Faithfulness

be it feathered, furry or fickle

For new subscribers, some of whom I met at a recent homeschool conference, welcome to my monthly newsletter where I share themed picture book recommendations. My hope is to shine a spotlight on both old and new picture books through a specific lens, and offer a valuable resource to librarians, teachers, parents, grandparents, daycare workers, babysitters, and anyone else reading to kids.

And quick aside, I loved sharing Her Own Two Feet and The Minor Miracle with people at the conference. If you’re looking for a middle grade book that represents faithfulness, you’ll find it in spades in either of these books.

This month, we’re looking at picture books that represent faithfulness, whether they intended to or not. Maybe some of these titles are familiar to you, faithful friends on your shelves since your own childhood. Or maybe you haven’t made their acquaintance yet. Either way, I hope you enjoy sharing them with the littles in your life and together, you understand how faithfulness looks and feels.

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McClosky

Oh such an oldie and goodie! Mr. and Mrs. Mallard faithfully look for a safe place to lay eggs and raise their ducklings. They finally find the perfect spot, where a man named Michael feeds them peanuts and Mrs. Mallard lays eight eggs. She faithfully sits on them to keep them warm, not even leaving for peanuts, until they hatch. While Mr. Mallard goes ahead to the Public Garden, promising he’ll meet them in a week, Mrs. Mallard teaches her babies how to walk in a line and come when called, valuable skills when they set out for the Public Garden.

They must cross a busy highway and Michael, their faithful, peanut-sharing friend, runs to stop traffic. They continue on their way through the city, all in a line with Mrs. Mallard leading the way as Michael calls for police help at another busy intersection. When they finally get to the Public Garden, Mr. Mallard is waiting for them, just as he’d promised. What a gift it is to have faithful parents and friends. They are certainly lucky ducks :-)

Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann

This one is such a great read aloud with tons of humor and fun illustrations. We meet Officer Buckle, who shares safety tips with students at Napville School. But the kids find him boring, they snooze during his talk, and all sorts of disasters ensue. Then one day, a dog named Gloria joins him. All the kids sit up and take notice.

Officer Buckle doesn’t realize it, but while he talks, Gloria stands behind him and acts out what he’s saying. When he turns to look at her, Gloria innocently sits at attention. He doesn’t realize Gloria is the actual star of the show, and the reason for the sudden popularity of his safety talks all around town, until one night he sees a video of his talk on the news.

Feelings hurt, Officer Buckle stops doing safety talks and Gloria goes alone. But without his tips, she has nothing to act out. She sits on stage, head down, and the kids go back to napping, which leads to the biggest disaster of all. The next day Office Buckle gets letters from the kids describing the disaster and telling him that Gloria misses him, and so the two make up. The story ends with safety tip #101, “Always stick with your buddy!” A faithful friend makes all the difference.

The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathmann

I feature two Peggy Rathmann books this month because she’s brilliant, and whether she knows it or not, she speaks to faithfulness quite a bit in her books. The story is told in black silhouette against bright skies, and starts with moms and dads eating pies, the babies seeing some butterflies—

And what do you know?

Surprise! Surprise!

The babies crawled away!

One young boy notices and follows them, and the narrator (we find out later it’s the boy’s mother) tells the story of that spectacular day in second person, speaking to the boy. Unusual, and brilliant. The rhyme is fun as we follow the babies into the trees where the babies chase bees, and into a bog where they chase frogs, all the time ignoring the boy who faithfully follows them, catches them when they fall, feeds and naps them, and finally, elaborately returns them using a sling made from diapers tied into a sack.

In the end the babies are returned and the mother takes the small boy home, faithfully holding her son until he falls asleep. Oh, I love it so.

Elizabeti’s Doll by Stephanie Stuve Bodeen illustrated by Christy Hale

Set in Tanzania, this is a story about mothering, a task requiring great faithfulness. It’s lovely in that it is both universal and foreign. Children the world over pretend to be mothers and fathers, imitating their parents, but in Elizabeti’s world there are no stores with dolls lining the shelves. That’s fine. A rock will do. Elizabeti names her “baby” Eva. She goes through the day side by side with her mama as they bathe and burp and do their chores. Mama has baby Obedi tied on her back with a kanga, and Elizabeti has Eva, her rock baby, tied on just like Mama.

Later, Elizabeti leaves Eva in a rock pile (so she’ll have some company), wraps her kanga into a bundle, puts it on her head and balances a jug on it to fetch some water. When she gets back, Eva is gone! She’s heartbroken. No other rock could take Eva’s place. That evening, while preparing to cook rice, she sees that Eva is one of the stones around their cooking fire! With some help she rolls her precious baby away from the heat, cleans her off and hugs her. She will be a fine mother someday, faithful and true.

The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Marla Frazee

If you’ve read other issues of this newsletter, you know I’m a huge Marla Frazee fan. I would love to live in the world she creates in this book. The Peters live in a sweet, simple house with a front porch, surrounded by trees and with a dock out back for jumping into the lake (ocean? river? doesn’t matter, it’s water).

Mrs. Peters starts off with just one picky eater, Peter, who will only drink warm milk. Not hot, and not cold. So that’s what she makes for him. She keeps having kids, seven of them, and each has only one thing they will eat, and it’s always something different. Her patient husband by her side, she does what it takes to keep her kids happy, cooking each one his or her favorite. For a while, it’s okay. They have fun together, and they’re a happy family. Until one day, the night before her birthday, Mrs. Peters is a wreck. So is her house. The family looks on in concern as she totally loses it in the kitchen, head thrown back, arms and legs splayed, as she yells her frustration and weariness to the heavens and the dog and cat run for the hills.

Mom goes to bed and the kids have a meeting in the coolest bedroom you ever did see, a loft with beds tucked in every nook and cranny. They head to the kitchen where each uses the thing they love best to try and make something for their mother, but it’s harder than they thought. The kitchen is a mess and they’re sure they’ve screwed it all up. Disappointed, they shove their concoction in the oven to hide it, and head to bed. The next morning, mom finds,

in the oven, no mistake,

a pink and plump and perfect cake!

All her faithfulness is finally rewarded with gratitude and the happiest ever after you ever did read. From that day on, the whole family is fed with one simple meal they all take turns preparing and all agree is delicious: Mrs. Peter’s birthday cake! Cake at every meal and happy, content, grateful kids? Faithfulness has its rewards.