Tasha Tudor First Friday Book Review~ TASHA TUDOR'S SEASONS OF DELIGHT

I am not going to even go into why I haven't been blogging lately~I have just had one of those years when I am too busy and seem to have too much going on in my life. I can't seem to find enough hours in my days to keep up with it all. So, I will try to finish up this year getting back to my blogging but no promises.

Today is the first Friday of the new month of November. Did you see the beautiful full moon last night?
I like to present a small review of a Tasha Tudor book each month. I haven't been to faithful with that one either.

I love this little simple book. It's a pop up book titles Tasha Tudor's Seasons of Delight. It was first published in 1986 by Philomel Books of NY. It was written by Tasha and shows Tasha's home and farm in Vermont. It's very sweet and I love the graphics. Her home, Corgi Cottage, pops up on the page shown below. It's very detailed and gives you a pretty good look at the lay out of her house and surrounding areas.

I like the Autumn pages showing geese flying, kids jumping into piles of leaves bobbing for apples, pumpkins and apples! Her last sentence states..."Thanksgiving Day ends the season with a fancy gathering and a traditional feast."

On the Winter page, her home pops out covered in snow and if you pull the little tab, Tasha herself churns her butter.

The last page shows the decorated Christmas tree, lots of children, Tasha with a corgi on her lap and a marionette show.

The book also features Spring and Summer pages. It's a typical romantic look at the farm life through Tasha Tudor's eyes. There are 12 pages and it measures 8.6" x 8.6". Very enjoyable.

Our Tasha Tudor Facebook page~Take Peace~is working on an Ornament exchange for St Nicholas Day which is December 6th. I volunteered to set it up this year. It will be "A Dolls' Christmas" theme and I think it is going to be a very fun event.

Tasha Tudor First Friday Book Review and A Big Tasha Score!

Happy 4th of July! I hope you got to enjoy my Tea Time Thursday post to celebrate the RED WHITE and BLUE! It's also my Tasha Tudor First Friday Book Review day. Jimmy and I went to a sale last weekend and one of the items I got was a copy of THE DOLL'S HOUSE by Rumer Godden and illustrated by Tasha Tudor. I have read it before, but it's a fun read, so I wanted to refresh my memory.
It is a darling book about two sisters who receive a doll house that has been been in the family. The dolls are delighted and you get to follow their story. Tottie is a little wooden Dutch doll and my favorite. The dolls WISH for things to happen and they often do!
The original version of the book was published in 1948 and it was illustrated by Dana Saintbury.
May Massee, who was an editor at Viking Press, was the one responsible for publishing Tasha's very first book~PUMPKIN MOONSHINE. Tasha and May remained friends and even though she had retired, she introduced Rumer and Tasha. They became friends and Rumer visited Tasha at her New Hampshire home. Tasha also visited Rumer in England when she spent a year there.
The book was reprinted in 1962.

The dollhouse family...Mr Plantaganet, Birdie, Apple and Tottie. Pick up the book and enjoy! It is available in paper back form and it's not expensive. If you like HITTY and MISS HICKORY, you will  enjoy this book.

I had so much fun at the sale! The lady was a sewer, a doll person, a miniature collector and she had a dollhouse. The house was loaded and written up as a "digger"...the kind of sales I love! We went back the next day for the half price sale. Lots of goodies to keep and lots to sell.

A few treats for Miss Annabelle! She now has a better sized quilt rack and a wooden ladder! She likes Estate Sales too!

So, you are wondering about the title of this blog post...what was the big score???? The second day when we went back to the sale, I was digging around in one of the rooms and I saw this box. If you are a Tasha Tudor fan, you know that one of her little companies was called THE JENNY WREN PRESS. I was ordering goodies from the company when I was first introduced to Tasha. So, I got excited when I pulled this box out of a pile of things. What was inside?

When I opened the box, it was filled with all kinds of things from the Jenny Wren era. Lots of advertising, envelopes, letters, sticker and fun things for my collection.

There were 6 catalogs to look through. Oh, I wish all of the goodies were still available!

I opened an envelop and squealed with delight! A copy of THE JENNY WREN BOOK OF VALENTINES and the little doll sized Valentines and envelopes. A score for sure! But wait, there's more!

I found the first 6 issues of the TAKE JOY! magazine in the box. These were published from Tasha's next company...Corgi Cottage Industries. They are really fun and filled with all kinds of interesting articles for the Tasha fan. These are from 1997. Two more copies were published in 1998 before that company was ended. Another score! These are very spendy on Ebay!

 This invitiation to afternoon tea is so sweet! It was all tucked into the envelope and had a return envelope with it. All of these items are in really great condition!

Then I found one more treasure. There was a copy of THE LETTER...a little newsletter that was once published by Elaine Hollabaugh. She would have fans send in photos and stories of interest.  I found some very interesting correspondence from Elaine to the lady who's house I was in...Donna Turner.
Donna was living in Klamath Falls, Oregon at the time. She made a miniature room depicting the cover of Tasha's book BUTT'RY SHELF COOKBOOK. Donna wanted to submit it to THE LETTER and Elaine accepted the offer, however, Donna got the information to Elaine too late for publication.
I couldn't find anything to tell me if it was ever published. I was left wondering.

