Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

I listen to the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series in the car while driving to and from work. There have been four books released so far, with the last book, the fourth, having been released last Fall. I cannot tell you how in love with these books I am. They go by so fast, and they always make me laugh and smile. Katherine Kellgren, my most favorite narrator ever, does such an incredible job, I can see why she has won awards for her narrating. She does every single voice in the books, and she does them so well and they are always the same, she never forgets how she did a voice before, she always gets it exactly the same every time.

If you are interested, this is Maryrose Wood's blog, All Year 'Round (now illustrated). The books are absolutely hilarious, plus clever and witty. Penelope, the protagonist, is someone that you can't help but admire. She gets a little down sometimes, but picks herself up with the clever sayings by the founder of her alma mater, Agatha Swanburne. One of my favorites is something along the lines of "we will board that omnibus when it gets here, not a moment sooner." What a funny way to put it! I love these books, but I fear that the fifth one will be the final one, and I'm terrified. I love entering the clever world of Penelope and the Incorrigibles.

I really recommend these books, especially for fans of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Mysterious Benedict Society, and the Enola Holmes series (also narrated by Katherine Kellgren)!

I also follow Maryrose Wood on Twitter and I highly recommend that you do, too! She has a really great thing going on called #SwanburneWednesdays where she tweets a clever saying by Agatha Swanburne, and if you retweet it you are entered into a drawing to win a signed copy of the latest book, the Interrupted Tale. I retweeted a saying and to my incredible shock, I got a notice saying that I had been mentioned by Maryrose Wood on Twitter. I checked and I had won!!!!! I nearly had a heart attack and I am still in shock!! A signed copy of this beautiful book!!! I emailed Ms. Wood to give her my address, and she wrote back, and I nearly had another heart attack! It is as if I am exchanging letters with Charles Dickens!!!

Why yes, I did take a screencap of the tweet where she mentioned me!!!!!! (Ahem, please excuse the excessive exclamation marks! It seems I am still in quite a bit of a shock and will be for the foreseeable future).

What I think is also so awesome about this tweet is that it is tagged #ahwoo. I LOVE IT! I will take a picture of my amazing book when it gets here!

Fanciest Doll in the Universe

As a person who loves dolls, this looks like the cutest book for a doll lover.

Fancy Nancy

Fanciest Doll in the Universe

Written by Jane O'Connor

Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

Jan Berenstain Passes Away

Berenstain Bears Co-creator Jan Berenstain Dies

By Associated Press | Parenting – 3 hours ago

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Jan Berenstain, who with her husband, Stan, wrote and illustrated the Berenstain Bears books that have charmed preschoolers and their parents for 50 years, has died. She was 88.

Berenstain suffered a severe stroke on Thursday and died Friday without regaining consciousness, her son Mike Berenstain said.

The gentle tales of Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Brother Bear and Sister Bear were inspired by the Berenstain children, and later their grandchildren. The stories address children's common concerns and aim to offer guidance on subjects like dentist visits, peer pressure, a new sibling or summer camp.

The first Berenstain Bears book, "The Big Honey Hunt," was published in 1962. Over the years, more than 300 titles have been released in 23 languages - most recently in Arabic and Icelandic - and have become a rite of passage for generations of young readers.

"They say jokes don't travel well, but family humor does," said Jan Berenstain told The Associated Press in 2011. "Family values is what we're all about."

Stan and Jan Berenstain, both Philadelphia natives, were 18 when they met on their first day at art school in 1941.

They married in 1946, after Stan Berenstain returned home from serving as a medical illustrator at a stateside Army hospital during World War II. During that time, Jan Berenstain worked as a draftsman for the Army Corps of Engineers and as a riveter building Navy seaplanes.

Before their family of bear books was born, the young couple had already built a successful career in periodicals. A cartoon series they produced called "All in the Family" ran in McCall's and Good Housekeeping magazines for 35 years, and their art appeared in magazines including Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post.

Stan and Jan Berenstain created hundreds of books until Stan Berenstain's death in 2005 at the age of 82.

Mike Berenstain is an illustrator who collaborated on the books with his mother in recent years. His elder brother, writer Leo Berenstain, is involved with the business end of the family franchise.

The books in recent years have tackled modern subjects such as online safety and childhood obesity, and the bears (or their human helpers) answer children's emails and letters, but the goal is to tell enduring, universal stories. Perennial favorites cover challenges of getting kids to doing chores, defuse fears of the first day of school and teach values of kindness and generosity.

"It's wonderful to do something you love for so many years," Jan Berenstain told the AP in 2011. "Not everyone has that."

About 260 million copies of Berenstain Bears books have been held in the hands of children and their parents since the earliest books were published with the help of Theodor Geisel, a children's books editor at Random House better known as Dr. Seuss.

Mike Berenstain said his mother worked daily at her home studio in an idyllic part of Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, which served as inspiration for the books' setting. He said he will continue writing and illustrating future Berenstain books.

"Every day she was very productive," he said. "She was working on two books and had been doing illustrations until the day before she passed away."

Jan Berenstain is survived by her two sons and four grandchildren.

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Online:

http://www.berenstainbears.com/

[Source]