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www.rebeccagrabill.com/blog
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For the past year and a bit Mud Pie and I have been working on the Epic Victoria's Farmhouse dollhouse. At the outset I thought, "Oooh, fun I can write up tutorials! Like how to run electricity, how to ..." I don't know, build a dollhouse.
And I could write those tutorials. Because we're building the dollhouse inch by inch and learning a heap. But I'm not going to write tutorials. Why? Well, take a look and see.
Bricking the chimney: A tutorial on how to make the dollhouse chimney look like REAL BRICK with an old egg carton. Seriously, it's genius, simple and waaaaay easier than the floors. And clearly worked amazingly well. Find the tutorial here.
Electrical: The ins and outs of running tapewire (which autocorrect keeps changing to tapeworm. Um, not quite the same) in this tutorial here, which helped me see why my connections weren't working, and how to fix them!
General everythinging: The well-buried and hard-to-find "official" Victoria's Dollhouse assembly tips page! There are hundreds upon hundreds of photo-tutorials and tips for all the Real Good Toys dollhouses (tips transferrable to any dollhouse project). I mean, this page and the pages linked within are a treasure.
And when we finish the roof and glue on the porch, we'll stone up the foundation. Wouldn't you love to know how? Lookie here, someone has already written up a fabulous tutorial!
Plus my Pinterest where I will be pinning all the new, fabulous tutorials as I need them.
Here is a delightful and educational book about ... Valentine's Day shapes. I enjoyed the illustrations immensely and liked the educational content. This would be a household favorite, I think, though I found myself wishing for more actual story. I also was not crazy about the way the text was laid out on the page. Why not integrate it with the art more? I would not place this as a Valentine's Day book, regardless of the title. But as a concept book, it's fun with lots to look at and items and shapes to name. My trusty assistant* would consider this a favorite!
The adult reader will for sure relate to the bear who just wants some friggin QUIET! Throughout the story the poor bear is beset by his best friend with questions and requests and just a whole lot of chatter. Like the bear, I found his best friend irritating. And given how irritating, I wasn't entirely convinced in the bear's avowal of affection at the end. The illustrations were light and happy, the story simple enough, if long. A cute, non-love-and-hearts Valentine's find!
The sweet illustrations perfectly match an equally sweet story of a surprising friendship. A bear finds surprises (edible ones) and eventually starts leaving gifts of his own. Of course the adult in me was thinking, "No, don't it's a hunter's ploy! He wants you for a bearskin rug!" But it wasn't a hunter. Nope, rather a sweet little... HAH I won't spoil it. The repetition was engaging, but overall I thought it was perhaps a bit too repetitive. The back and forth went on perhaps too long without anything else happening. My preference: this maybe should have been a 10-16pg board book instead of a 32pg picture book. Of the new Valentine's Day books however, this is a winner.
The adult me loves this book. Concept, illustrations spot on. The story of a zombie looking for love in all the seemingly right places is just what I'd expect. And the solution, zombie meets zombie, also expected. The twist on a popular pop song was less expected and highly funny (for me, the adult), but overall I found it a bit wordy and predictable. Slight, like an underfed zombie. So because I'm an adult, I'm giving it four stars for my own reading enjoyment. As a parent and for my inner child, I would give it three. For the simple reason that my four-year-old assistant would not let me read her this book. Too scary. And I think the dating theme was handled a bit too maturely for the audience. But the illustrations are boss. Can I say "boss"? Probably not. I'm probably too old. Sorry.
I absolutely love the illustrations, and the voice of the story and the story itself. I did not, however, fully "get" the abstract concept. I know the author doesn't want it to be pedantic, and I appreciate that, but if I didn't really catch on, I wonder how well a child will? I wanted more direction/author intrusion. Very pretty book, however.
Sweet little heart-catching girl makes valentines for all her friends. What a delightful book! I love the happy illustrations, the craft-ability, and how well the illustrations and spare text work together. I was surprised to see who the valentines went to - perfect for a child's world. This is a classic. I can see why it's still a favorite after so many years.
