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Happy birthday week, E.B. White! While we enjoy your general writing advice, what we really love are your children’s books. In honor of them, we are listing the best anthropomorphic animals in children’s books. We apologize to Stuart Little for not making the cut. As city dwellers, we think he looks too close to a rat for comfort.

Peter Rabbit from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

We will say this: Peter Rabbit has the best fashion sense of all the animals. He loves rocking the human threads, and we absolutely adore it. We are completely on his side in the Mr. McGregor conflict. Using his awesome blue jacket to decorate his scarecrow? We say that is pretty messed up. At least Peter has his well-furnished home as consolation. Props for bypassing Ikea for handcrafted furniture.

Winnie-the-Pooh from Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

We aren’t going to lie; we were really torn between Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger. We picked Pooh because we feel the classic choice is always the correct one. There are definitely some negative aspects to Pooh: he has no brain and a honey addiction. Yet we cannot help but love him. We admire his peaceful attitude and friendly nature. His friendship knows no species boundaries; we think he is a good example on how to be a good friend.

Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

We know the obvious answer might be Wilbur, but we definitely have to go with Charlotte as the best. As people who have been hooked on phonics since we were tiny toddlers, we cannot help but love a spider that knows how to spell. She is also an amazing friend; she saves Wilbur’s life by complimenting him in her cobwebs.  Charlotte, we salute you. You have done wonders for spiders’ PR.  

The Cat in the Hat from The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat is the best creature to have at your party. He will make sure everyone has a great time, even if it is raining, and he brings his own entourage. As if that were not enough, he can also clean up the party quickly with his quirky clean-up machine. If we did invite him to our party, we would hope he would bring some hats. Those hats would look amazing on Instagram.

Frog and Toad from Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel

We know Frog and Toad are separate people and probably each deserve their own discussion, but they are so inseparable that we have to place them together. Like Peter Rabbit, the two amphibians demonstrate wonderful fashion sense by wearing human clothing. They also offer us an animal example of the Odd Couple. Frog is the relaxed one in the friendship while Toad is way more neurotic. Despite these differences, the two manage to have a beautiful friendship. We think they are a great example of how two different personalities can complement each other.

It’s the birthday of Frank L. Baum, and what better way to commemorate The Wizard of Oz author than to imagine ourselves in Oz, ruby-slippers and all?

And for those of you who have done more than watch the Judy Garland movie by reading the books, you know the Land of Oz gets way weirder than a bunch of munchkins and a city where everything is green. If you want to experience the real, gritty, Technicolor Oz, here are some destination spots that are off the beaten, yellow-brick-road.

The Country of the Quadlings

Every year we get to celebrate our parents with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. But what about those awesome people who watch the kids when the parents are busy or at work? While we are happy to celebrate parents’ contributions, we would like to take a moment to appreciate those whose job is to take care of children when the parents are away. So, in honor of them, we have compiled a list of our favorite childcare providers in books.

Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The library is every reader’s best friend – borrowing books, doing research, scooping up bargains on second-hand books from the library sale shelves, or just enjoying the atmosphere. Many libraries are architecturally stunning, with floors of carefully preserved and catalogued tomes – if only my jewelry collection was quite so organized!

These cute pieces will help you show your love of book borrowing without going overboard – perfect for the next time you are putting an outfit together to head down to the library for a study session.

Happy Birthday, L. Frank Baum! A heart. A brain. 

Courage. Your characters all want so much, so, in honor of your birthday, we decided to give them story recommendations that will help them. Believe us, our ideas are way better than the Wizard’s. Really, a silk heart? That is supposed to cut it?