W is for Webster: Noah Webster and His American Dictionary, by Tracey E. Fernand illustrated by Boris Kulikov, is a picture book biography of the man who created the first dictionary of American words (which, he believed, were much different than British words). It started as a collection of words unique to the new country and developed into what became a comprehensive dictionary still popular today. Mr. Webster sounded like a rather quirky person. :-)

There are flowers to be found, even on a walk in the city and the little girl in the red coat gathers many of them. Find out what she does with them in this charming wordless book: Sidewalk Flowers, by Jon Arno Lawson and Sydney Smith. Worth several viewings!

Here's a sweet little book about a service long gone ... milk delivered to your door, by horse and cart! Tony, by Ed Galing and illustrated by Erin E. Stead nearly brought tears to my eyes. (I do remember milk coming to our door, but it was with a small truck, sadly, not a horse).

Reading Hermit With Dog

Canadian Reader got me started down this trail when she said she read a book about making the winter a little less dreary. Seems the Danes are masters at this (and there are now a lot of books out on this subject). It's called hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) and is a feeling of being warm and safe. The Book of Hygge: the Danish Art of Contentment, Comfort, and Connection, by Louisa Thomsen Brits was my first book on hygge and was most interesting! Part living a simple life, part less is more, part family and friends are important, it's a nice introduction to making simple and easy changes in your life.

Just why are the Danes such a cheerful people? There are scores of studies as to how dark, damp, cloudy weather can lead to depression and yet, in a country of many such days they repeatedly score high on surveys of life satisfaction. Happy As a Dane:10 Secrets of the Happiest People in the World, by Malene Rydahl just might answer that question.

Move on to The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, by Meik Wiking. A shorter, quicker read this time, but full of wonderful ideas and recipes and suggestions on how to achieve hygge in your own life. Loved the ideas for cozy spaces, warm sweaters and wool socks.

Reading Hermit With Dog

Here's the sixth, and maybe the last (?) in the Magical Bakery Mystery series by Bailey Cates: Spells and Scones. This time a popular talk show host and author is the victim. Seems her advice was not always welcome! As always, I enjoyed the interaction of the main characters and there was an ... interesting twist concerning Katie and her familiar.

Among the books that Canadian Reader left for me was The Three Sisters Bar & Hotel, by Katherine Govier. A nice blend of real and imaginary people and events. Epic in it's scope, it spans a century. From the affects of the Canadian Pacific Railroad on a small town, to fossils and a scientific expedition that has tragic results, to bison rustling and chasing butterflies, this is a worthy read.

This is the first in a mystery series featuring a most unusual main character ... an undercover cop who is a grandmother! Learn just what she does and meet the colorful characters in the colorful town of Fuschia, Minnesota in Granny Hooks a Crook, by Julie Seedorf. Thanks go to Crafty Reader for this one! :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog

Did a strange noise wake you up one late winter night? What was it? Follow along with Bear to find out just what all those odd noises are in Crinkle, Crackle, CRACK It's Spring!, by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by John Shelley.

Every thing is brown. You plant seeds. And wait. And wait. The birds are interested. The bugs are busy. And you wait. Through rainy days and sunny days. Until, suddenly it seems, it's no longer brown. Make the wait easier and read and then it's spring, by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin E. Stead.

I loved this book! It rhymes (see if you can figure them out before you open the fold), it's bright and colorful, it's a wonderful transition from winter to spring! Abracadabra, It's Spring! by Anne Sibley O'Brien and illustrated by Susan Gal is a fold-out book worth several viewings.

Reading Hermit With Dog

The President's House: a History, by William Seale, is an amazing two volume set about the White House. Imagine back to a time when D.C. was still pretty much a frontier city to present day (well, 2008)! Situated on a mosquito infested swamp, it gave easy access to the Potomac, the river that would give access to the west (as it was, in those days). Unfinished when the first of the First Families moved it, laundry really was hung out to dry in one of the rooms. Jefferson drove everyone nuts by not having a seating arrangement for the fancy dinners, people were to sit wherever they wanted. When Jackson was president, the stables and barns were still not far away. When the windows for the State Dining Room were open ... well ... you can image what sort of aroma wafted in! Read about when indoor plumbing is added (just cold water to start with), gas lights, then electric and how various presidents modified the rooms to their tastes. And that's just in volume one!

In Volume Two you'll read about staff changes: the first housekeeper was hired and she ruled with an iron fist! She was not well liked but still served for 17 years. Other changes included a swimming pool (later described as more of an exercise pool), a bomb shelter, new curtains and wall paper, and, of course, serious renovations (Truman era). The wiring was updated, phones, tvs, and computers added. It was fun reading about the house this time, rather than the people living there (although there were bits about them, too). :-) My copy is the second edition (the most recent) and ends in 2008.

