Favorite Finds #34

Standing at the Brink
{Living on Literary Lane}

"Beginnings are hard places, and the emotions they carry with them are hard to capture on a piece of paper...."

Treasure Trove
{One Bright Corner}

"I heaved the old door open and stepped in, shaking the rain droplets from my hair, grateful for the shelter...."

Immersion
{Sword of Ink}

Remembering to immersing yourself in the story-writing world.

Amazing baby bird pictures
{Pensieve}

These little birds are so comical!

'Once Upon a Time' reading lamp
{Chica & Jo}

A wonderful idea to have in your favorite reading room.

Book Review: Eva and Little Kitty on the Titanic

Eva and Little Kitty on the Titanic
Based on Eva Hart's account

written & illustrated by Sidsel Carnahan
published in 2012
38 pages

I was so pleased when author Sidsel Carnahan asked me to review her newly released children's book about the Titanic! The story is partially based on the account of Titanic survivor, Eva Hart. (Who was, in real life, a Second Class passenger, only 7 years old in 1912. Her young age made her a fitting passenger to choose for a book written for 6 to 9 year-olds.)

The story is perfect for young readers & little students who are learning about the events of the Titanic. You'll get to discover the Ship of Dreams through the eyes of young Eva Hart. In this story, Eva is traveling to America with her parents, and she obscurely takes her little white kitten aboard with her (although her mom and dad are quite unaware of this fact). The girl's main concern is to keep this secret safe for 7 whole days while riding across the ocean. With her kitten tagging along, Eva meets other people on the ship, like Captain Smith, Margaret Brown, and even making friends with the Navratil Orphans (Michel and Edmond). Incorporating these characters into the plot was a cute way to introduce other passengers to curious, developing minds.

Overall, I found the story to be quite educational and factual, so that young readers are learning realistic details about the tragedy. My favorite part of the story was the description of the ship sinking. The main events of that fateful night are all touched upon---the panic, the lifeboats, the rescue, the aftermath. This is a book I'd definitely recommend!

Sidsel wrote this book and illustrated it herself too. I thought her drawings were adorable, colorful, and quite fitting. The 22 hand-drawn pictures clearly depict accurate views of the Titanic. She did a wonderful job on both the illustrations and the writing.

Currently, Eva and Little Kitty on the Titanic is available in e-book format only. You can download it from Amazon.com & also be sure to stop by the author's Facebook page.

After reading this story of Eva Hart, I am quite eager to peruse Eva's true personal account that she wrote decades after the disaster, in 1994.

He holds me in the hollow of His hand...

Favorite Finds #33

PEACE (free embroidery pattern)
{Simply Vintagegirl}

This month's free embroidery pattern! Only available for free download through June 9th, so grab it soon!

A Special Giveaway...
{Blessed Femina}

You can enter for a chance at winning 2 delightful Lamplighter books: The Basket of Flowers & Christie's Old Organ.

Marked
{One Bright Corner}

This one will get you thinking. Are you marked?

Felt Coin Purse Tutorial
{Defective Compositions}

Aw! Such a cute craft! Quite a neat idea to use extra felt for.

Sturdy Womanhood
{Raising Homemakers}

"Let’s be sturdy women, content in the present and brave to the future."

March, April, & May's Good Finds
{BareFoot Days}

Esther posted a great list of her own recent favorite links. This makes wonderful reading material! In fact, I'm also linking to a few she mentioned.

Thinking Caps
{Strength, Dignity and a Smile}

More good thoughts for your day! Read this about "developing a solid worldview".

My favorite selections from 'Little Women'.

