Mum, Me, and the Mulberry Tree

It’s always a special day when a little girl and her mum take their annual trip to a field of wild, waving grass where their mulberry tree is.  The excited anticipation grows as they get closer — will the mulberries be ripe enough for picking?  They nibble as they reach high to pick and pluck handfuls of rich purple mulberries.  As the glow of the summer evening fades, the girl and her mum return home to make a familiar and comforting mulberry pie.  A sweet dream of a story, golden like a summer sunset and sweet like times spent with loved ones.

Mum, Me, and the Mulberry Tree was written by Tanya Rosie, illustrated by Chuck Groenink and published by Candlewick Press.

Books for Family Adventures

Today we’re sharing a collection of some of our favorite books for adventuring not just during summer, but all year long.

Roll down the windows, turn up the radio, and take a drive up the world’s most magical coastline.

It’s a beautiful and practical travel guide. An illustrated keepsake. An inspiration to get out and visit. And a celebration of the wild, lush, larger-than-life 2,000 miles that run along the edge of the West Coast through California, Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island, where you’ll find everything from stunning vistas and alluring beaches to botanical gardens, nature trails, antiques stores, charming villages, and a handful of great cities along the way.

Created by artist and inveterate road-tripper Danielle Kroll, Pacific Coasting covers all the not-to-be-missed stops, while including maps, packing lists and playlists (yes, what to listen to as you’re driving up to Hearst Castle), and specific guides like Tide Pool Etiquette and Oregon Lighthouses. The result is the offbeat adventure of a lifetime, filled with something new to discover every hour of every day.

Pacific Coasting was written and illustrated by Danielle Kroll and published by Artisan.  Synopsis courtesy of publisher.

A wonderful book by Greta Eskridge, second-generation homeschooling mom of four.  It’s about making connections and bonding with your kids, creating meaningful memories and going on adventures big and small, whether they be at home or out in the wilds of the big, wide world.

Adventuring Together: How to Create Connections and Make Lasting Memories with Your Kids was written by Greta Eskridge and published by Thomas Nelson.

Have a meteor slumber party, attend a symphony concert, take a hike in the rain, preserve colorful fall leaves, and make nettle pesto as children explore a love of nature and venture into the great, wide, real world. From backyard bugs to farmer's market veggies, children will unplug from electronics; explore the world; and learn about nature, art, music, and themselves through STEAM projects and new experiences.

100 Days of Adventure will spark curiosity in 6- to 10-year-olds with

• Indoor and outdoor seasonal activities, projects, experiments, crafts, recipes, and field trips

• Free and low-cost activities, with options for different kinds of groups and locations

• Step-by-step directions, nature journal prompts, tips, and checklists

• Beautiful photos and helpful illustrations

Children can bond with parents and siblings, learn new skills with individual investigations, or explore with friends in an educational or homeschool group with this full-color activity book. Also included is a note to parents with encouraging start-here guidance on growing a family culture of curiosity and adventure.

Whether your family is looking for fun activities for school breaks at home, road trip vacations, or everyday ways to learn together, this collection of interactive educational activities will help your kids get creative, get into nature, and get closer to each other.

100 Days of Adventure: Nature Activities, Creative Projects, and Field Trips for Every Season was written by Greta Eskridge, illustrated by Emiy Paik and published by Thomas Nelson.  Synopsis courtesy of publisher.

Small Adventures Journal, a little field guide by Keiko Brodeur, is a big invitation to soak up the outdoors and a nudge to go out and explore, or to stop and sit for awhile and breathe in the summer.

It's full of freshly illustrated pages--checklists (for things like outdoor clothing), visual references (e.g., animal tracks, types of trees), pages to make lists (e.g., outdoor foods to pack for a picnic) and more.  I think what I like best are all the pages for observation (tasks ranging from photographing textures, sketching the horizon, drawing the stars and mapping your world to identifying cloud types).  The key themes are discover and document and this book does an excellent job of calling the reader to look outside and note down what they see, hear, feel and experience.  It's a book to take with you around your neighborhood, park, new city, short or long road trip, hike in the woods--basically anywhere.  Soon enough, the summer will dwindle down to its last hot day and this book will be packed to the gills with drawn and written memories.  It'll be an invaluable record of a summer well spent, in awe of the expansive world around you.  Click here to view the interiors of the book.

Small Adventures Journal was written and illustrated by Keiko Brodeur and published by Chronicle Books.

We’ve long admired and been inspired by Wee Society’s bright, modern and color-drenched aesthetic and their penchant for the whimsical and the fun.  If you have any of their books, you know what we mean about it being impossible not to break into a smile when you start to turn those pages.  Their latest book Go! is a unique take on the travel journal, a place to record your latest near or far adventure with a few fantastic surprises in the back (watch the following videos for a sneak peek).  The sentence starters included make writing and documenting memories a fun experience and are part of what will make Go! one of the best souvenirs from your trip.  It comes in three jacket colors—red, blue and yellow—and it’s one of our favorite books to give as a gift!

