tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65297212011-04-21T14:46:35.755-05:00The literary adventures of E (a parent) and Tulip (a child, born in early 2002). The weblog is an exploration of the issues involved in children's literature and reading to a child, which seems to me both political and emotional. It's intended for parents, publishers, authors, critics, and anyone interested in books for young readers. In addition to being a parent, I'm a writer for both adults and children. Email me: kidbookblog@mindspring.com.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comBlogger611100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1085351040618984262004-05-23T17:23:00.000-05:002004-05-23T17:24:00.616-05:00

Deadlines prevent my continuing to post to this blog for the present. I will miss doing it.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1084968126628822782004-05-19T06:47:00.000-05:002004-05-19T07:04:06.630-05:00

Following up on my previous post -- the anniversary edition of Arthur stories is out now, if you're interested in this topic. I'll pop over to the bookstore and look at it soon, and post if there's any major nose info in there. According to the Amazon reviews, the nose question still isn't really answered. But Brown does provide manuscript pages with edits, photo of his own family, and lots of

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1084905153540235172004-05-18T13:10:00.000-05:002004-05-18T13:32:33.540-05:00

Oh, I JUST do not understand it. Look down two posts to see pictures of Marc Brown's popular aardvark hero before and after his cosmetic surgery. Tulip read her first Arthur story as part of a treasury of children's literature I got from the library. It was a mixed bag, the treasury. The best of a certain publisher's backlist, plus some filler, it seemed to me. One of the stories was about

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1084835855535717112004-05-17T18:12:00.000-05:002004-05-17T18:17:35.536-05:00

Hello. Back from the sunshine. Tulip swam every day. I read a lot of teen novels by the pool. Well worth while: Carolyn Mackler's The Earth, My Butt, and Other Round Things. Although I'm not usually a fan of books where a central part of it is how much a girl hates her body, this one is funny and smart and unusual. Crap: Cathy Hopkins' Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras. It's just a big

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1083757480918730452004-05-05T06:42:00.000-05:002004-05-05T06:49:05.826-05:00

Okay, I'm posting more while on vacation than I do normally, but Tomi at The Milk Factory has a really nice post on Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann, and adds a few more books to my canon (below). Check it out!

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1083709831561971302004-05-04T17:24:00.000-05:002004-05-04T17:34:20.356-05:00

Allright, I haven't REALLY left town yet. I have to post, because The Weblog Review has reviewed Reading to My Kid and it says just the nicest things! Go check it out. P.S. When I come back, I'll have a LOT to say about Marc Brown's ridiculously popular Arthur series. Did you know Arthur used to be an aardvark with an enormous nose, and now he's an indeterminate creature with no nose to

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1083669294694077012004-05-04T06:14:00.000-05:002004-05-04T06:18:52.106-05:00

On vacation. More exciting literary adventures when we return from frying ourselves in the sun. -- E & Tulip

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1083325964118377712004-04-30T06:44:00.000-05:002004-04-30T06:57:01.903-05:00

Click here to read Scribbling Woman's addendum to my children's book canon (below). She very rightly (in my opinion) adds Peggy Rathmann's Good Night Gorilla -- and she provides cover art for everything on her list. She also adds Doggies, by Sandra Boynton, which is awesome and fun to read aloud. The Mitten, by Jan Brett, is another addition. Tulip is frightened by this one; it has a big sneeze

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1083152957957161272004-04-28T06:41:00.000-05:002004-04-28T06:55:02.843-05:00

re: music Tulip and I got on the rush-hour subway the other day. Her in the backpack carrier. The train starts. It's packed. And her little, off-key voice pipes up: Aaaaaaaamazing grace How seet da sound Dat saved a wetch like me! was bind, but now, I see! We have the Elvis Presley version. It's currently her favorite song. She likes spirituals in general. Other favorites include "Rocka My

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1083028298554380192004-04-26T19:38:00.000-05:002004-04-26T20:15:52.153-05:00

A book meme that's scooting around the blogosphere (I found it at Scribbling Woman) has bloggers posting a long list of classic novels and putting those they've read in bold-face type. It's a pretty canonical list -- Shakespeare, Dickens, all that kind of thing. Stuff you're kind-of embarassed if you haven't read -- though of course there are many on there that I haven't. Here's my similar