When reading Louisa May Alcott's writings, it is impossible to overlook the beauty of the words, and the charm of how the adjectives intertwine so delightfully to describe each scene. It is a work of art that the modern world of writing has misplaced and forgotten. Below are some of my very favorite quotes that are dearest to me that I've uncovered while reading Little Women. The selections come from both Part I and Part II of the book.... enjoy!
A bit from Jo... "I shall have to toil and moil all my days, with only little bits of fun now and then, and get old and ugly and sour, because I'm poor and can't enjoy my life as other girls do. It's a shame!" ... Chapter IV

... I suspect that the real attraction was a large library of fine books, which was left to dust and spiders since Uncle March died. Jo remembered the kind old gentleman, who used to let her build railroads and bridges with his big dictionaries, tell her stories about queer pictures in his Latin books, and buy her cards of gingerbread whenever he met her in the street. The dim, dusty room, with the busts staring down from the tall bookcases, the cozy chairs, the globes, and best of all, the wilderness of books in which she could wander where she liked, made the library a region of bliss to her. ... Chapter IV

A rather pretty little picture... the sisters sat together in the shady nook, with sun and shadow flickering over them, the aromatic wind lifting their hair and cooling their hot cheeks, and all the little wood people going on with their affairs as if these were no strangers but old friends. Meg sat upon her cushion, sewing daintily with her white hands, and looking as fresh and sweet as a rose in her pink dress among the green. Beth was sorting the cones that lay thick under the hemlock near by, for she made pretty things with them. Amy was sketching a group of ferns, and Jo was knitting as she read aloud. ... Chapter XIII

... The girls gave their hearts into their mother's keeping, their souls into their father's, and to both parents, who lived and labored so faithfully for them, they gave a love that grew with their growth and bound them tenderly together by the sweetest tie which blesses life and outlives death. ... Chapter XXIV

The brilliant writer... She did not think herself a genius by any means, but when the writing fit came on, she gave herself up to it with entire abandon, and led a blissful life, unconscious of want, care, or bad weather, while she sat safe and happy in an imaginary world, full of friends almost as real and dear to her as any in the flesh. Sleep forsook her eyes, meals stood untasted, day and night were all too short to enjoy the happiness which blessed her only at such times, and made these hours worth living, even if they bore no other fruit. The devine afflatus usually lasted a week or two, and then she emerged from her 'vortex', hungry, sleepy, cross, or despondent. ... Chapter XXVII

... Like most young scribblers, she went abroad for her characters and scenery, and banditti, counts, gypsies, nuns, and duchesses appeared upon her stage, and played their parts with as much accuracy and spirit as could be expected. Her readers were not particular about such trifles as grammar, punctuation, and probability ... Chapter XXXIV

... But Mr. Dashwood [the newspaper editor] rejected any but thrilling tales, and as thrills could not be produced except by harrowing up the souls of the readers, history and romance, land and sea, science and art, police records and lunatic asylums, had to be ransacked for the purpose. Jo soon found that her innocent experience had given her but few glimpses of the tragic world which underlies society, so regarding it in a business light, she set about supplying her deficiencies with characteristic energy. Eager to find material for stories, and bent on making them original in plot, if not masterly in execution, she searched newspapers for accidents, incidents, and crimes. She excited the suspicions of public librarians by asking for works on poisons. She studied faces in the street, and characters, good, bad, and indifferent, all about her. She delved in the dust of ancient times for facts or fictions so old that they were as good as new ... Chapter XXXIV

More of Jo's thoughts... "An old maid, that's what I'm to be. A literary spinster, with a pen for a spouse, a family of stories for children, and twenty years hence a morsel of fame, perhaps" ... Chapter XLIII

The festival at Plumfield... [it was] a mellow October day, when the air was full of an exhilarating freshness which made the spirits rise and the blood dance healthily in the veins. The old orchard wore its holiday attire. Goldenrod and asters fringed the mossy walls. Grasshoppers skipped briskly in the sere grass, and crickets chirped like fairy pipers at a feast. Squirrels were busy with their small harvesting. Birds twittered their adieux from the alders in the lane, and every tree stood ready to send down its shower of red or yellow apples at the first shake. ... Chapter XLVII

Sharing Our Bookshelves {June 2012}

Well, my bookish friends... summer is here! What are you reading?

Do you have any booklists to share?
A book review you've written?
Favorite quotes from the book you just finished?

I'd like to find out what's on your 'bookshelf'! Link up your posts below all month long.