When I was on my trip back east, I wasn't able to go shopping, so I came home with most of my spending money. I decided to order the book THE DIRECTION OF HER DREAMS by WM John and Priscilla Hare who own The Cellar Door Books. It is a very large book, filled with a lot of information on Tasha's books, publications, newsletters, magazines and even articles and advertising flyers. It is spendy, but I have had it on my wish list for quite some time. I was looking through the book for some information on THE LETTER and found that in the Fall 1987 issue, Donna's miniature scene was featured! I looked to see if I could buy a copy, but I could not find one anywhere. I was looking through my Tasha things and what did I find....the copy of THE LETTER that I needed!!!
I only had two copies of it and can you believe, the fall issue was there? I still cannot believe it.

Here's the article and the photo. It was not at the sale when we arrived, so I have no idea what happened to it. I don't know if Donna is still living. It was so amazing that I was in her home and have many of her items now in my collection. It was so neat to find another Oregonian who loved Tasha. We do love her too, even if we don't live in New England.  Yes, another score!

Oh the best part.....the box wasn't priced. When we took it up to the counter, I was sure it was going to be quite a bit, but I was willing to pay the price. The gal who runs the sales looked at it and said,
"How about one dollar?" A dollar! I am still so excited and will keep it all in my Tasha Tudor collection. 

First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review~Betty Crocker's Kitchen Gardens

As I have been planning and planting all week long, I thought it would be fun to share this little book with you for my First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review. The official title is BETTY CROCKER'S KITCHEN GARDENS. It was written by Mary Mason Campbell who was a real person who loved to garden and she lived in a farmhouse in New Hampshire. She was a member of the Massachusetts Horticulture Society, the Herb Society of America and the Audubon Society of NH. The book gives some recipes and most of them are her own. She loved gardening and cooking with herbs.
The book is 170 pages of information for planting and growing herbs and vegetables. She gives you a great deal of information about herbs, including detailed garden plans drawn out for planting your herbs. Tahsa illustrated the book.

The book was first published by Universal Publishing and Distributing Corp in 1971. I have two copies of the book. I like the green copy which is smaller than the paper back with a lovely photo cover. It was published under license from the General Mills company, owned by the Betty Crocker trademark.

Some of the illustrations are in black and white and some are in color...all very charming.

Both lady's gardens were used for the drawings in the book. Don't you love the innocent smiles on the these faces of these children? It makes me think of summer.

I hope to finish up my yard and garden planting tomorrow. I will have to post some pictures.  The weather has ben just beautiful here in Oregon.

First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review~Tasha Tudor's Treaure

Happy April! It's a new month and Easter is nearing. Don't you love this print by Tasha Tudor? I think it's perfect for spring with daffodils and a darling bunny.
I am getting so excited about my trip and I must confess, I have been spending a lot of time looking at my Tasha books and Pinterest boards in my spare time!

With Easter approaching, I thought it would be fun to explore this little set of books. The set of three is called Tasha Tudor's Treasure. It was originally published by Oxford University Press and later Henry Z Walck reprinted First Prayers and First Graces and encouraged Tasha to come up with a third book-
First Graces. He later published the three little books in a cardboard slipcover.

The set includes First Prayers, First Graces and More Prayers. Each has it's own book jacket. They are small, perfect for a child's little hands.

First Prayers was published in 1952 and is a collections of prayers including the Lord's Prayer, various grace before meals and of course, the 23rd Psalm.

First Graces was published in 1955 and is made up of 21 prayers of thanksgiving. This illustrations is about Thanksgiving. The pictures are so sweet and as usual, Tasha has chosen to feature children in her drawings.

More Prayers published in 1967 and is the last in the trio. The book shares scripture verses and more psalms.   This is a page from the book.

I have had this little set since the early 1980's and they are all very sweet. First Graces is my favorite of the three.

Waiting for Easter.

FIrst Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review~ FIRST POEMS OF CHILDHOOD

Here it is again, the first Friday of a new month and time for a Tasha Tudor book review. I enjoy these so much as it gives me a chance to read through my collection of Tasha books. It's very enjoyable and I learn a little something along the way. We certainly have had some winter weather this year. I know it's nothing compared to so many of you in the Midwest, Great Lakes and the East coast, but we have really had winter here in the Northwest. I can hear the birds singing outside this morning. Some of our visiting birds are leaving and new visitors are arriving, so I do believe spring is trying to appear. So I welcome March and I welcome this book review.

This is just a very sweet little book filled with lovely Tasha illustrations and great poems. I love poetry and hope the children of today are introduced to these traditional childhood poems. Computers are great, but every child needs to hold a real book and read some real poems from those pages.

The book was first published in 1967 by the Platt and Munk Publishing Company of NY. It has been reprinted several times and was released in a paperback form along the way in 1979.