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1083026095312054182004-04-26T19:24:00.000-05:002004-04-26T19:39:08.560-05:00

Tulip has just begun to "read" to herself -- meaning look at books and babble something as she turns the pages. I know other toddlers who have been doing this for months and months; but Tulip seems to prefer to pretty much have it memorized before she attempts reading on her own. I can hear her muttering phrases from whatever book she's looking at. She won't try to do a NEW book on her own.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1082855637412505932004-04-24T20:09:00.000-05:002004-04-24T20:18:49.356-05:00

Well, you can't accuse the LA Times Festival of Books (going on right now) of being overly highbrow; nor of being overly populist. The list of authors appearing includes the following people who write for young audiences: Betsey Lewin Jennifer Donnelly David Shannon Anita Silvey Francesca Lia Block Richard Peck Sandra Cisneros Barney and R.L. Stine.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1082590911775577632004-04-21T18:37:00.000-05:002004-04-21T18:45:57.983-05:00

A hugely popular book. And I was surprised how much I liked it -- until last weekend, when a (male) friend of mine said he hates it. What's to hate? I asked. He said he thinks it's disgusting how the dad (big nutbrown hare) is always in competition with his boy (little nutbrown hare), and won't let him win. He can hop higher than his kid; he can stretch his arms wider; he can always think of

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1082481165583902132004-04-20T12:06:00.000-05:002004-04-20T12:16:50.466-05:00

This book is hard for Tulip to understand, but I love it. I've never heard of Wallace or Berkeley before. We got it at the library. Scarlette is born not just with a green thumb -- but with green fingers. Her parents, who live in a small shak the size of a garden hut and spend most of their time outdoors, know she'll do something wonderful some day. And she does. When she is five, she is given

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1082376251018549332004-04-19T06:45:00.000-05:002004-04-19T07:08:14.356-05:00

When Tulip was about six months old, I sent around the monthly email I send to out-of-town family, detailing her exploits. I reported that her favorite CD was the soundtrack to Grease -- original Broadway production. One of her great-grandmothers emailed back (yes, great-grandmothers on email!) saying, had I had her listen to Mozart or Bach? Because she might like real music, too, you know.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1082118613679945772004-04-16T07:14:00.000-05:002004-04-16T07:34:12.653-05:00

The Magnificent Octopus (see sidebar for link) worries that her 17-month old isn't interested in being read to. I've got no solutions, but I do have have a list of books Tulip was and is crazy for -- a list for the very youngest of readerse -- many of which have worked with less-enthusiastic readers we know. All are available as board books. Moo, Baa, La La La -- by Sandra Boynton. Even

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1082071852656262612004-04-15T18:24:00.000-05:002004-04-16T07:17:57.246-05:00

This book, a delight. The narrator -- a five year-old would-be scientist -- is tortured by Bootsie, who keeps claiming she is a dinosaur and will eat the narrator. Finally, our heroine thinks of a new game: paleontology. Dinosaur-Bootsie is frightened, and runs away, hopefully never to return. I love how unapologetic it is. You don't have to play with kids you don't like. You don't have to

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1081903877393055752004-04-13T19:48:00.000-05:002004-04-13T19:55:13.343-05:00

From my latest blog discovery, Magnificent Octopus, a small fortune-telling diversion, liable to yield interesting results if your house, like mine, is littered with literature for the under-5 set. 1. Grab the nearest book. 2. Open the book to page 23. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions. Result: "I am angry." from Clarice

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1081903305932607012004-04-13T19:34:00.000-05:002004-04-13T19:45:41.373-05:00

Sorry not to have posted the past few days. Life intervened. And Tulip has suddenly started taking forever and a day to go to bed at night, so energy levels are low. But I really like this little essay by Allen Kurzweil, author of Leon and the Spitting Image (for children) plus two novels for adults: The Grand Complication and A Cabinet of Curiosities. Apropos of my earlier post on Mark

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1081510512376876472004-04-09T06:22:00.000-05:002004-04-09T06:40:19.653-05:00

Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime won two British Book Awards --- one for literary fiction and one for best children's book. It was published in Britain as BOTH a children's title and as an adult -- slightly different covers -- which makes it eligible, I guess. Here in the States it was only an adult title. Powells has an interesting interview with Haddon here, in

