Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String

Wave by Suzy Lee

This children's picture book isn't new--it came out in 2008--but we just discovered it. Wave is without words, and the color palette is just black, white, and blue, but it tells a better story than 90% of the picture books out there. I came across the book at the library a couple of weeks ago. I checked it out because my kids were eagerly anticipating our upcoming beach vacation, and I thought they'd enjoy the pictures. I was surprised, however, by just how much they love it. The pages are deceptively simple--the artist Suzy Lee has transformed simple illustrations of a girl and the ocean into works of art. Her brush strokes perfectly capture the beauty and wildness of the ocean, as well as the emotions of a little girl who is, in turn, scared of the wave, enchanted by it, and then soaked from it.

Let England Shake by PJ Harvey

I've been a fan of PJ Harvey's going on 20 years. Her latest album, Let England Shake, is a homage to her country. England gets a bad rap as a dreary, uptight place, but it's actually a magical place full of breath-taking scenery, charming villages, and colorful folklore. There's plenty of ugliness, war, and death in its history, too, of course...PJ Harvey captures it all on her new album. The song "The Last Living Rose" is one of her loveliest and most haunting to date, with lyrics that truly paint a picture. The song, like the album, is raw, honest, and beautiful.
Goddam' Europeans!
Take me back to England
& the grey, damp filthiness of ages,
fog rolling down behind the mountains,
& on the graveyards, and dead sea-captains.
Let me watch night fall on the river,
the moon rise up and turn to silver,
the sky move,
the ocean shimmer,
the hedge shake,
the last living rose quiver. 

Berry Burst Ice Cream-Flavored Oreos

This is what happens when you bring your five-year-old to the grocery store--you come home with the most repulsive-looking cookies imaginable. But then, sometimes, what looks gross actually tastes sinfully delicious. That's what happened with these pink, berry-cream Oreos. I am usually a purist when it comes to the cookies I loved as a child--I'll try the newfangled flavors, but I won't like them! So I was truly surprised to try one of these berry-flavored Oreos and find it even better than the original. Oh, and they're double-stuff, too. Double-yum.