Field Trip! Jack in Search of Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts

Art museums and libraries are two of my favorite kinds of places, and I am so lucky to live only two blocks from one of each, and only a little further away from more. The Detroit Institute of Arts provides a perfect backdrop for tonight’s story, about a bear who goes in search of Art at an art museum. The illustrations of the museum combine both drawing and actual works from a different museum, the Delaware Art Museum, which makes the book itself almost like a visit to an art museum.

A very special thank you goes to the Detroit Institute of Arts for giving me permission to film in the museum and for being a fantastic cultural presence in my neighborhood and region. You can learn more about them at DIA.org.

Have you ever been to an art museum? What did you see there? Tell me in the comments!

Want to read Jack in Search of Art on your own? You can borrow it from your library or buy it online from an independent bookseller here.  


Sparkle Dreams!
Valerie

Sugar Would Not Eat It, by Emily Jenkins and Giselle Potter

We all have trouble eating our food sometimes, but Sugar the Cat seems to have a little more trouble than most of us would if we were handed a slice of chocolate cake and told to eat it. I know that I would have no problem devouring a whole slice, and maybe even asking for more, but Sugar has the opposite problem.  No matter how hard Leo and his friends try, she just won’t eat! How will they get her to eat?

What kinds of things do your parents tell you when you won’t eat your food? Do they tell you the same things Leo’s friends told Sugar, or do they try something else? Tell me!

Sparkle Dreams!

Valerie

Want to read Sugar Would Not Eat It on your own? You can borrow it from your local library, or buy it online from an independent bookseller here.  

Are You My Mother?, by P.D. Eastman

Some of my favorite memories involve sitting with my mother and a book, whether together at bedtime or separately on the couch. My mother’s constant reading and huge piles of books all around the house certainly influenced my own reading habits, and made me into the voracious reader I was in school and still am today. Though the things we read have changed over the years, it’s always fun to sit with my mom and read and talk about the things we’re reading.

When my mom gets a little nostalgic, there’s a certain way she says “P.D. Eastman” and “Are You My Mother?” as if talking about an old close friend. It’s one of her favorite stories, one about a little baby bird who doesn’t know who his mother is yet, and I am really glad to read it for her tonight.

What is your mom’s favorite story? Do you like it, too? If I can find it in my library, I might read it for another bedtime story!

Have a good sleep, and sparkle dreams, and we’ll read together again soon.

Valerie

Want to read Are You My Mother? on your own? You can borrow it from your library or buy it online from an independent bookseller here. 

First story! Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Welcome to Storytime and Sparkle Dreams! I love reading and sharing stories and especially storytime, and Storytime and Sparkle Dreams is my way of sharing that love with you. For the first bedtime story, I chose one of my favorites, Madeline. I remember reading this book often when I was younger, and reading it now I love it just as much, if not more.

Madeline tells about a strong little French girl. She is fearless- to the big, scary tiger in the zoo, she only says “pooh-pooh!” I wanted to be as strong as she is, both in this book and the series that follows. My favorite part is, without a doubt, Ludwig Bemelmans’ beautiful illustrations. I don’t think showing them in the video truly does them justice. The book features beautiful pictures of Paris and yellowy pictures of the girls and Miss Clavel in their lines that add to the story for both readers and non-readers alike.

The old house, covered in vines

Notre Dame!

"Isn't it a fine day to visit Madeline?"

I loved looking at them when my mother read Madeline to me, and I love looking at them when I read the story to someone else.

Madeline is one of my favorite stories. What are some of your favorite stories? If I can find one of your favorites in my library, I might read it for another bedtime story!

Have a good sleep, and sparkle dreams, and we’ll read together again soon!

Valerie

Want to read Madeline on your own? You can Borrow it From Your Library or Buy it Here.