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1081424472440330322004-04-08T06:24:00.000-05:002004-04-08T06:45:00.140-05:00

Yesterday, Tulip and I went to the library. She immediately demanded a large and extremely grimy fuzzy duck they have sitting in the kids' area, and sat upon it, squealing loudly. Then she "read" the duck some stories. I asked if she wanted to take some books home, and she ran over to the rotating racks that hold romances and thrillers in mass-market paperback. She selected something by

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1081341804055177492004-04-07T07:29:00.000-05:002004-04-07T07:47:24.996-05:00

I just read this great interview with Lauren Child, author and illustrator of Clarice Bean and I Will Not Ever Eat a Tomato, among other things. It was published originally in January 2004 by Good Reading. It was really interesting because we had just had something of a debate in the course I teach over whether Clarice Bean, That's Me was an Eloise "rip-off" as I had cavalierly suggested. I

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1081252481952017292004-04-06T06:45:00.000-05:002004-04-06T06:59:08.623-05:00

All the books on parenting say I should read to my kid before bed. But Tulip doesn't agree. She wants to read in the morning; right this minute she is passionately showing her father the Click magazine we've read once through already today. She wants to read in the middle of the day, though she'll also argue pretty hard for watching videos, much to my dismay, and we have had to make a rule

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1081084751018628372004-04-04T07:08:00.000-05:002004-04-04T08:25:56.153-05:00

This is, to my mind, one of the best mental hygiene-type stories around. By which I mean, stories that have as part of their agenda the improved mental health of their readers; either because they show a child resolving a common problem, thereby offering reassurance -- or because they help articulate that problem. An example of the latter type is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080925179458993742004-04-02T11:56:00.000-05:002004-04-02T12:03:33.733-05:00

An article in The Economist points out that now Amazon posts a monthly worldwide bestseller list, drawing from all six of their sites (US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Japan). Number one -- outselling that South Beach Diet and The DaVinci Code, is Harii Pottaa to Fushichoo no kishidan, by J.K. Rowling, translated by Yuko Matsuoka [pre-orders for the Japanese translation of Order of the

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080919398652850942004-04-02T10:11:00.000-05:002004-04-02T10:26:58.623-05:00

It's not a particularly original point, I know, but so many characters in picture books and cartoons wear shirts and no pants. Last night, Tulip and I read "Roly Poly Hippo in the Bath" three times running. It's just a bath enthusiasm book; 25 cents at Goodwill. Roly Poly hippo is muddy, and takes a bath, and then gets muddy again. He's got bubble bath, a fluffy towel, a yellow sponge, you know.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080824656237692792004-04-01T08:01:00.000-05:002004-04-01T08:07:54.873-05:00

Mark Sarvas's lovely literary blog, The Elegant Variation, hypes up Reading to My Kid here. Yippee!

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080822945108100332004-04-01T07:20:00.000-05:002004-04-01T07:52:04.030-05:00

I'm writing about Herbert the Lion by request -- and full disclosure up front -- I'm not looking at it but at a big section on it in Barbara Bader's American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to the Beast Within. But it's good to talk about anyway, not least because it was written in 1930 and is still read; other books from that era include Millions of Cats; Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel; Angus

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080736687163242992004-03-31T07:06:00.000-05:002004-03-31T07:41:43.936-05:00

Yes, children like to hear the same old books over and over. As I posted below, I once read "Maisy's Bath" seven times in a row. But I think we can't underestimate the power of new books; after all, one of the huge pulls of television is that it offers new content every minute. There's always something the child hasn't seen. But her books -- those are all the same as yesterday. A friend of

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080654470214089442004-03-30T07:51:00.000-05:002004-03-30T08:51:25.530-05:00

In Rosemary Wells' first eight board books about Max and Ruby, a parent rabbit appears in only one title: Max's Ride. She is rather grandmotherly, wearing spectacles and a long dress; she is hanging out the washing on a clothes line. Later, in Bunny Cakes (which is a title for slightly older readers), Max and Ruby do have a grandma -- for whom they each make a birthday cake. I read an

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080520980895338112004-03-28T19:39:00.000-05:002004-03-28T19:46:34.170-05:00