A story of a girl whose Valentine's Day is nearly ruined all because ... Ha, I almost did it again. I love the explosion of pink in the illustrations. And I love the subtle switch-up of the valentine's with Daddy's work papers. The text could have been a bit trimmer, but this is a fun, girl-friendly Valentine's Day book.
On the twelfth day of Christmas my sweeties gave to me...
Twelve complains of schooling,
Eleven books of reading,
Ten "Noyoucannotusecomputerrightnow"s a saying,
Nine "hangupyourcoatplease" repeating,
Eight days of coughing,
Seven (zillion) errands running,
Six (ty) dollars fleeing (to Hobby Lobby this time),
Five hours of sleep!
Four pops to glug,
Three great hugs,
Two snuggle bugs,
And a carpet of needles beneath the tree!
I so lost energy for this project. Something about all those school complaints and busy days and pine needles ... Which, I have a feeling, will be there for a while. Happy Epiphany Eve!
Two root beer mugs
And one just-turned-12-year-old Birthday Boy!
Yes I've entirely given up rhyme and rhythm. I'm writing this while a ear-infected little love snores on my chest so my literary standards are a bit lax right now. Fish will get his real celebration when we're all healthy. He has requested bowling with friends. Um. Fun.
On the sixth day of Christmas my household gave to me...
Six (ty) dollars fleeing (to the med center)
Five gallons of mucus!
Three dead mice (thank you, Oreo)
Two lost dice (again, thanks Oreo)
And a game of Catan with some yummy hot tea!
I have given up any attempt to read, write or count because my sinuses are full of concrete. As are Awesome Sauce's ears. Or one anyway. "Two prescriptions for antibiotics" didn't have the same ring as two lost dice, but it certainly applies. As would "six chickens clucking" since chicken #7 mysteriously disappeared. Merry Christmas Mr. Fox. I hope you enjoyed her. Poor girl.
On the Second Day of Christmas my children gave to me...
Two nasty colds,
And a tin of magnetic poetry!
For those [one] individuals who actually read this, yes I'm doing the 12 Days of Christmas AFTER Christmas. Why? Because that's when they happen! Contrary to cultural belief, they are the twelve days between Christmas and Twelfth Night, which is the eve of Epiphany.
On the First Day of Christmas, my family gave to me...
A huge bag of trash by the tree!
Ps. Merry Christmas to all my beloveds. I am blessed beyond words and overflowing with ... crinkled wrappings. Right this moment we're in the post-gift hangover phase, with a nice stack of items on the counter to return. Like three Nerf guns. Me: ever the idealist, and the fool.
Okay, so maybe assembling a dollhouse is a little more complicated than I thought. Here it is, almost a year later and we are STILL not done. We now have: a foundation, exterior walls, roof. Plus a few extras so complicated they require their own post. Like electricity!
Meh, it's not that complicated. Who wants to build a dollhouse in the summer when there are chickens to chase and bikes to ride? Downside of taking a six-month break, one may not read the directions thoroughly when starting back up. Imagine my horror when - just yesterday - I spotted a bottle of Tacky Glue under the worktable. I've been using Elmer's Glue-All for everything! Sure enough, the instructions recommended Tacky Glue. One frantic Google search later and I discovered Elmer's is a perfectly suitable construction glue. Panic averted. Mostly.
Following are some in-progress shots. It doesn't look quite as dramatic as it feels (paint! walls! floors!). Enjoy!
The season of Advent is upon us! Actually, the season began a few days ago, but in our house celebration begins today, December 1st. I have our Jesse Tree ornaments in the Advent calendar, treats in the candy jar (with five children all old enough for treats they don't fit in the calendar anymore! The treats, not the children), and our daily readings all planned out.
Jesse Tree, what's that? Ornaments? What daily readings, you say? Oh, I'm so glad you asked!
