A Pocket for Corduroy

by Don Freeman
Viking Press, NY
1978

A Pocket for Corduroy brings us back to our little bear friend, Corduroy who is living happily with Lisa. Again, a classic story containing all the elements that make it timeless. The artwork is great, the story is logical and has more text that Corduroy did. More of a story but still a great bedtime story that a parent would enjoy reading.

Corduroy

by Don Freeman
Published 1968
Viking Press, NY

I have chosen Corduroy by Don Freeman as my next book for the Young Readers Challenge.

What can I say about a classic? The story, while simply told, is not simplistic. It possess all the elements of a classic story -- a plot, protagonist, antagonist, a problem, a solution and an ending. The art work is timeless as is the story -- any generation can identify with it. A parent can read this to a child and not be mind numbingly bored yet even a young child can be entertained by it. It is long enough to get the story told yet short enough to make a good bedtime story. All in all, a very good little book.

Booking Through Thursday -- Manual Labor

"Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-to's....do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries--if any--do you have in your library?"

I have a dictionary and a thesaurus. I HAD a Strunk and White but my daughter confiscated that. I have a number, maybe six, writing guides from a creative writing course I took a number of years ago. I still have some texts from college, also.

Do I read them? No. I reference them, from time to time, but I don't sit down and read them. I have been known to read encyclopedias for pleasure, however.

I have found that as I am reading more and blogging more that my need for such material is, once again, more viable. However, I am finding a new resource for that -- my daughter, who is a communication/journalism major, comes in most handy for that sort of thing. In fact, she has told me that I am entirely too liberal with commas which is evidenced in the previous sentence. So, while, I don't read these sorts of books, I probably should.

Friday Fill In's

1. Two of my favorite ingredients in a drink are water and a tea bag.

2. Life often amazes me.

3. You can keep doing that forever, the dog is watching tv.

4. Cookie mix, egg and water, mix it together and, voila! you have instant gratification for your chocolate chip/oatmeal cookie addiction.

5. If I had a yard with a garden, I would love to grow fern.

6. Water is best au natural. (not what you were expecting, right?)

7. As for the weekend, tonight I WAS looking forward to a simple supper, a good movie and a big dose of benadryl (not happening by the way), tomorrow my plans include absolutely nothing -- haven't really thought about tomorrow but maybe a trip to Costco, and Sunday I want to go to church and have a VERY quiet afternoon and evening. Please.

Booking Through Thursday: Mayday!

Ok, for some reason my computer won't let me cut and paste the description of the challenge so I will just go ahead with it.

Cell phone ringing in the grocery store -- hmmm -- well, if it is at the bottom of my purse I won't hear it and if I DO hear it, the person will have already hung up.

If it is a family emergency, I won't be thinking about reading.

If it is a family emergency like in the DC area, I would have to get on a plane and be worried out of my mind about the family so I wouldn't be able to concentrate anyway -- I mean, really -- how can one try to help drive the plane and go into severe family emergency crisis mode AND read? Get real.

Of course, if the emergency were in DC, M would be saying "no, don't come, I have it covered. We are fine".
Fine, right. How could they be fine without me? Well, ok, they HAVE been fine without me but, well, you know.

So, if it were a local family emergency I would be involved in dealing with the emergency and therefore, would not be reading. In the DFW area, it isn't advisable to drive on one of our many congested, fast paced highways and read simultaneously. Texting, however, seems to be perfectly acceptable.

So, in my case, reading and family emergencies don't go well together.

So, I wouldn't take anything.

Friday Fill-Ins

This looks like fun so here goes!

l. When I fell in love I was a mere child!

2. I sneeze when the flowers boom and it heat up outside.

3. Oh no! The internet is down, what do I do now?

4. I have no idea what is the craziest tv show ever -- maybe Mork and Mindy.

5. Cheese and crackers make a great meal.

6. I don't need a garden.

7. As for this weekened, tonight I am looking forward to going to sleep, tomorrow my plans include houseework and Sunday I want to go to church.

I *Heart* Kohl's

Remember the days when we looked so forward to getting a new straw bag for spring? Well, it has been years since I have had one -- probably high school. So, I went out looking for one and found one that works perfectly for me! I am so proud of it -- plus, it was on sale so even MORE perfect.

I am now participating in several reading challenges -- Young Readers, Romance Readers, Miss Read and my own personal goal to see how many books I can read that aren't on either of the above lists! And, of course, the Ultimate Challenge -- to finish "London" sometime in my lifetime.

So, I just thought I would take a break from all this reading to show you the Perfect Spring Straw Bag!

