stories

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, had her name splashed all over the news recently. Another day, another scandal to write up in our scandal-loving news media. In case you missed it, you can read about Ms. Ferguson’s missteps. She immediately went into damage control mode and sat on Oprah’s couch, blaming her bad behavior on being drunk. Interestingly, this had the effect of increasing her children’s book sales!

It takes an immense effort to sell books these days. I should know since I’ve given away more of my books than I’ve sold. This new, innovative marketing tactic of foolish, drunken behavior seems… fun! The only problem is it wouldn’t work for the hoi-polloi such as myself. You have to be famous for people to really be interested in your personal train wreck. And especially for that to translate into book sales. Especially CHILDREN’S book sales.

Anyways, I decided to give the Duchess of York’s books a read. I found two available at the local library and checked them out.

Tea for Ruby and Little Red’s Summer Adventure made their royal entry onto our book table and held court for two weeks.

Little Red’s Summer Adventure certainly was… whimsical. It was so whimsical as to be nonsensical. It also featured a huge cast of characters. Basically, we follow Little Red on a journey to judge a boating bonanza. There’s lots of cutesy names for everything and plot twists galore, which only serve to muddle the story. The actual boating bonanza is imaginatively done, but in a clever way rather than a nonsensical way. Then the story returns to finish with nonsense. So in short, I was rather unimpressed.

Tea for Ruby, however, was a different story altogether (yes, pun intended). Ruby gets an invitation to have tea with the queen and spends the story day-dreaming how magical the event will be. In the end, she is driven to the tea and ends up at… her grandmother’s house. I thought this story was very nicely done and ended in a cute, clever, and heart-warming way. The illustrations were done by Robin Glasser who illustrates all the Fancy Nancy books. She illustrated Tea for Ruby in exactly the same “fancy” manner and really brought the book alive. Recommended!

Full Steam Ahead by Benedict Blathwayt is actually a compendium of 7 Little Red Train stories. I bought this at Border’s Bookstore in their “Super Bargain” section for less than $10. What amazing luck. I can’t find anywhere online this book can be bought, so if you’re interested you have to go to a real, live Border’s Bookstore location.

The stories all revolve around Duffy Driver and his little red train. They are fun stories, but the strength of the Little Red Train books lies in the beautiful, detailed artwork. Toddlers will appreciate the simple stories and cheerful pictures. Older kids, 6-8 years, might appreciate examining the pictures and seeing how they contribute to the story.

The seven stories included are:

• The Runaway Train
• Little Red Train to the Rescue
• Faster, Faster, Little Red Train
• Green Light for the Little Red Train
• The Great Big Little Red Train
• Little Red Train’s Race to the Finish
• Busy Day

Benedict Blathwayt, the author, resides in Somerset, UK and has been publishing books since 1986. He lives with his wife and has 2 grown sons. More than this I cannot say as public information on him is very scant.

I was reading The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin to my kids when I hit the first riddle Nutkin poses to Old Owl:

Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tote!
A little wee man, in a red red coat!
A staff in his hand, and a stone in his throat;
If you’ll tell me this riddle, I’ll give you a groat.

Hmmmm…. Uhm…. What’s Nutkin talking about? I riddled my husband and father, neither of whom knew the answer. I also riddled Google who returned me copies of the text online, but no solutions. After spending a ridiculous amount of the day thinking about it I realized I was over-thinking it. So I calmed myself down a bit and re-thunked it… A cherry!

I started to write this blog post for all the other poor souls who read this book and don’t know the answers to the riddles when my husband noticed that the answers are printed somewhere on each page in italics. He realized this when I told him that I thought cherry was the answer to the first riddle. Doh! Well, I’ll write this post anyways and say what I thought the answer was and whether it was correct or not. Sort of like a 2010 interpretation of a 1903 riddle.

Feel free to comment if you have other possible solutions….

