Hi!! Heather here, reader and collector of illustrated classics and modern classics! Join me as I explore the classics and their illustrators, with glimpses of life in Maine through my intros and outros! Home of "Read-a-book-by-the-decade" and "Illustrator Explores". Some travel/author site vlogs here and there. Welcome Readers!
I'm buddy reading Treasure Island with my best friend right now! So nice to hear someone else discussing the story. I am loving these videos from you. Not enough people are talking about classic children's literature! And i love illustrations just like yall do 💜 Thanks for sharing with us!
Hi! That is so cool that you guys are buddy reading Treasure Island! I never hear about that one being read as a group read anywhere, and it was really good! I am so glad that we finally got to it. Let me know what you think when you are all done. Thank you for saying such a wonderful thing! It is wonderful to wake up in the morning with such a positive comment waiting! Have a lovely day!
I love her work so much! I especially love her Beauty and the Beast! Your wall decorations must be beautiful! Thank you so much for your lovely comment! Have a wonderful evening!💕
You should! I would be interested to hear your thoughts! Oz #2 is also very interesting from a feminist perspective. I totally forgot that I had wanted to mention that!
Thank you so much! I actually accidentally exported it in a lower resolution than normal, so its grainy. Kind of bummed about that! But thank you so much for still thinking it "gorgeous"!💕
These are great recommendations. Your "Read a Book by the Decade" videos are my favorites! I am adding The Midnight Folk and The Little Vampire to my tbr. I just love all these Fall season books! 🍂🎃🍁 And I'm so glad everything turned out okay with the dermatologist. 💜💜
Hi Jessica! I am so glad that you like them! They are so fun to make as well! If you read The Midnight Folk let me know what you thought. I am curious to find out how others find it. Thank you! It is amazing how fast the skin on the face heals! Have a lovely day...and happy October 1st!🎃🧡🍁
The treasure island and sword in the stone books are so beautiful. My copy of the TH white, thankfully has mention of a unicorn. I always thought that the Disney version took quite a lot from it! I never knew that P L Travers had authored other books😅. I just received a ballet book written by Shirley Goulden with Maraja illustrations. Take good care of yourself and I must tell you how much I enjoy all your videos, am such a fan of the same things, a real treat for me😊❤
Hi Punita! I cannot tell you how much comments like these mean to me! Thank you so, very much! What a lovely thing to wake up to in the morning! I just looked up your Maraja - is it The Royal Book of Ballet? It looks amazing! How does the book look in real life? Have a lovely day!💕 And thank you again....so much!!!!
@@WaterBearReads Yes, it is the Royal Ballet book, the illustrations are so gorgeous, I feel like I can actually hear the music, I specifically wanted the Maraja after seeing how gorgeous his work was from your last video 😊. I am a big Ballet fan!
Loved your video! I collect books based on illustrations and enjoy the information you share on the illustrators. Thanks also for sharing about your scar. I wish you all the best! 🙏🏻
Hi Janice! It is so lovely to meet a fellow collector! 🥰Thank you! It is healing so quickly it is rather amazing! My dermatologist told me that the skin on the face does heal quite rapidly...! Have a lovely weekend!💞
God bless you dear lady. I would have never seen the mark. I love seeing all the books! We had such a dry summer that my morning glories just started to bloom a week ago, so I hope they go on for a good while. They usually bloom in July here in Ohio. They are heavenly blue and I also have some purple and white ones blooming in my tomato pots. That was a good idea! 😊❤
Oh I bet they are beautiful! We had the opposite here....it rained so much that our local sunflower farm was closed and my teddy bear sunflowers only grew knee-high!🌻
Isn't it? I had been hoping to find it in a bookshop in the UK and was so happy when I found it at Hatchards! Thank you....every day it gets better and better💞
Yes it seems like the beginning of each chapter is a lot of chatter and musings, and the action or actual good stuff of each chapter begins after. My son and I had the same experience....loved it but had to get past some parts that were more tedious. It really helped having the audio while reading along.
