Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mom!

I know all of you out in the Kidlit blogosphere are excited about the ALA children's book award announcements Monday, but January 23 is an important day for another reason too--it's my mom's 75th birthday!!  As you Open Book readers know, Mom and I collaborate on this blog.  What I wanted to tell you today is that I totally owe my interest in children's literature to my mom, and I'm so grateful.  All through my childhood my mother read to me, shared books with me (well, she still does that), and encouraged my interest in books and reading.  She has never lost her enthusiasm for children's literature.  Throughout her careers as a classroom teacher, college professor, and now newspaper columnist, she has brought together books and people, always willing to tell someone about that great new book she just read.  To all the parents, teachers, librarians, grandparents, etc., keep reading with the kids in your lives!  They are listening, and you may never realize all the wonderful things they are learning.  I'm so glad my mom introduced me to the Ingalls and March families, Peter Rabbit and friends,  Dr. Seuss, Babar, Madeline, the Borrowers, and so many others.  Those books and those memories are a priceless treasure.  Thanks Mom, and happy birthday!--Lucinda Whitehurst

Visiting Beatrix Potter's house

Hilltop Farm

Near Sawrey, The Lake District

Sorry for no blog postings for a few weeks, but we've been in England and Scotland.  One place my mom and I were excited to visit was Beatrix Potter's home, Hilltop, in the charming English Lake District village of Near Sawrey.  Potter fans will recognize buildings from the village since Beatrix used them for backgrounds in many of her books.  What a delight to see her home and environment!  I read Beatrix Potter:  A Life in Nature by Linda Lear (St. Martin's Press, 2007) before the trip, while my mom read all of Susan Wittg Albert's mystery series Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter.  If you haven't read Potter to children in a while, pick up Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Jeremy Fisher, or The Tale of Two Bad Mice (a personal favorite because I like the doll, Lucinda).  Potter's beautiful artwork and gentle stories should belong to each new generation of children--Lucinda Whitehurst.