I am under the weather, so no post; But coming next week: Herbert the Lion (by request) Max and Ruby: their mother and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (a reader suggestion) I love getting these suggested topics, so please send one on over if you think of it: kidbookblog@mindspring.com Now to bed.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080350737612540872004-03-26T20:21:00.000-05:002004-03-26T20:29:08.530-05:00

A lovely post on the romances in books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne Montgomery, etc. can be found here at This Woman's Work. And there are more than 25 responses! Check it out.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080307793174819932004-03-26T08:14:00.000-05:002004-03-26T08:33:23.340-05:00

More thoughts on Maisy, about whom I posted earlier in the week. When I first encountered her, it was in the story Maisy Takes a Bath (actually, we have the British edition, which is just called Maisy's Bath). In it, Maisy is getting ready for her bath when the doorbell rings; it's Tallulah, her friend, holding a tennis racket. "Maisy can't play now, it's her bathtime." Maisy goes back

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080216194555103492004-03-25T06:43:00.000-05:002004-03-25T07:06:43.546-05:00

More on YA today. I just visited Ned Vizzini's website and blog for the first time, and Vizzini (author of two YA titles: "Teen Angst? Naaah" and the upcoming "Be More Chill") talks a lot in his blog about all the different writers he goes to see in New York, etc. Like many adult authors who live in NY, he appears to be very much part of a literary network of people who do readings together,

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080133256921797122004-03-24T07:45:00.000-05:002004-03-24T08:07:49.326-05:00

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc. I always thought I was Hermione. I haven't written much about middle-grade and YA in this blog -- mainly because Tulip doesn't read them yet. But I am steadily amassing GoodWill 50 cent classics for her future library. I feel, as I think most parents do, an urgent desire for Tulip to read the books I read and loved as a child: The

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080066414511179762004-03-23T13:23:00.000-05:002004-03-23T13:30:20.793-05:00

I posted about Amazon's top-selling board books, earlier, so I decided to see if Barnes & Noble customers were buying the same ones. Here's the list as of today at 1:22 PM: Toes, Ears & Nose, by Marion Bauer Dr. Seuss's ABC Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown There's a Wocket in My Pocket! by Dr. Seuss A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson. On the bestseller list.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1080043659768119262004-03-23T06:41:00.000-05:002004-03-23T07:14:38.890-05:00

Jez Alborough's "Hug" led me to check out his other books, and I find his output varies pretty widely. "Ice Cream Bear" couldn't be more confusing or pointless. In it, a polar bear doesn't fix a broken skylight in his house, and instead goes to sleep UNDER it (the fool) and dreams that it is snowing ice cream. In the dream he makes a big ice cream ball, which falls on him -- and then it turns

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079964609422956592004-03-22T08:53:00.000-05:002004-03-22T09:14:15.513-05:00

Last post, I was talking about female protagonists in popular, merchandised series; now I want to bring up those books that feature characters of ambiguous sexuality: they could be boys -- or girls. The writer never indicates. I was going to start with Jesse Bear, hero/heroine of Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy Carlstrom, illus. Bruce Degan. There are a number of other Jesse Bear

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079787700485018512004-03-20T07:28:00.000-05:002004-03-20T08:05:02.686-05:00

Of the mass-marketed book characters for toddler readers, I can think of only one female heroine who is really the center of the action: Maisy. That mouse is a dynamo. She's like Nancy Drew. She can garden, she can paint, she runs a farm; she drives a fire engine and a tractor; she bakes; she does home repair; plays guitar. Anything she tries her hand at, she's awesome. Never is Maisy

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079611349023023332004-03-18T06:56:00.000-05:002004-03-18T07:12:58.716-05:00

My friend M (father of a 3-year-old) read the recent post on Click Clack Moo and sent in this comment: "r.e. Cows that Type, I've already ranted to you that it's a capitalist tool to suppress the oppressed: give the proletariats a voice and education (the typewriter) and you'll arm them to make demands and ultimately crush the ruling class. If Farmer Brown had taken the typewriter away, the

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079541004411392332004-03-17T11:18:00.000-05:002004-03-17T11:33:22.310-05:00