You see, there's this wee little Advent ebook called Gloria! A Family Guide to Advent and Epiphany. It takes you through all of December with daily readings, songs, activities, Jesse Tree ornaments, and then, THEN it takes you through the Twelve Days of Christmas. You knew the 12 Days of Xmas came after Christmas, right? Even better, it's free! Look, here it is:
And wouldn't you know, I put the whole thing together. A labor of insanity that began in 2012 or something. A long time ago. The first year I made these cute, lumpy, hideous ornaments from salt dough without knowing that salt dough was, well, lacking in longevity. Here's the deal: Salt dough doesn't always dry all the way, or it will re-moisturize (that's a word, right?) if left in a damp place. Like, say, a basement. And what happens when metal hooks combine with moisture? Uh, yeah.
So I had to make all new ornaments (not all I suppose, since some weren't made with salt dough, though since I was making most of them over, I ended up making all of them over because I'm like that). These are a few of the ornaments:
Find the rest in the book which you can download here!
And just in case you were wondering what special fun activities are included in the book, and what stories are studied on each day, find the full list below:
And click here to preview one of the fabulous songs for the first day.
I don't know how Mud Pie got me to agree to it. Sure, both her brothers had big birthday parties around age 10 (I think Fish's was his 11th, but whatevs). Sure ,poor Pie has spent her whole life with a dumb mid-summer birthday so she's missed out on things like bringing treats to class or handing out invitations (July 3, which is actually pretty awesome but again, whatevs). Sure, my sanity is always questionable. But somehow she talked me into it. I may have even suggested it myself. A tenth birthday shindig with none other than a Murder Mystery theme.
We'd actually planned it a week or so away from her actual birthday, but when only one-ish little girls RSVPd "Yes" we decided to postpone. My sneaky self wanted to postpone anyway since I knew we were starting a new homeschool co-op and I expected Pie to make friends quickly, which she did, so we had an abundance of invitations to hand out. She did so at the beginning of October, and last weekend, Halloween, was the chosen date. Now I will share what we did and how it went, in case someone else somewhere someday wants to make themselves crazy for a week have the pleasure of planning and executing such an event. Many ideas were outright stolen from this website, and other ideas were swiped from other websites or emerged from the remnants of my brain at some point during that pre-party week. So what did we do?
The invitations:
Murder Mystery Party Invitations
A little something I whipped together in Pages. We printed them on card stock (three to a page) and cut them out. I also sent an Evite since keeping track of responses would be so much easier online. Once I had confirmation, they were sent their character, but more on that in a moment! Each was asked to dress appropriately and was given one special line or instruction. Things like, "I hate feathers!" Or "Someone stole my ring!" Moms were also invited. Why not? We had as much fun as the girls!
Next for the big event, I decided I would write the mystery myself. My thought process: I'm a writer, this should be easy, I ought to be able to whip this out, no problem at all. Yes, I am this moronic. After several hours I wished I'd gone and bought a mystery kit online. After several more hours I really, really, really wished I'd bought one online. Eventually, I had some semblance of mystery hashed out, complete with a spreadsheet and about twenty sheets of scrap paper. Here's where I made characters and assigned them to each girl/guy and mom who was able to attend.
Finally the big day! When each girl arrived (and one guy, since Fish was attending and was allowed one friend), she received a bag with her "Mystery Item" which was a prop that would be used at some point during the game. Then we gathered at the dining table for tea (apple cider punch - yum) and crumpets (donuts and scones. Yeah, I went all out. Like all the way out to the grocery store). First task: match each attendee with the "profession" on their suspect sheet.
So many streamers! All over the house!
Our mystery began with the Countess (Mud Pie) and her Royal Chicken who lays golden eggs. The Countess suspected someone was out to steal her chicken, so invited all the suspects to tea. They did not know this yet, of course, but they would soon find out! Because the Countess slipped off to the upstairs nursery (her and Rowdy's room) and screamed.
