As a child I always asked for books at Christmas time. For some reason they rarely materialized. One year I was given two beautiful hardback books with colored plates: Little Women and Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. Both are proud members of my book collection to this day.

My own children have a whole basket of holiday reading, from the mundane to the transcendent. This week I’m offering three charming tales sure to be Christmas classic. (Next week: beautifully illustrated nativity tales.)

Little Tree
e.e. cummings
Deborah Kogan Ray, illustrator

“little tree, little silent Christmas tree you are so little, you are more like a flower…”

My husband is a fan of e.e. cummings, and I gave him this beautiful watercolor of a book one Christmas when we were dating. Now we read the gentle story of Little Tree to our own children on quiet nights beside our Christmas tree. It’s out of print now, but you can still find a few gently used copies here. Today’s Flavor: Rhythmic and lovely.

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree Gloria Houston, author
Barbara Cooney, illustrator

An Appalachian mother and daugther are determiend to retireve the mountain top Christmas tree Papa had earmarked before he left for the war. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree is a simple, lovely tale about making do and making merry where a wedding dress becomes angel garb, and a clever mother finds a way to make her daughter’s Christmas wish come true. Well researched to capture the reality of Appalachian life and beautifully illustrated by Barbara Cooney, this can quickly become a Christmas classic in your home. Today’s Flavor: Nostalgic and hopeful.

P.s. Ms. Houston also wrote the fantastic My Great-Aunt Arizona and Ms. Cooney illustrated the wonderful Miss Rumphius.

Red Ranger Came Calling
Berkeley Breathed

Ohmylord, there cannot possibly be a more hilarious and charming tale than Red Ranger Came Calling, the story of a sour little boy and a disinhearted old … Saunder Clos? Berkely Breathed famed creator of Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, travels back to his childhood haunts on Vashon Island to illustrate a cheeky tale that’s sure to delight. Santa is down in the dumps and “visitors not recieved with zesty jolliness at the moment.” But by-gum, the Red Ranger of Mars is going up to his house to find out what happened to his “Official Buck Tweed Two-Speed Crime-Stopper Star-Hoper Bicycle.” What he finds there…well, I don’t want to give it all away. Suffice it to say that this comically illustrated book is a sure fire hit in our high-drama household. Today’s Flavor: Firey and fun.

Click on the links in this post to order these items, or any items at Magpie Suggests, and your purchases will help fund this site. Thank you for your support!

I love vintage!

About a year ago, I read a newspaper article in a waiting room about a local vintage seller. Much to my husband’s chagrin, I immediately went shopping and put a collection of vintage clothes on line. Since then I’ve gotten a thrill out of uncovering finds for my Etsy clients. What do I like about it? I’ve got an eye for it, I can keep prices low and still make a profit, and I especially dig the enviromental/anti-consumerism high I get from shopping secondlife.

Last month’s Blueprint featured a patch of cold weather coats, including

this sharp 80’s throw back.

The problem? It costs $695!

You can get the same look at my place for a fraction of the cost. Here’s my $45 pretty — ready to funk out with a row of buttons and black boots (see above), or ready as-is for classic stylistas.

In fact, I’ll make the deal even sweeter — tell me you’re a Magpie Girl reader when you order any coat between now and the end of the year and I’ll give you a $5 discount. Fly on over to Magpie Etsy.

Ooooo! It’s one of my favorite days of the year. Buy Nothing Day! Stay home with me and sip tea! Maybe we could watch this video together (9.99 Girl Rocks!)

Then, at a later date, do resist mass marketing and buy handmade!

You can even be nice to your mother and avoid driving by shopping on-line at sites like this or these. Or better yet, just donate to a good cause in someone’s name. I love these cute critters, but these are good too. And all just a click away! (Thank Elaine and Katie for the tips!)

Don’t you just love being subversive in your slippers?

Wednesday Reviews: Thanksgiving Stories

I know it’s cutting it close, but on this day before Thanksgiving, I’d like to review some books for the diners who are sitting at the kids table.

The first is The Night Before Thanksgiving“>. Like the characters in this book, my children and their cousins giggle about the same things I snickered over with my cousins — goofing off at the kid’s table, putting olives on our fingers, and eating leftover turkey sandwiches. Nostalgic and fun.