Naturally, having little Otto in my life, has just tuned me into children's literature and all things "baby"!
Below is a wonderful poem about BABY by George MacDonald. It is just so my little grandson. A very sweet poem. Otto is 7 months old now and my daughter just reported to us last night that he has tooth #3.He loves to eat so this is a good thing.

Don't you like Monday's Child? One of my favorites. What day of the week were you born on?
I'm a Saturday's child so I have to work hard for a living!

This is what the paperback edition looks like. Nice graphics from a page in the book. There are 45 pages in the book.

Enjoy poems written by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Eugene Field, Christina G Rosetti, Longfellow and many others. This book is easy to find and isn't too expensive. Pick up a copy and share it with a child.

First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review....Rosemary for Remembrance

Under a blanket of snow today, I am taking the time to write my February  First Friday TASHA TUDOR book review. I am sorry that I missed my January review.  ROSEMARY FOR REMEMBRANCE is a sweet book for keeping a record of your friend's and family's birthdays and anniversaries and such. Each month is sweetly illustrated by Tasha and the illustrations are just charming. This book was published in 1981 New York: Philomel Books. If you are lucky, your book will come with a pasteboard jacket that slips on to protect the book.

Don't you just love the February page? It so cute and perfect for Valentine's Day. This time period is one of my favorites for Tasha's work. Her work is very detailed with lots to explore on each page.
There's a note inside on the first few pages that states that Tasha drew the flowers from living plants growing in her garden. It gives a detailed list of all the flowers used on each month's page.

Each month has a dated list for you to fill in....if you dare write in your book! I just can't.

So while I was doing some investigating on the book, I ran into some interesting information on the rosemary plant. I love rosemary in my garden. Right now, mine is under a lot of snow and I do hope it survives. I lost two plants a few years ago when we had a cold and snowy winter. Rosemary is an woody, evergreen perennial herb native to the Mediterranean area. It has a lovely smell and is actually a member of the mint family. It flowers white, pink, purple or blue. Mine flowers blue. It's Latin name means "dew of the sea". This is not a picture of my plant...I wish! It does grow well here in Oregon. I am actually training my into a tree. It is a decorative plant as well as an herb used for cooking and medical uses. They say it helps with your memory.

So, I'm sure you have heard the phrase "rosemary for remembrance"other than the title of Tasha's book.
In Shakespeare's play HAMLET, Ophelia actually says,"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love remember".

So rosemary is often used in funerals or memorial services...tucked in little lapel pins and such. Very sweet. I will always look at my rosemary differently now.

I did just want to mention that the Tudor Family has reissued Tasha's Valentine Countdown Calendar. I have a copy of one that was published by her Jenny Wren Company. It's very sweet. Valentine's Day is coming! Check our the Tasha Tudor and Family website for lots of items.

December 7th...Tasha Tudor Book Review The Dolls' Christmas

My December Tasha Tudor book review is The Dolls' Christmas and of course, one of my favorite books! I love all the illustrations...lots and lots and lots to enjoy! There are 32 pages to drool over.

It was first published in 1950 by Oxford University Press NY. It was republished in 1976 by Random House, 1999 by Simon and Schuster and it is now an Ebook also by Simon and Schuster with audio, put out in 2012.

The story is about two little dolls, Sethany Ann and Nicey Melinda who plan a Christmas Day dinner party and marionette show for their dolly friends. Invitations are made and sent by Tasha's famous Sparrow Post. The two little girls help plan the day even tiny cookies are baked....oh so Tasahish!

The dolls live in Pumpkin House and here's a picture of it. It's quite large like the doll house that Tasha Tudor had in her home. The lucky little girls who owned it and the lucky little dolls who lived in it!

If you are a dolly person, you MUST have this book. It is so charming and you will enjoy it year after year. 

First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review~Fairy Tales From Hans Christian Andersen

Do you like a good fairy tale? I do, so this month's First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review is about  a book of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen that was illustrated by Tasha in 1945.

Just what is a fairy tale? it's a simple children's story about magical creatures such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants and mermaids.  Often they begin with "Once upon a time", "A long, long time ago" and may end with "They lived happily ever after".

This sweet book was written in 1945 and first published by Henry Z. Walck, New York. I am lucky to have a beautiful first edition that I cherish. The book is 273 pages long and includes 10 color illustrations and 31 black and white illustrations.  The one above is from The Wild Swans and is so pretty.

I have often seen this illustration but I didn't know it was from this book until I started studying the book a bit more. It's from The Fir Tree. Don't you love the way Tasha draws little children?

This one is from Thumbelina, which has always been a favorite of mine. Hang on tight Thumbelina!

I borrowed this picture from an eBay seller. It is similar to my book. It is still for sale by books4u29 if you are interested. This one doesn't come up for sale too often.

I wanted to give just a little information about the author of these stories, Mr Hans Christian Andersen.

He was a Danish author and poet, born in 1805 and died in 1875. He was best known for his fairy tales.

When I was little, I loved this movie with Danny Kaye acting as Hans Christian Andersen. The movie states, " this is not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about the great spinner of fairy tales".