This is a wonderful list! Added a few to my tbr. Your descriptions are irresistible. Can I ask how old your son is? Just trying to gauge if my son would already be able to enjoy some of these, especially the ones you mentioned having read with your child. My son is 7.
Hi Maria! Could you email me at waterbearreads@gmail.com and I will answer you? I like to keep my son's specifics off the internet just for his protection. I am so glad you enjoyed this list and the descriptions! I was worried they get too long-winded, and these videos get so long! Thank you so much for watching!💕
Hi, Heather! Your flowers are beautiful! And I love your mug! We also have chipmunks, and the one that lives under our porch is Charles Chips (Charlie). We have a feeding brick on the patio where we feed him seeds, nuts and fruit. And he drinks from the garden bird bath and sits by my foot when I sit outside, reading. 😊. I had so much fun doing this All of a Kind buddy read with you and loved your insights. I also love the way you interconnect authors, illustrators and themes! And I LOVED The Sword in the Stone when I was in my teens. So magical and tender and funny and wonderful all at the same time! Speaking only for myself, as a child, I loved books that contained references to things I had to look up and learn about. It made me feel like there were codes in the writing, and I was on a sort of quest. 😊 I’m excited to learn more about The People Could Fly, and thanks to you, have added it to my TBR. The Whisperwicks sounds amazing! I immediately thought of Tim Burton. You look wonderful as always and I couldn’t even see the scar! 😊 Have a great weekend! (My video with our buddy read will be uploaded soon…sorry, I got way behind this week…)
Hi Celeste! This video actually has a visual issue...I didn't realize it until after I uploaded it, and because family was waiting and we had to go I didn't have time to do an export and re-upload - sad because the beginning is all grainy, but the plus side is that the scar doesn't show! LOL! I really enjoyed our buddy read as well! No rush at all on your video.... I think you will especially enjoy The People Could Fly and The Whisperwicks is charming and best described as "dark cozy" if that is even a thing! About "Sword" - Yes those are exactly my thoughts....when we listened/read "Sword in the Stone" my son learned so many new things. But a friend of mine tried reading it to her son and they couldn't get through it, so I wanted to just make sure and be clear about it's possible challenges. But everyone's reading tastes are so different (thankfully), so it can be difficult! I feel that if there was ever a classic that could use a really well and thoroughly illustrated version, it is "Sword"! I am actually surprised at how little illustrated attention it has received, since JK Rowling's work is so inspired by it - Merlyn at one point even mentions a school for witches and wizards with good and bad wizards that used to exist. Have a lovely weekend!!!💕
@@WaterBearReadsEver since you mentioned Summerween, I’ve been learning more about horror and have started watching some booktubers who read horror. I’ve discovered that, while MOST horror is not for me, I DO enjoy the sub genres of classic spooky gothic and cozy horror. I most definitely like cozy and dark!
Hi Friends! I am heading out for a road trip for the day so will not be able to answer comments until this evening....but please do let me know your thoughts about any of these books and also, please let me know of any other recommendations of classics that we should read in the autumn! We are currently reading Goblet of Fire and then moving on to an out-of-print book called 'The Spaceship under the Apple Tree' by Louis Slobodkin. Anyway, I am heading out and will answer your comments this evening! Until then...love you! Heather🫖💕☕ (Also apologies that this video is once again so long!)
@@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366 Hi Celeste! You know it is pretty much the very last wild flower that blooms here, and it is so special. It feels like the blooming season begins and ends in purple!
TH Whites' Sword and the Stone is the ONLY one of The Once and Future King cycle that I like! I read it in a bind up, which I got rid of as soon as I was finished but will pick up a version of Sword and the Stone on it's own one day...