The second is a more artful story The Very First Thanksgiving Day, which touches on the fact that we Western Europeans owe our very survival on this continent to the Native Americans who shared their skills and bounty with our ancestors so many years ago. Beautiful illustrations and a repetitive rhythm children love. Artful and insightful.

My seven year old daughter fell in love with this book, which she read to her two year old cousin last week. It’s not about our Fall holiday, but it does a lovely job of encouraging gratitude. Give Me Grace is short enough to memorize in a couple of readings, and the alluring illustrations feed the eye as well as the soul. Bright and meaningful.

Finally, I’d like to recommend this pretty, classic story. Ox-Cart Man is not directly about Thanksgiving, but it’s cyclical story of growing-and-harvesting captures the turning of the seasons, while it’s spare bounty quietly instills a since of gratitude amongst our overly-modern children. Classic and grateful.

Click on the links in this post to order these items, or any items at Magpie Suggests, and your purchases will help fund this site. Thank you for your support!

I’m back at my studio after two weeks of travel, early school dismissals, and sinus infections. Inspite of the goodness that is family mangement/motherhood. it never ceases to amaze me how that gig can consume every last drop of time for creative pursuits.

It’s bittersweet to be here these days, knowing that I’ll have to pack it all up soon. I got a lot done here, in this room of my own. I grew as an artist and writer. I tried brave new things. But, all in all, all of my bigger goals have gone unmet. I’m still not making money as a writer, or as a minister. After much initial interest, my first book proposal is still drifting around, nearly dead in the water. People ask me to teach, then back down when they hear I charge a standard professional fee (that’s life with non-profits I suppose.) I haven’t figured out the freelancing thing. (I can’t seem to write fast enough to get out the critical mass necessary to land a few articles.) And my Etsy shop was just starting to turn a profit, but now I have to shut it down in January because of the overseas move.

I’m glad, so glad, that I’ve rented this room of my own…but sad too, that I’m still so stuck in my journey to the land of professional writers. I’m trying to embrace the small is beautiful concept that even a small start is enough, but sometimes it’s hard.

What do you do when your goals seem unachievable?

Lukie grills his millionth s’more over the backyard fire pit last summer.

I’m in Texas for a few days visiting my sister’s family before we make the big move to Denmark. This is one of her middle children, Lukie of the Four Years. I got to say, he’s got a little piece of my heart.

For a long time Becky had all boys, which resulted in one of my favorite mothering lines ever:

“Boys! Stop spitting on the carpet! (pause) I just had it cleaned!”

It was the pause that did me in–as though if it hadn’t just been cleaned, well, she just would have let it slide.

Another motherhood quip I love came while I was talking to Jen on the phone:

“Mada! Stop hanging shovels in the neighbor’s tree!”

This was during the ‘we live dangerously era’ when Jen’s kids would regularly build towers taller than their heads out of any available sharp or heavy object.

Or how about this one, coined just this past weekend at the cousin-fest:

“Boys! Give Catie and Gillian a weapon…everyone gets a weapon.”

I don’t know…kids, they do things to ya.

What’s your favorite parenting one liner?

Me and my Lukie.

An UPDATE: Yikes! Jen just called and said they’ve had major problems with their zine files and have to abort the project of this season. (So sad!) So the prize for the Tip Rally is now two beautiful hardcover holiday cook books: Christmas: A Cook’s Tour with reciepes and tradtions from around the world, and The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast with wonderful meals for the Jewish holidays and essays on food history and the holiness of gathering around the table. Keep tipping!

Hello Small and Passionate bloggers!

Like it or lump it, the holiday season is upon us. And don’t you just hate it when you let yourselves over-book and over-buy during the holidays? It sure doesn’t leave you feeling merry and bright!

You know what we need in the midst of all the superstore craziness?

Tips.

Yes my friends, tips — ideas and suggestions for maintaining a small but beautiful holiday. It’s time for the first annual Small is Beautiful Holiday Tips Rally.

Got a short cut for the turkey? Figured out how to downsize your gift list? Learned how to make the season holy instead of harried? Let us know!

Put your tips in the comments below by November 25th. A couple of lucky tipsters will be given a copy of The Soulsister’s Guide to a Very Merry Christmas, a fabulous guide for tiny, meaningful celebrations. So good! You’ll love it!

(If you don’t pick one up in the drawing, you can still buy one by the 30th and make the Soulsister’s final ship date. But really, you should just buy one now, because even if you win another, you will definitely want to pass this little bundle of goodness on to someone you love!)