Imagine ten kids and five moms thundering up the stairs to find Mud Pie unresponsive (but very giggly) on the floor! The Coroner declared the Countess dead and together the kids marked out her body.
Oh the fun of masking tape!
What fun. Rowdy, little sister, cried and asked Pie to "Get up!" Which she eventually did because she was actually just knocked unconscious. Sadly, the blow wiped her memory so she had no idea who attacked her and who ... stole her chicken! Another character's ring had also been stolen.
The butler, Fish, was supposed to lead everyone downstairs to watch a video the Countess left for such an occasion, but brothers are not always the most helpful. Thankfully Mom-Housekeeper had that spreadsheet handy! Down we went to watch the recording:
Poison! The tea was poisoned?! We had to be sure! So upstairs we raced to test. Except again Fish had misplaced his Mystery Item, so Mom-Keeper to the rescue with some baking soda to toss in the cup of colored vinegar. Poison confirmed, the Coroner placed everyone under arrest. We followed a thread to the dungeon (basement) where a "Web of Intrigue" had been crafted, painstakingly by Mom and Pie earlier in the day. Which we had to fix about a hundred times because Fish's bedroom lay on the other side. Anyway, it was like a laser maze, but with thread.
We navigated the maze in the dark with glow sticks. Not the best idea for the longevity of the maze.
Inside Fish's room we took mug shots and fingerprints. I made use of a handy iPhone app. Fun! And while waiting for our photo shoot (which didn't take long), we solved Halloween Riddles. Like What did the skeleton order at the bar? Two cokes and a mop! Groan.
Next we returned upstairs because someone spotted the chicken (me - I hadn't quite figured out how to get everyone upstairs). Interestingly, colored eggs were all over the living room. Inside the eggs, puzzle pieces (and candy because you have to have candy in colored eggs!). Next task, put the puzzle together!
Mystery puzzle in progress...
I'd been worried about having enough time, and had pushed things along a little quickly. So at this point we were, oh, like fifteen minutes into the mystery part of the party. It was going a little too quickly. The puzzle took longer than expected. Pfew! I made the puzzle, yes I did and I made it from this picture:
Yes, that's a chicken and a ring.
Our next clue! The chicken had the missing ring, and was last seen where this photo was taken. Down to the family room where a mess of feathers had suddenly appeared. And the poison was taking its toll. We had to pick up the feathers using cooking utensils because our fingers were no longer working!
I detest feathers! That was the maid's "line."
Beneath the feathers, one of which was a paintbrush, lay a message written in chicken language (pig pen code that St. Nick helpfully wrote out). One of the girls had a cypher as her Mystery Item. Of course Mom-Keeper had to remind her, but it worked out fine.
Sticky fingers?
The message told us that the suspect had sticky fingers. So up to the kitchen we went, only to discover a fingerprint on the stove. Who'd have thought our suspect sheets had fingerprints on them! Match up the fingerprints and ... The Artist stole the chicken to save it from the cook, who wanted to cook it! And the chicken laid an egg with the missing ring inside. The Princess (who had lost the ring) paid a reward (fake money, which was her Mystery Item - see how clever I am?) to everyone.
Mystery solved, Mom-Keeper wanted to collapse. But it was only a bit after 3pm and the party didn't end until 4. Plus the Ambassador had not yet arrived (a girl who was planning to come late), and she knew where the antidote to the poison was. Right as I was about to give it up and serve the cake, the Ambassador's mom pulled up in the driveway! Saved!
The Ambassador had a riddle, the solution to which provided us with the location of the antidote. It was inside a pumpkin, mixed in with pumpkin guts. Yuck. But oh so fun!
Digging through pumpkin guts for the antidote
Finally, cake and presents and one last game. An auction of wrapped dollar store treasures, opened in White Elephant fashion. The girls were too polite to steal one another's gifts, however, so most everyone ended up keeping what they got. All good.
Store bought cake. I have my limits.