Romance Readers Challenge

On April 1, 2008, The Bookworm officially began the Romance Readers Challenge. The only rules are that you have to read five books in 2008 and they can be of any time period or style -- Harlequin, historical romance, modern romance, Jane Austen, chicklit, as long as there is a romance between the two main characters.

This sounds like a light-hearted challenge and one I could take on -- five books doesn't seem to be much.

So, I signed up and will start soon -- however, I don't think "London" will count in this challenge.

Typical Texas Evening

It was a beautiful day here but, as usual, a line of thunderstorms -- with rotation-- fired up late in the afternoon. This is what blew through from the west and pounded our house. I guess I will be making an appointment with the insurance adjuster tomorrow because this was bigger than a quarter. However, it isn't baseball sized like it was when it hit the areas before us.

All is quiet now.

Booking Through Thursday

What do you do when you run across a word/phrase you don't know?

Well, if I can't figure it out from the rest of the text, I look it up. I am sorry to say that I have pretty much given up a traditional dictionary and head to the internet. The internet makes it easier to look up phrases if you are reading a non-American piece.

Besides, isn't that what they taught us in school -- look it up?

The Good Ol' Days


Yesterday I was reminded, and not in a good way, how much the world has changed. What happened yesterday? Nothing much -- I had to locate a pair of white gloves. I used to have white gloves but I don't have them anymore -- I guess they were discarded during one of several moves. We didn't wear them anymore -- why keep them. After phoning several department stores, craft stores and bridal shops I accepted the fact that they were not to be found locally. So, I went online. I found them, placed my online order, paid an unbelievable price for speedy shipping and I was done. However, my mind raced back in time and I could visualize where I could go to get white gloves -- the accessory department at Joske's where my aunt worked. Or, Winn's -- the neighborhood five and dime. But, finding white gloves and handkerchiefs and head scarves wasn't a difficult thing. When did we quit needing these things? When life became all jeans and trainers and t-shirts? Everybody says that is an improvement -- no more hose, heels, the trappings of femininity gone or at least changed. Not only was it a frustrating quest, finding these white gloves, it was also sad.

As I look at the photo above I am taken back to a much different time but not ALL that long ago. This photo is of myself (the baby) and my cousin jlshall. The setting, her house, was typical of the time -- postwar housing, slipcovered furniture, venetian blinds of the metal variety and REAL ivy plants. My house looked the same way. Our way of life was different. Cars weren't as plentiful -- we went downtown on the bus every Saturday (sometimes sporting the much coveted white gloves). We would eat at Casa Rio, a big treat which never really ended well for either of us. We shopped at major department stores rather than strip centers. We didn't have to commute to see our relatives -- if either of us wanted to run away from home all we had to do was cross the street to our aunts houses. If we needed milk, we walked around the corner to the convenience store that was owned/operated by the same family for all my life. It was much slower, absolutely primitive compared to today where my daughter has almost a two hour commute to and from her job, where you can't find white gloves and if you want a plain old headscarf you best take yourself to your local antique mall.

Are we better off now? Considering all the media attention directed toward the "greening" of ourselves and our environment I would have to say no. Yes, we live in lovely new homes with new and improved materials, we have nice cars and many modern conveniences from robotic vacuum cleaners to steam washers and advanced climate control, our wood floors are covered in carpet to keep our feet warm. Many new, innovative things -- many of which have proven to be grossly unhealthy.

However, there are days when I long for the times when our a/c meant open windows and a screen door, our clothes were line dried, our normal transportation was public and we walked to school. We played outside in our lawn chair house under the gardenia bush and we played with paper dolls cut from coloring books. Our video games were a deck of cards that we learned to "fish" and "battle" and get really wild with a game of "21". Our music was on records, scratched that they were, and our television view was limited to two channels -- well, until we got three.

We weren't without the normal problems but they seemed to be dealt with more effectively -- nobody committed suicide, turned to drugs or required counseling. We had each other to help us cope.

It was slower then, and some days a little boring, but it was fun when we would all sit outside in the evening and look at the stars as we laid on our backs on blankets. Yes, we could actually see the stars -- they weren't obscured by city lights.

A quick look at the photo reveals more than the home furnishing trends of the time. It shows two children untouched by stress, healthy in a cleaner environment and secure in the family setting that is still, today, so important.

Are the two children in the photo still like that? Well, sort of. Older, wiser, survivors of the 60's, but I think we still revere those times and look upon them as the "gold standard" of generations -- the best of times, the worst of times so to speak. I can only speak for myself but I wouldn't mind going back to those times for a day -- if I could get by without the a/c and if I could take my computer and my new white gloves.