Hi y'all, Tracy,Heidi,Annie,cAROL,Alana and Mr. Dan the man! I hate that some of you are feeling crudy,Oh the winter. I'm waiting and lurking to see if my ghoulish monster will say somthing about itself that would help me fill it's box. But as fate would have noone is saying a whole lot. I'm having a sicko weekend, I was driving home about 7:30 yesterday and just as I came around this huge lake I fell asleep at the wheel and and crashed into someones huge brick mail box and trashed their yard aaaand trashed out my beautiful van which I always try to park blocks away from everybody so I don't get any dings. WeLLLL I trashed the passenger side real good. I was ok but did I feel sick to my stomach. Can you imagine falling asleep at wheel in heavy trafic??? I was so lucky that no one got hurt. I will be sending my box on Monday To my ghoulish secret friend. Look for your box to reach you about Wednesday. HAHAHA everybody will be checking their mail,including me LOL LOts of hugs and smiles Carmen

I love this post. I read so much as a kid, I remember throwing down a spare mattress on our basement floor (where I could find some peace and quiet from my large and loud family) and reading entire books in one sitting. My favorites: The Secret Garden The Boxcar Children A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Little House in the Prairie series Charlotte's Web (also loved Stuart Little and Trumpet of the Swan, I still all three of my originals, it was a set). Loved all the Ramona Quimby books. Choose your Own Adventure books...the where you get decide which route to take in the book, and each one leads you to a different ending. Many more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I still have a bunch of books from my childhood. My Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes is another favorite.

Vee and Annpan, American writers of children's books are just as apt as English ones to anthropomorphize and dress their animal characters in human clothes. Besides Disney, there's Dr Seuss and his weird critters, Joel Chandler Harris's no-longer-PC "Uncle Remus" tales, the Sesame Street characters, and probably a lot of others. Some Americans are very fond of the English books, too. The difference I see, though, between these writers' stories and those of English writers: American readers, unlike English readers, seldom continue to favor them long past childhood. Oh, they often remember them affectionately, are likely to read them to their own children or reread them for themselves, etc., but the majority of American adults aren't going to admit that children's books are still their favorite books. Maybe it's a fear of being labeled 'childish'. I don't know. It's an interesting sociological/cultural phenomenon -- to me, that is. :-) My own personal problem with the English books: they are so unbearably pretty and precious. I hated Beatrix Potter's books! Especially Peter Rabbit. Vee, my sons loved Babar, so I gritted my teeth and read those books more than I ever wanted to. In fact I probably read more kids' books as an adult than I did as a child. The breakover age for me was about nine.

Congratulations, Allison! Such a great joy, and at this time of year! And your wreath is lovely, and perfect. My favorite dolls when I was a girl were a pair of twin babies. Basically, my mother bought two identical dolls and doubled their clothes and baby "stuff". I loved them so much! I named them Jeanette and Janiece. Very happy holidays to you and your family...