Treasured Tales of Childhood

Call me crazy, but vintage children's books make me unbelieveably happy.

I am happier to have found 3 childhood books of mine in my mom's basement 

than if I had won the million dollar jackpot.  Honestly!  

So you can imagine how giddy I was this week...when I came home with these..

 This lovely book is a collection of classic kindergarten stories -

The 3 little pigs, The little red hen, Peter Cottontail, etc etc...

 The girls LOVED the 3 little pigs!

Of course we acted out the story afterwards,

and I was the big bad wolf blowing down

their straw and stick houses!

{What a great story to highlight Matthew 7:24-27:

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”}  ... How did I never see this connection before?

 And of course, Peter Cottontail.

The gorgeous illustrations might not translate in my pictures,

but I remember looking at these same pages

as a child and loving the wholesomeness

of HOME...

 And the 3 little kittens who lost their mittens...

Emilie absolutely loved this one (and all of them)...

 The Story of the White Rat.

You can't find illustrations like these anymore!!

To see this picture again after 30 years

brought back a flood of childhood memories I had forgotten.

 And the "happily ever after", of the white rat

and her husband rat, savoring stew in their

tiny house in the mountainside.

Again, a picture of domestic loveliness

that left a lasting impression on my 6 year old heart.

I think Emilie is equally taken with this book!

She asked to read it over and over today.

 And HOW did I not know I had a d'Aulaire book in my possession as a child?!

The d'aulaire books are famous for bringing history to LIFE

in wonderfully engaging stories for children.

I'm working on collecting ALL of them, but 

they are a little expensive and hard to find used since

almost every homeschooling family in the USA wants a set too.  :)

The kids LOVED hearing about our first President!

And last but not least...

this classic.  :)

Emilie loves Alice in Wonderland!

This sweet 1951 copy is broken in half

but I still brought it home anyways.

The kids loved the pictures.

It was just awesome to pass down something

precious from my childhood to my girls...

hoping they will build memories of reading stories with me,

which they will, in turn, share one day with their own children.
And so a tradition will be born.