Purple Kappa

Lakewood Library Sale

When I was a book dealer I used to go to library sales all the time, searching for out of print books. Most of the sales you needed to get there early to get the good stuff--some of them a couple of hours before they started. It was fun though, there were almost other people you'd recognize standing in line and you could stand around and chat until the big moment when the doors opened. I haven't been to a library sale in ages, but a few weeks ago Lakewood had its annual big arts festival, which coincided with a library sale. So I decided to stop in with the girls and see if I could find anything.

A Book of Christmas by Tasha Tudor in Japanese, which is a double treat. Mr. Pudgins used to be a highly desirable book but it doesn't look as though it goes for much lately so I'm going to keep this copy for myself (I still sell books from time to time on Amazon if I find something really good). Mr. Pudgins is an elderly man who arrives to babysit three children and magical things happen--soda pop comes out of the faucets and he invites their shadows to come and play. The last book is a Dick and Jane reader from 1965 when the illustrations were changed to include Hispanic, Asian and African-American children.

inside The Book of Christmas

There is also a pop-up Advent Calendar--another one for my collection!

The Year of the Christmas Dragon

Every Christmas when I was a child, my parents would either make or give me an ornament with my name and the date on it. When I moved out, I was able to take all the ornaments with me to decorate the tree in my new apartment. I've continued this tradition with Miranda and Ivy. I used to buy the ornaments myself, and give them to the girls when we put up the tree, but last year I thought my might enjoy picking them out themselves. This year they both chose dragons

The ornaments will go nicely with this book I picked up a few years ago at a library sale

It's about a dragon that somehow travels from China to Mexico (I read it a while ago, so am a bit fuzzy on the plot) and falls asleep in a cave, where many years later he is discovered by a little boy, Pepe. Should be good for our advent activity of reading Christmas stories.

Edith Flack Ackley

I bought a copy of How to Make Dolls for Fun and Profit for a great price from Vanessadell69. It's pretty beat up (as described) but I wanted it for the patterns and those are just fine

I remember this book in the library when I was a kid, but it didn't really appeal to me back then--I think maybe the dolls were too simple? Which is exactly what I like about it now. It's just a cookie cutter pattern--head, body and limbs are all one piece, but somehow the way you stuff it gives it a nice shape

The dolls proved to be popular enough that Edith Flackley was able to start a career with them. I especially love this excerpt from the book

The book was published in 1938 so I realize that two to five dollars was decent money for making dolls, but still!

There are patterns for a variety of dolls

as well as all their clothes

The seller described the book as having writing on the pages, which didn't bother me but when I received the book, I was rather delighted to find out the writing was all sorts of notes jotted down by the previous owner--ranging from Christmas decorating to tips on household cleaning.

The dolls continue to be popular, there are a variety of online sources showing vintage dolls people have collected, as well as new ones made from the original patterns. My plan is to make one for Ivy for Christmas, to look like the doll in one of her favorite books, The Story of Holly and Ivy. Which I need to get started on, how many days until Christmas?!

Kitchen Gardens

My plans to finish the smocks for the shop by Monday were thwarted by our 90 degree weather. I worked yesterday at the theater for four hours with no air conditioning, no fans and no open windows--it was just stifling. It was worse for the poor actors, who are running around under hot lights. When I got home I was too exhausted to do anything, besides--no air conditioning here either. I have a fan in the window but right now it just feels like being in a convection oven, blowing in hot air. It's supposed to cool off by tonight so maybe I can get something done then.

But my herb garden is thriving in the sunny weather

This is one of my favorite gardening books

Betty Crocker's Kitchen Gardens by Mary Mason Campbell and illustrated by Tasha Tudor. Back when I was selling books online, I used to go to sales nearly every weekend. I'd found this a few times to sell, and finally decided to keep a copy for myself. It's pretty basic, but has some good suggestions for arranging a garden in a small area, as well as a few recipes. And of course, the charming pictures by Tasha Tudor

It's out of print but reasonably priced copies are available here:

Kitchen Gardens

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower

One of my favorite books when I was young was Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden. I know I was in elementary school, but I can't remember exactly how old

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are two little Japanese dolls. The story is about an little girl named Nona who has come from India to live with her English cousins. Everything is very strange to her and she is desperately homesick. When a distant relative sends the dolls, she realizes they must find every thing as strange as she does. She enlists the aid of her cousin Tom in building them a proper Japanese house.

The book is many descriptions of Japanese customs--the Tanabata Festival, how a traditional Japanese house is furnished, clothing, food--there are even plans to build your own Japanese house included in the back of the book. It's such a lovely story--through her efforts to make the dolls feel at home, Nona realizes she is part of the family as well.