I don't know how I managed not to read this book for so long, especially given that Sendak talks about it at length in a number of his published interviews and essays. It's so strange and sad. The story, as much as it can be told: Jack and Guy are two homeless toughs. A "poor little kid," homeless as well, begs them for help, but they tell him to get lost. The kid is then kidnapped (along

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079447605747363762004-03-16T09:22:00.000-05:002004-03-16T09:42:34.153-05:00

We have been reading and watching the Scholastic/Weston Woods video of Doreen Cronin's Click,Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. The story is that these cows have discovered an old typewriter in the barn, which allows them to write messages to the farmer, although they can't actually speak. The cows demand electric blankets, because the barn is cold at night, and go on strike when he refuses them. They

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079355334777829902004-03-15T07:45:00.000-05:002004-03-15T07:58:49.356-05:00

I recently read Vivian Gussin Paley's The Girl With the Brown Crayon, which is the story of how Paley -- a pre-school teacher and MacArthur recipient -- spent a year with Leo Lionni's picture books as a major part of her curriculum, and details the way the children responded to his stories, and how their understanding deepened over time. Paley really did do an in-depth literary analysis, over the

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079269111045990062004-03-14T07:57:00.000-05:002004-03-14T08:01:44.233-05:00

The blog Thinking While Typing has a lot of interesting material on Maurice Sendak today. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/thinking/ or the link in the sidebar.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079263709452126262004-03-14T06:20:00.000-05:002004-03-14T06:38:28.546-05:00

Nordstrom edited Sendak, Wise Brown, Zolotow, Crocket Johnson, Louise Fitzhugh -- everyone. Her letters (edited by Leonard Marcus) are just fascinating and also moving, somehow, to see behind the scenes as some timeless books are created. It also made me wish for those old days of publishing, when editors nurtured writers over years and years; Nordstrom really had faith in people. Marcus is the

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079099073364581422004-03-12T08:10:00.000-05:002004-03-12T08:47:44.043-05:00

I read recently (in Barbara Bader's American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to the Beast Within) about how when Little Golden Books started up in the 40s, they were making a brand of cheap books designed to be given and purchased often, almost like toys -- and they were hugely successful. But the publishers also hired Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny etc.) to write some

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1079008536273906992004-03-11T07:28:00.000-05:002004-03-11T07:54:05.436-05:00

I do so love this book, which is a compliation of Rodgers & Hammerstein lyrics with pictures by Rosemary Wells. The illustrator's work seems more careful here than it does in the Opie collections, where some pages are great and others seem haphazard and devoid of emotion. It is a uniformly joyous collection -- and this morning Tulip and I sat down first thing, her with a bowl of apples and

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078924269072778282004-03-10T08:01:00.000-05:002004-03-10T13:09:34.716-05:00

There is such a proliferation of alphabet books out there, and I wonder indeed if they actually teach the alphabet at all. For example, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, is a pleasant little book with a good rhythm -- but I'd think it would only serve to confirm and celebrate mastery of the alphabet for a literate child. It doesn't seem like it could serve well as a teaching tool.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078838155789612002004-03-09T08:15:00.000-05:002004-03-09T08:19:02.746-05:00

You are the Lorax! Which Dr. Seuss Character Are You? brought to you by Quizilla I was not surprised to learn I am the Lorax, although I have a distinct fondness for the pants with nobody inside them.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078837930322408992004-03-09T07:57:00.000-05:002004-03-09T08:15:17.326-05:00

The idea behind Alexandra Day's Carl books is captivating: a child's mother leaves her with the family Rottweiler as a babysiter, and the dog Carl takes the child (Madeleine) on all kinds of adventures, returning at the end, just before the mother does -- so the mother is never the wiser. The dog is exceptionally charming, and there are lots of pictures in the Carl books that just make me

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078751038652654742004-03-08T07:57:00.000-05:002004-03-08T08:07:04.390-05:00

I'm reading Great Books for Girls, by Kathleen Odean, who was Chair of the 2002 Newbery Award committee. She feels so passionately that books provide children with a sense of what is possible, and that it is essential for young girls to have books with girl heroines. It made me remember how, as early as the age of five, I was a BOY in almost all my fantasies. I was Peter Pan, I was Curdie in

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078496036447458552004-03-05T09:03:00.000-05:002004-03-05T09:16:58.046-05:00