Go! My Adventure Journal by Wee Society was published by Clarkson Potter.

“When you next feel the wind brush by, think about where it has come from and where it goes.  Some of it has touched the tops of mountains deep within the Sahara.  Some carries the fragrant pine scent from the vast Siberian taiga forests.  Or perhaps it has come from the yawning jaws of a lion on the African grasslands.  Every breeze brings a story of its journey.  If you listen hard enough, you can hear its whisper.  It is the quiet call to adventure, asking you to step into the wild.”

This just might be the ultimate book of adventuring we’ve ever come across—it’s the work of an unknown artist and adventurer.  “If you are reading this, it means my notebooks have been found.  I am leaving them here at camp for safekeeping along with a few other belongings that I won’t be taking with me.  The notebooks are a lifetime’s worth of knowledge, which I’m passing on to you.”  The mysterious author offers meticulous advice about camping in the wild, rafting, sailing, expeditions, building shelters, exploring, navigating and other invaluable references for everything under the sun.  Pore over this one for hours, and don’t leave home without it.  May it inspire an adventure or two.  Click here to view interiors of the book.

The Lost Book of Adventure: From the Notebooks of the Unknown Adventurer was edited by Teddy Keen and published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.

Such an apt book for summer.  Where to find wild?

“Wild keeps many secrets, waiting to be discovered—

like its candy: honey from bees and sap from trees,

swift-meting snowflake and juice-bursting blackberries.”

I would love to know where everyone goes to find wild in their neck of the woods.  If you’re ever in San Francisco and you find your way to Mount Sutro, take this book with you!

Finding Wild was written by Megan Wagner Lloyd and illustrated by Abigail Halpin and published by Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Family Adventures provides inspiration and guidance for vacations long and short; creating memories that last a lifetime.

These are real-life tales of moms and dads braving the unavoidable struggles of travel—flight delays, lost luggage, middle-of-nowhere engine breakdowns, and middle-of-everyone emotional meltdowns—to share new experiences with their kids. As all of these parents will tell you, traveling with kids is never easy. But the benefits can be invaluable. What could be more important than introducing our children to cultures where families, not so unlike our own, look and live and speak and eat differently than we do. What could be more useful than giving them the tools to deal with the challenges encountered on the road. Taking risks, overcoming challenges, discovering beauty, and opening our minds and hearts. These are the things we hope for each time we pack our bags, load the car, or board a plane. This is why we leave home and head into the unknown. No matter how old we are, each of us wants to be filled with awe and to feel fully alive. And we want to share these experiences with the people we love the most, so that these moments of wonder might live on for years to come. - Travel tips for the age groups 0-3, 4-6, 7-10, 10-13 as well as thirteen and up are laid out in detailed chapters. Also for older children from the ages of eleven to thirteen for example, travel provides an opportunity to deepen a connection, or to reconnect, with a child that might be spending more and more time away from you. - Reif Larsen, author of the novels The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet and I Am Radar, speaks in his essay about rediscovering nature with his children around their home during the current travel restrictions. Family Adventures provides inspiration and guidance for vacations long and short; creating memories that last a lifetime.

Family Adventures: Exploring the World with Children was published by Gestalten.

Over and Over

A father and daughter spend their days together watching clouds change into rabbits and fish, catching raindrops in their cupped hands and watching the moon grow bright.  These are days of discovery, magic and traditions shared.  They’re treasured times spent together and unconditional love remaining constant through the changing of seasons and passing of years.  Over and Over has all the makings of a nightly read-aloud, and would be a lovely and reassuring end to many a busy day.

Over and Over was written by M. H. Clark, illustrated by Beya Rebaï and published by Compendium.

Wee Society + When Lola Visits Giveaway

Wee Society’s Us: A Compendium is a journal for the whole family.  It’s a place to capture the sweet and silly details that make your family unique.  There are pages to record your all-time top ten songs, your color memories, interviews with grown-ups,  dream trips and more.  There’s even a page to include in a time capsule (to be opened in 2041!) and a customizable board game for Family Game Night.  All in all, so many fun and meaningful ways to connect as a family and a perfect “day in the life” snapshot to treasure for years to come.

We’re partnering with Wee Society to give away a copy of Us: A Compendium and When Lola Visits.  This giveaway is open to US residents and ends Sunday, July 17, 2022, at 11:59 PM PT.  Head over to this Instagram post to enter.

Patch of Sky

Pia and her best friend Patches have always done everything together.  One day when Pia finds out that pigs are unable to see the sky because of the way their necks are built, she stops in her tracks.  Patches has never been able to look up into wondrously blue sky that Pia has seen and loved her whole life?!   It is then and there that Pia hatches a plan to give her favorite pig the opportunity to experience the impossible — a gander at the majestic blue sky.  It will change Patches’ life forever, Pia just knows it.  But will she be able to pull it off?  An adorably humorous tale of friendship, trial and error and determination.

Patch of Sky was written and illustrated by Nic Yulo and published by Dial Books.  Out tomorrow!