I adored this book, and wanted my own Japanese doll. I finally got one--this little girl arrived today

She's seen a lot of wear--she's missing some fingers on each hand, her head has a long crack around the middle, her paint is worn and her kimono is tearing in a few places. She's a lot bigger than Miss Happiness and Miss Flower--they were dollhouse dolls, only 5 inches high and she's about 12 inches. But I'm so happy looking at her sitting on my shelf, I'd like to think I've rescued her and given her a place to rest.

In looking for websites on Japanese dolls, I found this one about the Friendship Doll Exchange between Japan and the US Friendship Dolls.

I wonder if such a program still exists--it seems like a great project for our homeschooling group.

Mary Frances Books

When Miranda was a baby I started buying reprints of some of the books in the Mary Frances series. I have the sewing, the housekeeper and the garden books. I thought they were out of print again, but it looks as though they are still available for sale directly from the Lacis website , along with some other books by the same author that look intriguing

They've been sitting on my shelf in my sewing room, but recently I picked one up and started leafing through it again, remembering the patterns for wonderful doll clothes. Full size patterns are included in the back of the book, but I find you need some knowledge of sewing or the instructions are a bit confusing. A number of sewing techniques are also demonstrated. But the best thing is the clothing! With some adjustment of patterns I already own, I think I should be able to transform these into clothing for children. I'm already inspired to make an afternoon dress like the one in the picture, and the pinafore is lovely as well.

There are also 4 glossy color plates and numerous drawings. It's nice to find forgotten inspiration on your own bookshelves!

Favorite Children's Books

Laura at Rehearsal Times Over tagged me for this meme. Hurrah! I hardly ever get tagged! “List your (and your kids’) current seven favorite children’s books, along with their authors. Then, if you’re so inclined, tag seven fellow bloggers to do the same.” I think I will have a difficult time limiting myself to seven as well

1. The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden. Kizzie lives with her great-great-grandmother in a caravan on the outskirts of the Admiral's property. The residents of the small village tolerate them, but just barely. When Kizzie's grandmother dies, there doesn't seem to be anywhere for Kizzie to go until quiet Miss Brooke offers to foster her and provides exactly the sort of home Kizzie needs. This was reprinted a few years ago as Gypsy Girl, which really irritates me because Kizzie isn't a Gypsy, she's half Gypsy--a diddakoi in the romani language, and this is an important aspect of the story.

2. The Changeling by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Shy, timid Martha becomes friends with Ivy Carson--of the notorious Carson family. But Ivy is different from the rest of her family, and she explains to Martha that she's actually a changeling, a fairy child switched with the real Carson baby. Wonderfully realistic and imaginative. I read this over and over as a kid and wished I had a friend like Ivy.

3. The Dorrie books by Patricia Coombs. Dorrie is a little witch whose hat is always crooked and her socks never match. She lives with her mother, The Big Witch, Cook, and her black cat Gink. I have almost all the books in this series, except for the elusive Dorrie's Magic and Dorrie's Play. My daughters love these as well--Dorrie is constantly getting into trouble, bungling things up and annoying her mother but in the end she's always the one who is able to set things right.

4. The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling--I've read the first four numerous times and we are in the midst of reading them aloud to Miranda, we're up to book five. If I had read these when I was younger, I think I would have fallen into a deep depression that an owl never showed up to let me know I'd been accepted to Hogwarts. The first one remains my favorite.

5. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett--I admired Sara so much and wanted to be just like her. Sara is the prized pupil at Miss Minchin's School for Girls, thanks to her rich papa. Sara isn't spoiled at all, she loves to read and is kind to everyone, including the scullery maid Becky. But when her father dies after losing all his money, Sara is banished to a cold, dark attic room and forced to work for her keep.

6. The Letter, the Witch and the Ring by John Bellairs-- this is the third in a series that features Lewis Barnavelt and his best friend Rose Rita. Lewis lives with his uncle Jonathon, who is a wizard. Next-door-neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman is a friendly witch. This book is mostly about Rose Rita, who travels to Michigan with Mrs. Zimmerman to see the farm she (Mrs. Zimmerman) just inherited from her cousin Oley. Soon they find themselves involved in a mystery involving a magic ring and a long held grudge.

7. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden--Nona has come from India to London to live with her cousins and is desperately homesick. She receives two little Japanese dolls as a gift and decides to build them a real Japanese house with the help of her cousins--helping herself to feel a part of the family in the process. The back of the book includes plans to build your own Japanese house which I've always wanted to do.

I tag Echoes of a Dream, Fluffy Flowers, Montessori By Hand, Mr. Monkeysuit, Zhinkadinkadoo, Norththreads and Zippypops