I wonder which version of "Sword" you read. If it was the 1958 version, the one that is usually included in The Once and Future King grouping, it will be missing some pretty epic events, like the battle between Madame Mim and Merlin and that chapter where they visit the goddess Athena and slow down time so they can hear trees. I really don't know what T.H. White was thinking when he removed those bits....🤔
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on it... I would love to buddy read too...but December gets so hectic and I really wanted to re-read The Nutcracker this year. I read it a few years back and fell in love with it utterly and completely. 🎄
@@WaterBearReads I played a game with kids where each of my hands would be Nag And Nagaina and their hand would be Rikki and they’d have to take me down! 😂
@@novelideea That is so cool! How clever and creative! By the way sorry for stating the same thing twice...the way the comments were stacked, I thought it was a new comment! Lol!
It was so nice to spend yesterday morning with you! I had a pair of aunts and uncles stopping in Portland via cruise ship, (they had taken a cruise to maritime Canada) that I had to drive out to meet for the day. Apologies that I am only answering your comments now! But thank you, thank you so much for all your comments!💕
Thank you! I love those teddy bear sunflowers - we have a resident groundhog who tends to eat them when they are babies but this year I guess his tastes leaned more towards the veggies, so we had a great crop of teddys! I hope you are keeping well!! Thank you for watching and for commenting!
I am so happy that you enjoyed seeing them! It's a real pleasure! I love making these kinds of videos! I find all these books and details about the illustrators all so interesting myself!🌻💞Have a lovely rest of your weekend and thank you so much for watching!
Hi Amy!!! Thank you so much for watching and for commenting!!! Yes Denslow's illustrations surprised me so much...and Michael Hague is the one I grew up with! Have a lovely day!🌻
This was magnificent!! The illustrations were all gorgeous, I cannot say which ones I prefer, they all bring out my dangerously acquisitive streak😅. I read the wizard of oz when I was 9+, my Pappa got it for me at a school book fair, a huge paperback volume with Robin hood and rip van winkle in that same book.That year for Diwali, I had red shoes like Dorothy (and discovered also what exactly was a tornado 🌪️) instead of the usual sensible black or navy, your video has brought back lovely memories for me ❤.
Hi Punita (is it Punita?)! That is such a lovely story! I tried to find the book you described online but nothing much is coming up. If it wasn't for the Robin Hood I would think it was an American fairytale book of some sort. Do you still have it? I wonder who the illustrator was. I love your story about how you wore the red shoes! Adorable! Thank you so much for taking the time to watch my video and commenting! 🌻
@@WaterBearReads yes, it's Punita, sadly I don't have it anymore, I have been looking for it unsuccessfully. It was definitely American, it was called Folk tales and I just can't remember exactly but the illustrations were beautiful and she had red shoes on. Never mind, I will hunt down a replacement, so many options from your video 🌻
@@punitavisvanathan I often come across books I've been searching for by accident - I will keep an eye out for it for you and come back to this message with its details if I do!💕
Hi Katja! The first that I have come across anyway! There may be others that I just haven't seen. By the way, I am so sad that Minalima won't be doing any more of the Harry Potters. I actually made me feel rather blue for a few hours. Such a bummer!
Such a lovely video to watch while I have my Sunday morning coffee. I love all the luscious color illustrations but the Russell H. Schulz edition really caught my eye!😍I grew up reading Whitman Classic books so I have a special fondness for them. Their simple sketched illustrations give me a warm and calming nostalgic feeling. I collect them now but I don't have The Wizard Of Oz yet. I'll be on the lookout for it! 💜
Hi Jessica! I loved your comment! Thank you! Yes those Whitman Classic editions are lovely. My sister has their version of Alice in Wonderland that was at my grandparents' house, but I'd love to find more of their classics. Now I am going to go do a search to see what others are out there! Thank you so much for watching!!!
Hi Heather! Your illustrator explore series is my favorite among your uploads. I also collect illustrated children's classic books and these videos are very helpful to me. Please keep it up.
