Tag: travel with kids

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Mr. Putter and Tabby

I have developed a crush on an older man. A much older man. And not only that, but I love his good cat, too! I love both of them so much that I have already featured them in another post, Cupcakes Help. Not only do I love this man and his good cat, but my daughters love them, too.

Mr. Putter & Tabby Take the Train Mr. Putter & Tabby Take the Train by Cynthia Rylant

Mr. Putter and Tabby have completely stolen my heart. I love his neighbor Mrs. Teaberry and her good dog Zeke, too. Cynthia Rylant writes about these characters with such warmth and humor that it is impossible not to fall in love with them! The illustrator, Arthur Howard, draws these characters in such a beautiful way, and adds so much to these books. In Mr. Putter and Tabby Take the Train, Mrs. Teaberry would like to take a train ride two hours away and two hours back, just for fun. She insists that pets are allowed on trains. When they arrive at the train station, they discover pets are NOT allowed on trains. What happens next slightly breaks the rules, but Tabby and Zeke are practically people, so it seems as though no rules are actually being broken. We borrowed the audio CD from the library to listen to this book in a long car ride, and John McDonough reads the story brilliantly.

Mr. Putter & Tabby Spin the Yarn (Mr. Putter & Tabby) Mr. Putter & Tabby Spin the Yarn by Cynthia Rylant
Mrs. Teaberry is such a good neighbor that Mr. Putter would like to return the favor. When she asks him to join her knitting club, he declines, but offers to serve tea to the ladies instead. Mr. Putter’s good cat Tabby joins Mr. Putter when he serves tea, but if you put a cat in room full of yarn…well, you can just imagine what happens! Throw Mrs. Teaberry’s good dog Zeke into the mix, and you have a knitting club fiasco! Fortunately, Mr. Putter proves that he really is a good neighbor as he comes to the rescue, with lots of tea, chocolate, and wisdom.

One of the reason I love these books so much is because of their older characters. Not many children’s books feature an older character that is not a grandpa or grandma. Mr. Putter and Mrs. Teaberry could be your elderly neighbors, and I love the life that Cynthia Rylant gives to them.

We head for the “R” shelf in the Easy Reader section of the library, and every time we discover another Mr. Putter and Tabby book that we have yet to read! (Oh, and we are also working our way through the Henry and Mudge books, also by Cynthia Rylant.)

For more children’s books, visit Janna at The Adventure of Motherhood by clicking on the button below!

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Happy reading!
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From the Inside Out

Emmy entering the installation “From the Inside Out.”

Ever since I can remember, my little sister Heather has been sewing. (This really isn’t true, since I remember when she was born.)  Using the fabric scraps from my mom’s projects, she would sew little blankets for her dolls, and small presents for our parents. Now that she’s an aunt, she sews little bags for Lily and Emmy. The bags arrive filled with gifts; books and ribbons and stickers; all the wonderful trinkets little girls love. So it was no surprise to me to see Heather sewing scraps of fabric together every time I saw her this winter. But I was surprised to see what she made those tiny scraps of fabric into.

 Lily and Emmy’s bookbags, which arrived with surprises inside

I received a postcard in the mail a few weeks ago; Heather was collaborating with her good friend Nicholas Nyland and her students at Bradley University to create a special installation and exhibition. This was an art opening I couldn’t miss, so I packed the girls in the van and headed to Peoria.

 View from the balcony above

When we arrived, we found a wall in the shape of a spiral extending from the inside to the outside, draped with quilted fabrics of all colors and textures; there was a doorway and peepholes and little creatures hiding in the patterns. Lily was excited to spot the same fabric that her sister’s bookbag was made out of in this huge, quilted piece. At first, I told the girls DON’T TOUCH! Heather reassured me and said when they were creating this installation, she imagined the girls running around and playing in the exhibition. They played for the whole two hours of the opening, touching, exploring, laughing, twirling, and taking breaks to eat cookies. (Yes, art openings usually include food!)

Lily and Emmy run to find their aunt’s hand coming through a peephole.

Heather was quoted in the local paper:

“While this exhibition is not about the history of quilting, there is a tradition of saving things that can be used, and that’s part of what we’re doing here,” Brammeier said. “We usually think of fabric as a feminine material and part of the feminine arts. This is not going to be limited that way. It’s not going to be a feminist piece. But it is going to incorporate those qualities where we think of fabric as comforting.”

Just one section of the quilted wall

If you are in the Peoria area, and would like to see this exhibition, click here for more information: From the Inside Out.

Hurray for kid-friendly art!