Old Mr. B! Riddle-me-ree!
Hitty Pitty within the wall,
Hitty Pitty without the wall;
If you touch Hitty Pitty,
Hitty Pitty will bite you!

I’m thinking Hitty Pitty is a mouse… According to Potter, Hitty Pitty is a nettle.  Intriguing… How does a nettle get within the wall? Maybe as soup?

A house full, a hole full!
And you cannot gather a bowl-full!

My husband originally thought this was air… But the correct answer is smoke!

Old Mr. B! riddle-me-ree
Flour of England, fruit of Spain,
Met together in a shower of rain;
Put in a bag tied round with a string,
If you tell me this riddle, I’ll give you a ring!

I guessed that this was the fleur-de-lis. I interpreted “flour” of England more like “flower” and thought the bag tied round with a string might be a shield with a fleur-de-lis on it. Spain has such a coat-of-arms, which is why it’s Spain’s fruit. I admit I had to Google this to see if what I was saying is true. But it appears Potter has a much simpler answer: plum-pudding.

Hum-a-bum! buzz! buzz! Hum-a-bum buzz!
As I went over Tipple-tine
I met a flock of bonny swine;
Some yellow-nacked, some yellow backed!
They were the bonniest swine
That e’er went over Tipple-tine.

Could this be bumble bees? Yup!

Humpty Dumpty lies in the beck,
With a white counterpane round his neck,
Forty doctors and forty wrights,
Cannot put Humpty Dumpty to rights!

This is obviously an egg! Humpty Dumpty’s poem is as popular today as it was in 1903.

Arthur O’Bower has broken his band,
He comes roaring up the land!
The King of Scots with all his power,
Cannot turn Arthur of the Bower!

I guess: the tide? According to the book the answer is: the wind. Close enough! The tide comes roaring ashore as well…

Old Mr. B! Old Mr. B!
Hickamore, Hackamore, on the King’s kitchen door;
All the King’s horses, and all the King’s men,
Couldn’t drive Hickamore, Hackamore,
Off the King’s kitchen door.

Termites? Nope, apparently the answer is sunbeam. But couldn’t the King’s men block the sunlight with a towel? Termites are much harder to drive away – especially back in 1903!

Garbage spilling on the floor
Some people dance near the door
Feet tap
Like they have babies on their lap

• Nia Chiou, 3-1/2 yrs old, Union City, California, USA

My train has a trumpet, a violin and drums.

She plays Christmas carols on her trumpet. She plays Christmas carols on her violin. And she plays pirate music on her drums.

My train does all those things.

• Nia Chiou, 3-1/2 yrs old, Union City, California, USA

I thought I’d mention some trivia about Bella, Bonbon and the Little Sparrow.

This was my first book and it was inspired by my accordion-playing father. Despite being an excellent player, he’s very timid about performing in public. I’ve heard many times from musical friends that their best performances are often delivered while practicing. So the story came quite naturally.

The accordion that Bella plays is my Dad’s accordion. It’s a Vignoni accordion from Italy that he bought while on vacation in 2003. I photographed him holding it in various positions and then inserted the accordion into Bella’s hands. The violin is mine that I’ve had since age 9.

The idea of performing out in public is something that I’m going to do… one day! Maybe I could even make a few nickels?

In the book, Bella meets her favorite singer, the Little Sparrow. This character’s brief appearance is inspired by the real life “Little Sparrow” – Edith Piaf. She was a famous French singer who performed often with accordionists. She’s a national hero in France.

The section at the end of the book where Bella performs in the parade is based on an annual parade my Dad’s accordion group participates in. The parade takes place in San Francisco on Columbus Day. The background in the picture is the location on Columbus St. where the judges rate each of the floats. Last year, my Dad’s accordion band (the San Francisco Accordion Band) won 2nd place!

Thanks for reading.

This is obviously my first blog entry. I thought it would be fun to start a book and music specific blog. Most likely I’ll focus on children’s books.

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Lyndie