Hi Mona! Thank you for saying so because I'm never quite sure if I have an audience for these types! But I do them anyway because I love them! I find it so interesting to look at how different artists interpret the same text and story. I have another one planned for around the holidays. Which is your favorite classic to collect? It's so amazing to meet fellow classic collectors, and so nice to know you on here!🌻
@@WaterBearReads I started with the Alice in Wonderland books. Like you, I get so much thrill seeing how the artists have interpreted the characters and the settings. I enjoyed my illustrated Alice books so much that my collection eventually expanded to include illustrated versions of Peter Pan, The Secret Garden, The Wind in the Willows, Heidi and Wizard of Oz. If I love a particular artist's style, I also collect books that he/she has illustrated - Robert Ingpen (my most favorite illustrator), Michael Hague, Inga Moore, N.C. Wyeth, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Chris Van Allsburg, Manuela Andreani, to name a few. I also collect illustrated books in series such as the Illustrated Junior Library by Grosset and Dunlap, Classic Library by Annes Publishing, Children's Classics by dilithium Press and Classics by Purnell. There's just so many beautiful books out there. And your videos are helping me get to know them. So thank you very much, Heather. More power to your channel! :)
@@monaangelavargas1241 So basically you are my twin! Ha ha! Yes I love so many of those that you mentioned. I'm not as much of an Alice in Wonderland collector as others, mostly because the market is so saturated so taking on one of these explores for "Alice" feels daunting (I may just do a top 10 favorite Alice's one day and leave it at that)....(ok maybe my top 20 lol)....I am going to look up some of those publishers you mentioned as I am not sure I am familiar with at least two of them. I love this community and how we all learn from one another! Thank you so much for all your kind words!!!🌻
Have you seen the Miles Kelly illustrated Classic? I don’t think I saw it in there. I have an abridged version from my grandparents’ house. It’s Wonder Book by Tom sinnickson. And the other one I didn’t see was Michael Foreman’s. ❤ I am going to look for lisabeth’s❣️
Hi Deea! I know about the Miles Kelly and have it listed on my website but I don't have that one yet. Oooh I need to check out the Tom Sinnickson and add it to my website if it is not there yet...I cant remember if I have it or not. I love Michael Foreman's! Another one that I really want to get! I call it the Rainbow version! My library had it so I photographed it for my website, but I have not added it to the collection yet. Thank you Deea so much for taking the time to watch my videos and commenting. You are the best!!!!💕
I just looked up Tom Sinnickson's adapted version...WOW! That is a really nice one! I'll need to get that one for and update my post! Thank you so much for telling me about that one Deea!🥰
So many beautiful versions of this story! The Grosset and Dunlap is a sentimental favorite, but that Paolo Barbieri edition is GORGEOUS! 😍 Especially the poppy field illustration! Here in New York we have the Matilda Joslyn Gage house. She was a suffrage activist and also the mother in law of Frank Baum. Also the All Things Oz museum in Chittenango. Love your outfit-it’s so cute! Great choice with the green drink. 😊
Hi Celeste! Yes I was actually surprised to learn that Frank Baum was from Chittenango, New York and then later moved to South Dakota and Chicago and California...in other words, that he did not live in Kansas! I think I had always supposed that he was from Kansas! Oh that is interesting about the Matilda Joslyn Gage house. I will check it out online! Thank you....you have no idea how hard I searched locally for a blue gingham...anything! Finally I went to Joanne's and grabbed material, cut a strip and made a bow, and called it a day!
@@WaterBearReads The little ribbon is much more wearable and versatile! I love that someone else would drive to JoAnn’s just for the gingham! It’s those little details that make making these videos fun. ☺️
I love watching these illustrator explore videos - such a gorgeous feast for the eyes with all the beautiful artwork. I loved your scarecrow on the wall, too. 😊 And yay! I'm so glad you got such a beautiful book with the gift card! That is a lovely edition of Oz. I actually never read Oz myself when I was little, but I have listened to the audio book with my kids. And I've seen Wicked and am looking forward to the movie.
Hi Anne! Thank you....that scarecrow on the wall is rather old....my mother-in-law passed it on to me knowing how much I love those "vintagy" types of things! I am so glad you enjoy these types of videos! And...thank you so much again for holding the generous giveaway! 🌻.
