Curl-Up-and-Read Books

I entered the world of picture books through home schooling my children.  They became a passion for me.  Purchasing treasures we had discovered through library loans, I started my home library.  I began with collecting them for my children and then rapidly moved to collecting for my future grandchildren.  Many good books go out of print so I wanted to make sure I had a copy.

I also go to library sales and snatch up wonderful picture books for pennies-on-the-dollar.  This is a wonderful way to build your home library.  You can sign up online for book sales and they will send you a list of which libraries are selling their books and when.  Some will sell books by the bag full.  You can't go wrong. If you impulse buy, then resell them or give them away.

One thing I enjoy doing is putting the date we bought the book inside the back cover.  I also put the date when we first read it and, if it an individual read, I put their child's name.  The younger siblings have enjoyed seeing that their older siblings read the same book years before them.

Here is the first of my favorites.

Patricia Polacco - This is an author for family heritage.  She is one of my favorite authors, as well as illustrators.  She brings her rich Jewish heritage of family into your home.  Other then a few of her more recent books, I agree and love her work.  She has began putting out some politically correct books.

She came to Barnes and Nobles, where two of my children and I stood in line for four hours to meet her and have her sign our books.  She was as charming in person as she is in her writings.

We started with "The Bee Hunt" where she introduces your child to the love of reading.

These are wonderful curl-up-on-the-couch books that enjoy peaking into someone else's family of treasures.

What are some of your favorite picture books?  I always love discovering a new favorite.

200th Birthday March 1, 2010

Spring is approaching as anticipation lingers in the cool breeze  March 1st announces earth's waking from her slumber.

March 1, 2010 also marks the 200th Birthday of Frederic Chopin, known as "the poet of the piano".

Can you even imagine anyone 200 years from now knowing you were alive?  I am sure I will just be dates in the record books, but some people leave their marks behind for centuries.


Today, I will play our Chopin CD's, stop a few minutes to read a short biography on his life and let my little one attempt to play a piece on the piano.  We might be able to coax my gifted husband's fingers to fly across the keys as we close our eyes to enjoy this beautiful, God-given gift of music from a man who lived 200 years ago.

A man that has a taste of music, paintings, or architecture is like one that has another sense, when compared with such as have no relish of those arts.  - Joseph Addison

As we look forward to the spring season, may we find ways in which to bring another sense, the love of the arts, into our home.

 A Source for reading from my home school library - "The Gift of Music" Jane Stuart Smith

Roses, Thorns and Beauty

Welcome to the new face lift of Janette's Sage.

I am still learning about this new form of communication.  I felt that the rose expressed visually the thoughts of my blog.  The background was chosen to continue this theme.

This rose is called "Aging With Beauty".  That is my heart's desire, to age with beauty before my Lord and my family.

A rose has thorns along the stem before you get to the beauty of the rose.  Examining Valentine roses,  the scent, the delicate rose, the sharp thorns reminded me of life.

We hear the saying, "I never promised you a rose garden".  Well that may be true, but each of us have thorns in our life or have experienced the hurt from thorns.  I wouldn't avoid buying roses just becasue of the thorns, nor would I want to go back and remove the thorns that created such beauty in my own life when I allowed the Lord to bring forth that beauty.

So, I continue to learn how to set up a blog.  I hope you enjoy the new look and continue to have patience as I move through this adventure of blogging and learning to age with beauty. Check out both of my new buttons for my blog and business, grab one or both, and leave comments along the way.

Enjoying the adventure, even with all the thorns.