Well, the election-season from Hades has finally ended.
Hades and Persephone by the D’Aulaires
Yesterday, I felt emotionally wasted. Utterly dispirited by national and personal pain. I know many of you are in that same place. There are times when the thing to do is to cry, to vent, to sit still and reckon with a painful reality rather than shrug it off. Then comes a time to figure out the next thing to do.
so tempting
As I’ve written before, in the midst of brokenness, turning away to plant goodness is how we make the world a better place.
One of my ways of planting goodness is to offer up children’s literature. So today I bring you a dose of laughter. What a gift, laughter is. Fortifying, pain-relieving, stuff. Read a silly book aloud with someone you love. Maybe not today, but sooner than you might think . And let some fresh air winkle into your heart.
Nanette’s Baguette, written and illustrated by Mo Willems
published in 2016 by Hyperion Books for Children
You know you’re in good hands when Mo Willems revs up his creative juices and here he is, wildly departing from pigeons, piggies, and elephants to deliver a hilarious, tongue-tickling, escapade set in France.
Note that the characters are frogs. Bien sûr.
It’s a red letter day for Nanette because today is the first day that Nanette gets to get the baguette! She is all set! Never fret! She won’t forget that baguette, she eagerly promises.
And Nanette does not forget the baguette. Yet — she ends up full of regret!
Follow all the twists and turns that beset Nanette, plus! whet your appetite for a crusty, steaming, chewy baguette in this delectable tale. So entertaining!
Willems created the illustrations by building an elaborate set for Nanette. You can see some photos of his process on the back flap of the book. Thus, besides jollifying our lives via all the bounce and sproing of his characters, his sunny French village immerses us in charm quite literally. We feel quite transported into this 3-dimensional location.
Willems building his Nanette set.
orange marmalade 
Thank you for the bit of cheer – sorely needed! I’ve been curious about this book and was happy to hear your thoughts about it.
I heard an interesting comment yesterday from a teacher who said her elementary students were so stressed, carrying the stress from their parents. She was urging parents to take a time out from the madness to reassure and lighten the burden on their children. And yes — you would love this and Mo’s crunchy baguettes 🙂
I imagine many parents are struggling to explain the election results to their children. Easy to see why kids are so stressed too. I’m still in shock!
Absolutely. And in diverse classrooms/families which we have so much of here in Minneapolis, there are all kinds of stressful situations.