Then, for something completely different, try White House: Confidential. The Little Book of Weird Presidential History (third edition), by Gregg Stebben and Austin Hill. This book is about the folks living in the President's House (and what an odd bunch they are, and were)! There are scandals, naturally, and information 'leaks', but also dealing with those embarrassing family members with bad behavior.

Reading Hermit With Dog

Though there were hints of spring, back in March of 1888, in New York City, the day started wet and rainy and miserable .... and then got worse. It became the worst blizzard in U.S. history, and changed several things. At that time the agency providing weather forecasts closed on Sundays (until 5 pm), the city had made no preparations so no deliveries could be made (coal, milk, food), power and phone lines snapped, leaving great areas isolated. All that would change: the Weather Service would operate full time, sanding trucks and snow plows were prepped and ready to go, and power lines (and transportation) would move underground. City of Snow: the Great Blizzard of 1888, by Linda Oatman High and illustrated by Laura Francesca Filippucci is a picture book retelling of that famous event. The pictures alone will make you cold!

Here's a book with wonderful pictures to illustrate the transition from winter to spring: In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb, by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully. The lion is fierce and rowdy until ... well, when? Read the book and find out!

Spring Walk, by Virginia Brimhall Snow if filled with wonderful pictures and clever verse all about the flowers seen in spring. Gardener or not, give it a try. :-)

Here's a nice little poetry book to celebrate a change in seasons: Ordinary Things: Poems from a Walk in Early Spring, by Ralph Fletcher with drawings by Walter Lyon Krudop. The poems were nice and short and bring up wonderful images.

Reading Hermit With Dog

St. Patrick is credited with driving all the snakes out of Ireland. How did he do that? Did he get all of them? And if one was missed, what happened to it? The Last Snake: a Story About St. Patrick, by Sheila MacGill-Callah and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand will answer all these questions. Fun!

Kilt at the Highland Games, by Kaitlyn Dunnett is the most recent of the delightful mysteries set in Moosetookalook, Maine. As time draws near for the annual Celtic Festival things start to go wrong: there's a fire that destroys a local business, the murder of a local resident (okay, so he's not much loved) (!), someone breaks into the Post Office ... and more. How are these events all connected? Are they? Love the twist at the end involving the rather nasty visitor/customer to the Scottish Emporium! A nice series, especially if you are fond of plaid and bagpipes. :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog

Mushers are on the trail to Nome even as I keyboard this. How did it all get started? Find out in Father of the Iditarod: the Joe Redington Story, by Lew Freedman. Seeing that dog mushing was becoming less common (think snow mobiles) and old trails abandoned, Redington wanted to do something to preserve this important part of Alaska's past. He was a master at promotion (just look at the result)! There was not much money for that very first race so the same sign was used for both the start and the finish, it was just turned around! The finish line was marked with the mix for red Kool-Aid!

According to the blurb on the back of his book Beyond Ophir: Confessions of an Iditarod Musher, an Alaska Odyssey, author Jim Lanier caught the mushing bug in the 1970's (his first Iditarod was 1979). Read about his time with his dogs, on the trail, in training ... both good and bad, funny and sad. Easy to read, the author has a nice style. His descriptions made me happy I was inside, where it was warm! :-)

Remember when doctors made house calls? Now, imagine doing that in the Northwest Territories and you have House Calls by Dogsled: Six Years in an Arctic Medical Outpost, by Keith Billington. He and his wife were nurses who did much of the medical care in this remote area. Excellent read about the challenges here, and not just the medical ones ... when word got to the higher ups (far, far, away) a memo was sent that dogs could NOT be kept on a medical site (which is where they lived, pretty much available 24/7). Sometimes a doctor was needed ... enter one of the amazing bush pilots! ... and a community that gathered together with toilet paper and kerosene to make a landing strip.

I know you are not to judge a book by the cover, but this is a book I did pick up because of the cover. I'll admit it right up front, I have not ready any of Jack London's books, but even so, I really enjoyed Jack London's Grand North, by Philippe Lansac. Full of photos (by the author), excerpts from London's writings, pen and ink sketches, it was a great arm chair journey of where Jack London went when he was in the north.

Reading Hermit With Dog

Seems March 14th is National Potato Chip Day so for that why not try this tween mystery The Potato Chip Puzzles, by Eric Berlin? A local, successful business owner (potato chip factory!) has set up a competition featuring puzzles. Local schools (who figure out the first puzzle, which is the invitation) send teams to win money for their school.

