Mischievous Ditties

Some people collect spoons. Others do stamps, rocks, bells or music.

I love books – not just any book, but ones of special interest. Certain authors and various illustrators or photographers often catch my eye. Classic children's books offer opportunities to share with little ones stories heard by their parents, grandparents and even their great-grands. And then, there's my special weakness for those in the Scandinavian realm.

Friends and family understand. As a result, I have a Nordic book nook filled with travel logs, cookbooks, history accounts, holiday traditions, linguistics, baby names, poems, plays and more.

Recently, a friend contacted me: "Are you coming to town in the next few days? I found something for you."

To my surprise, she presented me with a children's songbook written in Norwegian and copyrighted 1951.

The title "Mischievous Ditties" and animated lithographies reflect the four songs, each with several verses, contained within the 10 heavy pages.

"I saw this at a used book sale and thought of you," my friend said. She explained how she put it down wondering whether to get it.

She knows I'm soon traveling to Norway; summer activities with my boys keep me busy; and any free time, as of late, I spend working on final details for the trip. (Click Norway Bound for those.) And, as a regular reader of this blog, she's noticed bigger gaps between posts.

She bought me the book. I'm glad she did. My collection grows – not only in books, but also in trinkets of friendship, blog post ideas and, yes, Mischievous Ditties.

Å Huttetuttetei!

Tusen takk (A thousand thanks), Jodi!