We wrapped up at exactly 4pm! Except that many of the moms and girls stuck around for a while to chat, eat more cake, and generally enjoy the afternoon, which I must admit was the highlight of the whole event for me. And what did I do the next day? Sleep? Nonono. I vacuumed feathers out of the family room.
My favorite picture: Pie and Rowdy getting ready for the party!
The concept of a picture book illustrated with totally over-the-top-awesome pumpkin carvings is incredible. Brilliant, actually. The story, while fairly simple, has a full and satisfying arc. The pumpkins want to dress up and scare the children, but the children laugh. The vegetables, on the other hand... Well, what kid isn't afraid of vegetables?!? There are also some parent-friendly puns and jokes (mimes really are scary!), but the text itself is straightforward, with almost textbook clarity. It's a smart book, an incredibly creative book, a "why didn't I think of that" book. But the execution taught me a few things.
For one, I happen to love frivolity and play in the language. Picture books are like poetry: every word counts, every word should do multiple things (evoke, set tone, move the story, establish character). Relying on concept and (obtuse-to-a-child) humor just doesn't sparkle. I also longed for more "setting" to the pumpkin-carved illustrations. Of course I'm not an illustrator or a pumpkin carver, but I am a photographer. Why not set up whole scenes instead of the chalk background? While the text was supremely easy to read (if a bit verbose), the pictures were hard to read.
P.s. Why is October muggy - warm and moist? Wouldn't it be chilly? Windy? Stormy? Words matter.
That said, the carvings are really truly amazing, and the story is satisfying, clever, funny, especially for adults.
Trick or Treat
Leo Landry 2012
First, I love the size of this book. The smaller, square size is so bedtime-friendly, and the amount of text per page is perfect for an evening read-aloud. I hate when Rowdy is trying to flip pages ahead of my reading, and she didn't need to do that here. (I also hate wordless pages where I, in my pre-bedtime-zombie state have to make sh@t up on the spot.) I also love the simple story of a little ghost having a Halloween party, and clear illustrations with a bit of visual irony. One invitation ends up in human hands! Oh my! The ending is satisfying.
Here's an example of text and illustrations that meld perfectly. Both are streamlined, simple. The text isn't showy, nor overly complex. It tells the story in a sweet, gentle way, which matches the sweet, gentle illustrations and completes a story about Scary things (Like a ghost named Oliver!) that turn out to be sweet and gentle! Talk about aboutness - this book does it beautifully.
Monster Mash
David Catrow illus. 2012
The song, Monster Mash, in picture book form. Hmmm. I'm not sure how well the song translates into an actual story. Because, well, it's not a story. It's a song. So the plot would be: monsters come to a party and do the monster mash. Which is, well, not much, but hey, it's about the illustrations, baby!
Which are ... gross. I mean, they're amazingly artistic and creative and colorful and almost sort of disney or pixar or something (which, if you look at the artist's bio, makes sense). But the creatures are scary. And gross. And this is coming from someone who keeps a collection of Garbage Pail Kids Funkos on her desk. When I asked Rowdy if she like the book she said, "Yeah." So I asked, "Are the pictures scary?" "Naw, it has Spooky Scary Skeletons!" So, bah, whatever. I would have liked the book more had the illustrations pushed for more of a story, gone beyond the Monster Mash song.
Only a Witch Can Fly
Alison McGhee, Taeeun Yoo illus. 2009
This book has definite kid appeal, proven by 10-yr-old Mud Pie's theft of it. She's read it several times already so it must speak to her. And no wonder! The writing has a Charlotte Zolotow feel to it. Lyrical, poetic.
From the mouth of Mud Pie, "I liked the kitty, but I didn't like that I couldn't tell if the person on the broom was a girl or a boy." So there, publishing industry, quit trying to make characters gender-ambiauious. It's creepy. Though a Halloween book is supposed to be creepy, so... Never mind!