Yes, I know it's March 11th, and the 14th falls on one of my usual posting dates ... but ... I also have a few more sled dog books to use and that seemed like it might be a good date for those. :-)

And, if you enjoy crossword puzzles, here are two authors that use them in their mysteries. I read several books from both series before I started my blog. They were fun! Parnell Hall writes the Puzzle Lady mysteries, start with Clue for the Puzzle Lady. The main character here is a hoot! She is actually the image for the puzzles, and couldn't actually create a crossword puzzle if her life depended on it (as the saying goes), but she is good at solving crime!

The Crossword Mystery Series is by the husband and wife team using the name Nero Blanc. Start with Crossword Murder.

Reading Hermit With Dog

Look! A counting book that is perfect for this time of year! Wiggle-Waggle Woof! Counting Sled Dogs in Alaska, by Cherie B. Stihier, with illustrations by Michael Bania. Count up ears and toes and booties and more in this charming tale of a musher getting his dogs harnessed and ready to run. Delightful!!

Here's a dog's eye view of the Iditarod: Eowyn and Linus On the Iditarod Trail, by Guy Henry (who also did the photographs). Just what might the dogs be thinking? Fun!

Sled dog teams have been used in Denali National Park since it's opening in 1917. Then it was more for catching poachers, now its mostly for public service and keeping trails open. Just how do the pups learn the skills they need? Find out in Running with the Big Dogs: a Sled Dog Puppy Grows Up in Denali National Park Alaska, by Lori Yanuchi and illustrated by Wendy Brown.

To heck with the seven dwarfs! Try this version of Snow White .... Alaska's Snow White and Her Seven Sled Dogs, by Mindy Dwyer. A nice twist on the old fairy tale, with beautiful illustrations.

Reading Hermit With Dog

A fun book for kids (and adults!) now: BEE: A Peek-Through Picture Book, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup (and text by Patricia Hegarty). Just like the Twelve Days of Christmas 'peek' book (January 5, 2017 post) the reader is given a peek into what is coming on a later page. Be sure to look for the animals amongst the flowers on the last page (with text, not the end pages). :-)

While some of Following the Wild Bees: the Craft and Science of Bee Hunting, by Thomas D. Seeley was a puzzlement (figuring out how to follow the bees back to where the honey was), I mostly enjoyed this book. (And those of you not so 'math challenged will understand what I didn't).;-) I liked that it is an outdoor activity that needs very little equipment, you don't need a permit or license ... and you don't need to set any speed records! Also, this is not a quest to GET the honey (which involves the death of the tree you'd cut down as well as the bee colony), just to find where the bees go. Thanks to Constant Reader for this recommendation. :-)

This book started when the author was walking with his daughter and she was asking about everything she saw. He decided that he needed to say more than just 'tree' or 'bird' and started doing his research. The result was Unseen City: the Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails, & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness, by Nathanael Johnson. Just what does live in our urban areas? What is edible? How did the plans and animals adapt? Charming and fun as well as educational.

Reading Hermit With Dog

It's the first Saturday in March and time for the Iditarod again and that means books about sled dogs!

This is part of a series of memories of an elder tribe member from Arviat, Nunavut. I hope there are many, and that others add to this collection! In Kamik: an Inuit Puppy Story, Donald Uluadluak explains to his grandson how he relied on dog teams when he was young, and about the bond of love and trust. Jake has dreams of his own team of dogs, but at the moment has just the one ... an energetic, mis-behaving puppy! The illustrations are by Qin Leng.

Jon Van Zyle is the official artist for the Iditarod. Has been for decades! Check out his wonderful work in Jon Van Zyle's Iditarod Memories: 40th Anniversary Edition of Official Race Art. His wife, Jona, provided the text. Amazing and wonderful!

"The history of Alaska was in large part written behind a team of sled dogs." This starts the blurb on the back of the book Alaskan Sled Dog Tales: True Stories of the Steadfast Companions of the North Country,by Helen Hegener which is a wonderful collection of stories that proves it! Just a wonderful collection (some from books mentioned in earlier posts) as well as some amazing photographs. My favorite may have been the chapter that featured sled dogs on the covers of popular magazines.

Reading Hermit With Dog

The tiny mouse is lonely and has just one friend ... the moon. Still, a conversation seems a bit one sided. What happens one night when he tries to get closer to his friend so they can talk? The Mouse and the Moon, by Gabriel Alborozo is a sweet story with nice illustrations.

Ted Harrison is a well known Canadian artist and in O Canada you will see why! This is a great introduction to the provinces and territories of the nation 'next door'.

 

Also from Ted Harrison comes A Northern Alphabet. This is more than an ABC book (it says so, right in the introduction!). Look carefully at each picture and find other things that start with the featured letter, then, make up a story using as many words that start with this letter as possible. So much fun!

Reading Hermit With Dog