Crazy February Holidays

So I just found out that February, along with being Black History Month, is also Library Lovers Month! I just thought that I would get the word out because, well, I LOVE the library. Sure, my library is teeny tiny and when I picked up a copy of Breaking Dawn that I had reserved I asked the librarian working if she had read it yet and she said "Oh no, it's just SO long!" (*le sigh*), but where else can I go and spend an hour (or more) just meandering around and leave with an armload full of books for FREE??? I mean the library is just cheap entertainment folks. So make good use of Library Lovers month and be sure to check out your local library! I know that I'm planning on checking out the brand spanking new county library sometime this month! It's humongous compared to my local city library.

Also, February 1-7 is Children's Authors and Illustrator's week. In light of this, I've decided that I should share my very most favorite book ever from my childhood. I read this book over and over and over again and just LOVED the illustrations on top of that. This will definitely be a book that I will have on my someday-children's bookshelves. It's called Frederick by Leo Lionni. And oh, how I love it!

Frederick is a mouse whose family is preparing for winter by gathering food and preparing shelter. They begin complaining because Frederick doesn't seem to be helping at all, and is instead basking in sunlight, looking at flowers, and daydreaming. When the first snow falls, all the mice go into their shelter and learn what Frederick has really been doing all summer long. He's been collecting the sunshine and colors of summer to share with his family through the long winter. In the end, Frederick also discovers that he's "a poet, and he didn't even know it!"



This book always brings a smile to my face by showing you that the arts (creativity, colors, poems, and literature) are so very important. And that's a lesson that everyone should learn.