The Monsterator
Keith Graves 2014
Illustrations: adorable, scary without being grotesque, and the flip-book monster-maker at the back is brilliant! It's a book, it's a toy, it's a full fifteen minutes of entertainment on a long car ride! The story: child-centric (good), clever (good), surprising (gooder!). Spoiler alert: I sort of love that the little monster didn't "learn himself a lesson and be a good boy ever after." Because you know, sometimes if you make a nasty face long enough, it really does stay that way. The rhyme: worked as well as it needed to.
Happy Halloween Witch's cat!
Harriet Muncaster 2015
Surprisingly this take off on the "Is that my Tractor" sort of book was our absolute favorite. Rowdy asked for it many times, and Pie and I spent quite a while studying the pictures and exclaiming over little details we spotted. We love love love love loved (we really loved) the illustrations. We loved the simple storyline that, though the illustrations, wrapped up surprisingly well (all the discarded costumes show up at the party anyway!). Adorable, creative. One I wouldn't mind adding to my permanent collection.
Black and Bittern was Night
Robert Heidbreder, John Martz 2013
Here I'm going to be grumpy. I really really loved this book. I love the playful language, the illustrations that pop with simplicity. I never got to read it all the way through. Why? My tongue hurt. Seriously. Reading it aloud just wasn't happening, and Rowdly got too impatient with the thrickle thrackling skul-a-mug-mugging to let me work it out. As a performance piece it might be amazing. As a bedtime read-aloud? Splickderringdoo.
Thanks to recent developments, I love love love the library again. (Although I still prefer bookstores - they're less expensive!) The books I pulled off the New Picture Books section today: Yard Sale by Eve Bunting (love her!), illustrated by Lauren Castillo, Are We There Yeti? by Ashlyn Anstee, and Flowers Are Calling by Rita Gray, illustrated by Kenard Pak. Now for my writerly thoughts (pics take you to amazon links, affiliate style).
Yard Sale (Bunting/Castillo, 2015): Firstly, the touch of the book: I absolutely love it. I'm extremely tactile, have been known to go to Joann just to run my hands through the fabrics, so when I come across a book with feel-good pages I'm very very happy. The paper is heavy, matte, pleasureful to touch and turn. Paper combined with the deceptively simple illustrations lend the book a retro 1980s feel. Which really matches the story, because the economy in the 80s was rotten, and life was just kinda depressing (for my family, anyhow). The illustrations perfectly blend with the mood Bunting creates, but don't make the story melodramatic or caricatured, if that makes sense.
The story itself is beautiful, the writing straightforward, the aboutness clear and moving. For those studying picture books, this would be a good one to re-type, storyboard and dissect.
Flowers Are Calling (Gray/Pak, 2015): Those same fabulous matte pages which are essential for the absolute drop dead gorgeousness of these illustrations. The illustrations are really truly glorious. I wanted to frame them and hang them all over my house! Now, may I confess something? I didn't understand the text until I read the jacket copy (which I read precisely because I didn't understand the text). I may very well be that slow, but as I read I kept thinking, Why aren't the flowers calling the porcupine? Is he hidden in the picture? No, he's not, so why... Apparently Rowdy thought the same, because somewhere around the moose she wiggled off my lap and wandered off to play. She may be (at 3.5) on the young side for this book. However, this is one I'll use with my older children when we talk about plants/pollination later this school year. Rarely do education and beauty meld into such a perfect harmony.
Are We There Yeti? (Anstee, 2015): Another one with a great feel to the pages. Yay! I'll admit, I was skeptical of this book because I wasn't sure Rowdy would "get" the pun. But she totally did and spent the rest of the day saying, "Are we there YETI?" and laughing like a maniac. How awesome is that? I think she loved the pictures too, and the mystery (what's in the cave? oooh more yetis!!!), and the kids being impatient on the bus.
This is a great book to study suspense, how a picture book needs to build it up then resolve it in a satisfying way (this one does both exceptionally well).
