Dear readers, thank you for responding with both words and pictures to our recent contests.  We love hearing from you.  Please stay tuned for more opportunities soon to win copies of our marvelous books.

Congratulations to the following winners of our recent posts, presented in reverse chronological order.

The vacation photo contest inspired by Bruce Davidson/Paul Caponigro has been won by…

Karen O., who sent us this photo of the supermoon rising over the Potomac in Alexandria, VA:

And by Kathy S., who sent us this photo from Three Sisters Islands, between Niagara Falls, NY and Niagara Falls, ON:

The Swedish Wooden Toys contest brought us the following winning reminiscences.

From Collette C.:

“My favorite wooden pull toy was a small, yellow duck that rolled across our wooden floors and made a click-ity “quack” sound that was rivetingly fun, for it drove the adults crazy.”

And from Mike N.:

“I was born in 1956. I must have had one of the early trains sets. I remember playing in my room, just me and my goldfish, Samantha. I used building blocks to create train stations and other structures that included a new house for her. I lifted Samantha carefully from her bowl of water and placed her, bouncing, into her her new home. When she settled down a bit, I drove the train around the circle to her house to give her a ride. She slid into the container of one of the cars and the train pulled away. Her journey was interrupted, however, by my father’s arrival. He explained that goldfish preferred water and revived her by dropping her into her bowl from which she observed happily as I played and the railroad grew.”

And from Will L.:

“My favorite wooden toy came to me as an adult, and I do still have it. Actually, I made it myself, though not for myself. I made it as a Christmas gift for my Grandfather. I thought that after many decades of getting adult presents he (at 92) would like a toy. He was a veteran of WW2, and liked old airplanes, and so I made hm a WW1 style triplane, painted in the style of the red barron. He adored it. When he passed away a year later, it came back to me, and I still have it.”

And lastly, the contest for our naturalists, inspired by Of Green Leaf, Bird, and Flower.  We got so many wonderful photos of local flora and fauna – as well as completely delightful (to a publisher, especially) photos of the book itself in situ, that we’ve gathered them into an album on our art & architecture Facebook page.  Congratulations to the contest winners:

Martha S. in New Haven, CT:

And John K. in Hamden, CT: