their own.  Overall, I guess it's okay as a book about sustainable living, but surely there's something better out there that doesn't rhyme?  Maybe even non-fiction?

Friday Post - Christmas Wrapping

If there's one thing I hate about Christmas, let's say it's the ONLY thing I hate about Christmas, it's the wrapping paper.  Mounds of it.  Heaps of it.  And it all gets thrown out.  I've been making my own bags out of discount Christmas cotton for  few years now.  I did a new design this year.

I made a base square and  cut out a strip long enough to sew all the way around.  Then I folded over one of the short sides of the strip to make a clean edge.  I started sewing the strip onto the base from the folded side.

 I was pretty wobbly around the corners, because who cares.  Nobody is going to check for wrinkles, and it doesn't have to fit a person, just a lumpy present.

 When I got to the end, I let the long strip overlap.  I then sewed overtop of it, leaving the seam visible.

I cut two pieces of ribbon that were long enough to meet in the middle and tie into a bow along the width of the bag and sewed them onto the side edges.  I then cut one long piece of ribbon that was the entire length of the bag and sewed it onto the top edge.
I wrapped all of those ribbons around, and tying them to each other so that they tugged on the edge and closed everything off.

It looks a bit lumpy, sure.  But It's so much less mess, and they store so easily.  Heck, when it's time to put them away, you could use them for packing up all of your ornaments..

Plus, it's an excuse to buy crazy Christmas fabric.