Mollie Clarke is the great author and illustrator of Little Nuisance. I found The Golden Hamster, a sweet little book, on ebay, and it is now part of our treasury of good books for grandkids and other children.

One of our favorite little vintage books by Lois Lenski- A dog Came to School. Wonderful red and blue vintage pictures, from 1955.

I have this book- The Little Skater, by Diane Sherman, illustrated by Dorothy Grider, a "Tip-Top elf book" from 1959. It is signed by the illustrator! Says, "Merry Christmas, Dorothy Grider, 1959". I am looking forward to reading it to my grandchildren, and taking them ice-skating someday!

I got this book from ebay- a nice old book from Lois Lenski, one of my favorite children's book authors/illustrators.

I was reading to my granddaughters, and baby Malachi (3 1/2 months old here). He loved it, and now, at 5 months, listens avidly on my lap when I read to his siblings.

I LOVE Leslie Patricellis' books for babies!!!!!
Try her new ones for babies- I have gotten many laughs from toddlers from these!

Great shower gifts for a new mom! I guarantee the babies and toddlers you know will love these!

Two of my very favorite authors/illustrators are Erik & Lenore Blegvad. The Harper Collins website says about Erik: "Erik Blegvad is the distinguished illustrator of over a hundred books for children. He divides his time between London and Vermont." His wife, Lenore, "... was born in New York City and received her B.A. degree from Vassar College. She went to Paris to study painting, and there she met and married Danish artist Erik Blegvad. Dividing her time between painting and writing, Lenore is the author of a dozen books for children, including Anna Banana and Me, Rainy Day Kate, and A Sound of Leaves, all illustrated by Erik Blegvad, as well as Once Upon a Time and Grandma, which she both wrote and illustrated, " says the Simonsays website, with a photo of them, too!

I have some of their books, two of our favorites are Burnie's Hill and This is Me. Burnie's Hill (shown here with our very old board book "This is Me"- well-handled by children for over 20 years)

and an inside illustration of Burnie's Hill-

- a beautifully written traditional rhyme that all our children memorized at an early age, and now our grandhildren are!

And the chubby little board book, This is Me, is a delightful little book for toddlers- written by Lenore, and illustrated by Erik. I finally found a used one that wasn't as well-used as ours, and our 2 year old granddaughter keeps it at her home.

Tim Tadpole and the Great Bullfrog is another lovely Marjorie Flack book! Beautifully illustrated and telling the story of how a tadpole turns into a frog- a captivating story for young children! Out of print, but can be found on Ebay and other sites- worth searching for!

And I cannot forget to tell about Ask Mr. Bear- one of my two year old granddaughter's favorites! A story most preschoolers will sit still for! Filled with lovely illustrations of animals, and Danny- who wants to give his mother a birthday present- and asks animals for their advice. Finally, a BIG brown bear has wonderful advice for him. Enjoy this book!

I LOVE Marjorie Flack's books- the "Angus" books, the illustrations in "The Story of Ping", and others. I recently purchased an old book of hers- "Topsy" and it is a delightful story. I have read it to my grandchildren (one who is named Samantha) and they love it- it is the story of a little dog named Topsy and her adventures with a little girl named Judy, and an elderly old woman named Miss Samantha Littlefield. This is a book worth searching for on Ebay or other sites, as it probably is not in many libraries.

I read about Marjorie Flack on Answers.com - did not know that she was once married to Karl Larsson- what art they must have done together! Here is a little synopsis of her life-
"Marjorie Flack (22 October 1897 - ? 1958) was an artist and writer of children's picture books. She was best known for The Story about Ping(1933), popularized by Captain Kangaroo, and for her stories of an insatiably curious Scottish terrier named Angus, including Angus and the Ducks (1930). Her first marriage was to artist Karl Larsson; she later married poet William Rose Benet."

Our children loved Playmobil when they were little, and now our grandchildren and other visiting children are enjoying it. My daughter posted on her blog about them recently- with some great play tips for children. Playmobil are wonderful for hours of imaginative play. When we bought our first ones over 25 years ago, it was guaranteed that our kids would play with them more than any other toy or we could get our money back. It worked- Playmobil fast became their favorite toy.
Another favorite of our family is Glen Rounds- a real cowboy who writes and illustrates great books for kids. This book- Once We Had a Horse- is wonderful. I just read it this week to the Kindergarten class- they were delighted. It is the story of 2 kids, maybe in the Texas Panhandle- pretty bleak Plains surroundings, no toys, video games, bicycles, scooters- but an old horse comes into their life for their summer, and the enchanting and funny pictures tell the story of how they spent their summer learning to ride that horse. No riding lessons, no saddle, no reins- no one helping them, just dogged persistence.