I'm very fond of this book, which manages to be didactic and witty at the same time; and Mark Teague, who did the illustrations, is awesome. The gist of it is this: "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?" do they whine, mope, complain etc? (the pictures show dinosaurs doing all of these things, much to the exasperation of their human parents). No, dinosaurs don't; they don't even try. THey give a big

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078363516536606602004-03-03T20:21:00.000-05:002004-03-03T20:29:37.950-05:00

This book is a classic, I know, but it just infuriates me. The text does, that is. Half the time, it uses the terms for baby animals: "time to sleep little calf, little calf, what happened today that made you laugh?" and the rest of the time it doesn't: "time to sleep, little sheep little sheep" and "little cat little cat" even though lambs and kittens are probably the very first baby animal

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078318494676423002004-03-03T07:51:00.000-05:002004-03-03T07:57:52.843-05:00

Since I posted about Storyopolis I've been wasting time shopping for the work of illustrators I can't afford. The other site to do this on is http://www.everypicture.com -- which is the gallery "Every Picture Tells a Story." Stuff I want (illustrations by Bernard Waber; Mark Teague; Rosemary Wells; Edward Gorey; Pierre Pratt; Alexandra Day; etc. etc. etc.) is upwards of a thousand dollars. But

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078231624819027422004-03-02T07:37:00.000-05:002004-03-02T07:50:01.716-05:00

Tulip and I have been reading a lot of songbooks. The one named above -- and a collection called I Hear America Singing! especially. I end up singing for like half an hour at a time, which is pretty fun actually, since no one ELSE wants to hear me sing, ever. But I want to write about this urge I have to sugar-coat some of the songs. Go Tell Aunt Rhody (The old gray goose is dead) for example

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1078230954421430372004-03-02T07:31:00.000-05:002004-03-02T07:38:51.450-05:00

I just love this book. Almost nothing happens. Hondo is a dog and Fabian is a cat and they just live their lives, interested in food, largely. I have been teaching my students (in the Writing for Children class) about PLOT and how to construct it, but McCarty isn't really worried about that at all -- though of course the text is highly structured. It's almost a boring book, only it isn't. Which

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1077929162611573332004-02-27T19:41:00.000-05:002004-02-27T19:48:54.700-05:00

It's awesome. It's what I call a "good mental hygiene story" -- meaning that at some point mid-century picture books started having this agenda NOT of helping children learn how to behave properly, but instead helping them to COPE with stressful situations. But even though it's got a lesson, it's delightful. Very funny and full of character. Waber's later Lyle Crocodile books kind of turn my

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1077894499226388202004-02-27T10:00:00.000-05:002004-02-27T10:11:11.263-05:00

Just read this book to Tulip. She had no particular response. The book is about this duck whose truck is stuck in the muck and various animals help her get it out and then she drives off and leaves them all stuck in the muck. I'm thoroughly opposed to didactic picture books, well, on second thought that's not true, but many of them leave a bad taste in my mouth -- and yet -- I found myself

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-107775826395704292004-02-25T20:16:00.000-05:002004-02-25T20:20:33.733-05:00

http://www.randomhouse.com/golden/lgb/ I'm still working out this interface. Sorry. This is the link to the Little Golden Books site.

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1077757985831073932004-02-25T20:00:00.000-05:002004-02-25T20:17:07.030-05:00

Just read a this weird Golden Books compilation story in the doctor's office, where we waited an HOUR for a checkup. Tulip (my kid isn't really named Tulip, but I'm calling her Tulip here in honor of a Rosemary Wells book I really like that I think is out of print: Benjamin and Tulip. Tulip is always attacking Benjamin, she's this really feisty racoon-ish kid). Anyway, Tulip, my daughter, asked

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529721.post-1077660136958659592004-02-24T16:17:00.000-05:002004-02-24T17:05:05.373-05:00

I'm so intrigued by Shelley Jackson, who's the author of a lot of children's books (Sophia the Alchemist's Dog; The Old Woman and the Wave, etc), plus some radical feminist art and the book Melancholy of Anatomy. I always love to read about people who write for both children and adults, and have a real range of concerns as authors. Roald Dahl was that way. He wrote dirty-minded things like My

Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707487983334957179noreply@blogger.com