Birthdays Books

Brought back many memories of our own family birthdays. Great illustrations and always a positive message on every page.

When I saw this title I just had to look at it as my mother's name is Mary Jane and I just know after the last year or so I need to tell her more how much I do Love her. Even if this book is about a dog I just know in her heart she will know what I mean. Plus she has a dog she loves with all her heart.

I knew Hardee personally and am referred to in this work... it was great to re-live the spirit of South London in the 1950s and beyond and to see how a "bad boy" ended-up making good. A great read, with lots of amusing anecdotes...

This is the kind of civic engagement that we desperately need in art. Oring has taken the roots of conceptual art from the 1960's and grafted onto them a breathing, living, voting, public conscience that is so needed in our current climate of cyberapathy. This project takes the virtual interconnections that happen on the internet, the MoveOn.org type caucusing, and strips it down to a gritty, face to face, typewriter-key-to carbon-to-card-to-mailbox human conversation. And it is exactly these increasingly rare and endangered conversations with strangers, of the type that Oring initiates (and Emanuel's photographs beautifully document) that are exactly what allow democracy to exist.

I show this book to my students and it serves as a model for a new kind of art, a new kind of art teaching, that is very ripe for our times. I have found that it is so timely that my students take to it like fish to water, they crave this kind of work without having even known that it existed.

The photographs (which fill this very visual book) are beautiful, humanizing portraits of very specific American citizens. They are respectful and inspire the viewer to respect these people, even when we might not agree with their politics.

"Independence Day: Birthday of the United States" begins with the simple premise that just as everybody has a birthday so does our country. For the United States that day is July 4, 1776 because that is the day the leaders of the Second Continental Congress agreed on the exact wording of the Declaration of Independence. However, as Elaine Landau points out, the first celebration of Independence Day was really on July 8, 1776, because it took several days for news and copies of the Declaration to reach all thirteen colonies.

Landau provides a chapter explaining the history of Independence Day, working in the icons such as the Liberty Bell, but most of the book is devoted to festivities associated with the day, such as fireworks, parades, and food. A chapter is also devoted to the two biggest Independence Days, the centennial in 1876 with the International Exposition in Philadelphia and the bicentennial in 1976. The final chapter looks at the many way Americans celebrate the 4th of July, from all day block parties to eight foot cherry pies, and the back of the book includes a couple of Independence Day Projects for Glitter Sparklers and a Celebration Ice-Cream Sundae.

"Independence Day" is illustrated with both historic artwork, such as a version of Trumbull's painting of the committee presenting the Declaration to the Continental Congress and postcards from the 1800s celebrating the 4th of July, along with photographs such as several of the bicentennial being celebrated in New York City and the "Photo of the Century," which shows one hundred Americans of all different ages born in a different year from 1900 to 1999, including people from all fifty states. Young readers will learn a lot about the diverse ways Independence Day has been celebrated for over two hundred years.

This volume is one of a series devoted to Finding Out About the Holidays which includes "Chinese New Year: A Time for Parades, Family, and Friends," "Christmas: Celebrating, Life, Giving, and Kindness," "Columbus Day: Celebrating a Famous Explorer," "Halloween: Costumes and Treats on All Hallows' Eve," and "Thanksgiving Day: A Time to be Thankful."

I make calendars every year for my family. This book has been an excellent resource for obscure holidays. It has added immeasurably to my calendars. It includes holidays, birthdays, quotations, this day in history, and special events, to name a few... A very easy to use resource for people making speeches, teachers, writers, trivia buffs, and anyone making their own calendar! Jam packed with interesting information!

I've been a big fan of Sandra Evertson ever since I found her book, Fanciful Paper Projects. This is another great volume filled with wonderful, whimsical pages of her original art and vision. If you are into scrapbooking and are looking for something totally fresh pick up some or all of Sandra's books. She also contributes to quite a few magazines from Stampington.

On Bear's fourth birthday, his grandparents visit and give him his own photograph album. Bear sees photos of his parents before he was born; his expectant mother; himself shortly after birth; and other happy family events through his third birthday, when he had chicken pox. Yasuo Ohtomo illustrated this family of anthropomorphous bears by sketching thin black ink outlines and coloring them with delicately shaded pencil marks. My favorite illustration is a tender scene of the mother holding her nursing infant Bear. My four year old son was a bit puzzled by the illustration that shows one year old Bear with a pillow tied to his back "to help him walk"---he was satisfied when I explained that the book was originally intended for a Japanese audience, and that people all over the word have different parenting practices. A lovely little book.

This is a great addition to our bilingual library. We bought it just before our son's 2nd birthday. The illustrations are cute and the story about a little boy enjoying his big day was just right. This book is equally great for native English-or Spanish-speakers as it has a vocab list with pronunciations in both languages (intended for parents). This series is awesome.

Poor Lulu, it is her birthday and everyone still oogles over her younger sister, Marsha. Fortunately for Lulu, she has the birthday of her dreams.