Oh, and one more thing. In addition to winning the Soulsister’s guide, drawing winners will also be featured in a Small is Beautiful Saturday post, where they can highlight their Top 5 Posts of 2007. (Good reading ahead! Yum!)

So go ahead, start submitting your tips below!

Did I say the drawing for this would be on November 1st? I did, didn’t I? Well, today is only…let’s see…one, two, three, four….um..the 9th!

Have I mentioned that I get distracted by sparkly things?

This month’s Creativity Challenge prize-drawing winner is….Ren of Ren Knits. She finished a couple of pillows with one shared innard. See Squarey, the ultimate dominator on the battle for the stuffing, in our flickr pool.) Ren wins a $15 gift certificate to Green Prairie Fibers. Congrats Ren!

Green Prairie Fibers is the hand-dyed yarn wondershoppe of Kristin R., she of the darling Craft Leftover blog and shop, where she offers the world a new crafty pattern every saturday. I like Kristin’s “reduce, reuse, recycle” ethic, and I find her patterns to be sweet throw-backs to another era. I especially liked this knitting bag pattern, which I’m planning to make to honor my grandmother’s aluminum knitting needle collection. You should defintely stop by her pad if you are looking to make something out of your stash.

This month’s Creativity Challenge will be posted tomorrow as a Small is Beautiful post. It’s a super easy challenge, (we don’t want to overtax ourselves over the holidays, no?) and involves tips. Oooooh! I love tips! Stop by tommorow to find the challenge and the prize!

Yours in creativity,

Magpie Girl (a.k.a. Rachelle)

I’m going to do a tiny pitch for the products in my etsy shop right now…so go ahead and change the channel if you have to.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen to my ability to sell and ship on line when I move to Denmark in January. So, I think you should all consider the next two months your last chance to shop for anthing that doesn’t fit in a standard envelope at Buy Magpie.

New in store are: a limited edition of make-your-own shrine kits, the remaining copies of my latest story-based zine, Fall, a couple of hand-embroidered toddler jackets ripe for gift-giving, and my last crop of vintage ranging from warm skirts to winter coats. Why not wander over there and take a look around?

Many thanks to all of you who have been supporting my experiment in etsyland!

Love,

Magpie

When I was a child, I found this book on my great grandmother’s shelf. The author wrote it for her goddaughter in 1924, and it is full of the games she and her 13 neighboring cousins played. I only had two cousins nearby, but we spent many a rainy day flipping back and forth through the book, scheming about what we would play when the clouds finally cleared.

The Daring Book for Girls is just such a book, updated for the modern girl. Filled with stories, facts, games, and activities, nearly any girl can find something to catch her fancy. The mechanical gal among us might use it to build a scooter. Someone on their way to camp might take it in the car to read up on female explorers, and then turn the page to figure out how to paddle the camp canoe. And just about any girl would want to know how to levitate a pal at a slumber party!

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what a real, live girl has to say:

“This is the kind of book that you read while you are trying to do something new. I like the cool science experiments like the lemon-powered clock. My sister and I liked the jump rope songs and we learned new hand-clapping games. I also learned how to tie a bandana, how to run a lemonade stand, and how to make a sit-upon when we go camping.” (Eden, age nine)

Unlike reprinted ‘remember when’ books, author Miriam Peskowitz keeps things current by including items no vintage writer would have even considered for girls: science facts, sports how to’s, financial information, and things involving tools and pocketknives are peppered throughout the guide. The author also includes stories about women of color—like the espionage adventures of singer Josephine Baker, or the surprise discovery of Sara Culberson, a modern-day tribal princess of Sierra Leone. Other multi-cultural nods include the stories of ancient queens from around the world, how to tie a sari, and illustrations which include children of various skin colors. And The Daring Book for Girls sounds even better in Spanish: El Libro Aventurado para las Chicas!

One more added bonus…you can pick up a beautiful hard-bound copy for under twenty bucks!

This is just the kind of book a favored aunt would give her spunky niece. And aren’t you lucky—it’s here just in time to give a girl you love the gift of adventure this holiday season! (Click here to buy in English or in Spanish.)

This review is sponsored by MotherTalk. The reviewer did not recieve compensation for this review. Find my other weekly reviews at Magpie Suggests.