I collect children’s books and had a bright idea to get some inexpensive ones to cut up in use in my collages. But, who am I kidding. I cannot take a pair of scissors to a book, regardless of the purpose! So, after a trip to Half Price Books last week, I have a few more books for my collection.

“Up and Down the Merry Go Round,” by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. I love the watercolor look of Ted Rand’s illustrations.

Hard to go wrong with the Beatrix Potter and Quentin Blake combo. “Kitty-in-Boots.”

I love the red, white and blue limited color palette here in “New at the Zoo,” by Peter Lippman. I also want to immediately run out and get a curly-haired dog to name Joshua.

“A Nose for Trouble.” I loved these Golden Scratch ‘n Sniff books and probably have this at my parents’ house somewhere. (We are not a family that parts with our books!) But I didn’t have it at my house, and now I do. Clara kind of reminds me of Molly but looks more like Stinky, the family cat (RIP.) But, she didn’t have a nose for trouble as much as she had a bias toward fury and an appetite for blood. In other words, she was pretty great. Anyway, the sniff stickers have held up surprisingly well in this book, and I’m enjoying being transported not only into the mischievous Clara’s world, but back to my childhood bedroom. I think one reason I loved this book is because like Clara, I could walk out the door and disappear into an exciting world of lilac bushes, tangles of violet and mint, and candy at the home of a friend (where, as everyone knows candy is always sweetest.)