Comments on: Question of the Month: Children’s Books

By: SusanHenderson

SusanHenderson — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:33:34 +0000

Alex, I’m so glad to hear from you! Isn’t that the best feeling, when you’re so absorbed in a book, so far into the other world, that you can’t stand to be interrupted? I don’t know Redwall, but I’m going to link it here and then check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Redwall-Book-1-Brian-Jacques/dp/0441005489

Hooray for the next generation of writers coming up! (Especially those born of utter math-brained geeks

By: RnBE554

RnBE554 — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:47:37 +0000

Hi Sue, I’m Alex, Ray’s daughter. My favorite children’s books are Redwall by Brian Jacques and Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. The Chamber of Secrets was not only the first Harry Potter novel that I read, but it was also one of the first fantasy novels that I had ever read. The Chamber of Secrets took me to place in my imagination that I had never explored before and gave me the topic that I write about frequently today, magic.

I enjoyed Redwall because, like The Chamber of Secrets, it was a book that I loathed to be disturbed while reading. It was also one of the only fantasy novels that I had read where ‘fantasy’ didn’t equate to magic. In Redwall, all the characters are talking animals, but there was never any mention of magic making the animals that way or of the animals using magic. Talking animals were just part of the natural order in the world of Redwall. At first, it was unclear to me as to how you could have fantasy without magic, but Brian Jacques made it perfectly clear that fantasy does not always have to include magic.

My dad’s blog:
http://www.african-american-family-spotlight.com

By: SusanHenderson

SusanHenderson — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:07:08 +0000

The Book Chook: http://thebookchook.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-dream.html

By: bookchook

bookchook — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:04:00 +0000

I would love to leave the link and invite anyone who’s interested to explore my blog and leave a comment.http://thebookchook.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-dream.html

And I so agree with you, Susan. It is a very precious bonding time, but it is also a time where kids learn to love reading, where their early language skills are developed, and some of their knowledge of and attitudes to the world.

By: SusanHenderson

SusanHenderson — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:10:18 +0000

So glad you’re here! And I agree with you 100% about the importance of reading aloud. I’m not even sure why I do because it’s an instinctive response, so I’ll be glad if you can leave your blog url so we can all see this discussion you’re having. When my son was a toddler, I remember lots of moms bragging that their kids were early readers, and that’s all fine, but I think HEARING the story fluently (not to mention the bonding time) does more to shape the brain and a child’s love of story.

Thanks for introducing me to a book that was off my radar! I know Raymond Briggs from his Snowman book: http://www.amazon.com/Snowman-Storybook-Pictureback-R/dp/0679883436/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234562515&sr=1-1

But Elfrida Vipont is new to me. The Amazon link is disappointing: http://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Bad-Baby-Elfrida-Vipont/dp/069820039X/ref=ed_oe_h

So here’s the Alibris link: http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork=2002737&matches=25&author=Vipont%2C+Elfrida&browse=1&cm_sp=works*listing*title

By: bookchook

bookchook — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:27:35 +0000

I am comment 98, so forgive me if I missed mention of this one: The Elephant and the Bad Baby by Elfrida Vipont and illustrated by Raymond Briggs. As part of trying to spread the word on my blog about the importance of reading aloud to kids, I’m asking people to send me their favourite book to read aloud and why. This one is mine because it just rollicks along, gives the reader opportunities for individual voices and has wonderful, cumulative repetition, without ever once becoming boring.

By: SusanHenderson

SusanHenderson — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:23:18 +0000

Interesting. I never thought of Rowling as breaking down that barrier, but of course she did. Sometimes, there are books that get marketed as YA but are just as wonderful reads for adults – it’s just we never go to that section. My son read a book called THE GIVER in school, loved it so much he asked me to read it, and it was an incredible book.

That said, I love picture books just as much now as I did when I was a kid – one of the greatest perks of being a mom is you can delve back into that whole body of literature again. The only book I haven’t read on your list is Cowardly Clyde. Those others, I agree, are terrific. I’ll link them here:

By: gaywalker

gaywalker — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:41:14 +0000

My husband and I both LOVED “Are You My Mother?” as children, but neither of us remembered that far back. Our mothers did, though, and saved our copies. They proudly brought them out when it turned out to be our daughter’s favorite book, too. She owns THREE copies: Mom’s, Dad’s and her own. Another favorite that we all loved (and that I will NEVER outgrow) is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I reread it whenever things are so bad I feel like I should give up and move to Australia. We could also not get enough of Bill Peet’s “Cowardly Clyde” and the word “kerpuffle” was very popular around our house for a long time. And of course, “Love You Forever” and “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” have to be on the list, and so does “The Black Stallion” and “The Wizard of Oz” and “Little Women” and the whole “Little House on the Prairie” series.

I read all of those last ones as a child, and I shared them with my daughter when she was old enough (I still had my copies). I bet I’ll be sharing them with nieces, nephews and grandchildren someday.

Thank goodness the world no longer looks so askance when adults read children’s literature. I feel like JK Rowling was largely responsible for that. Before, it seemed like they eyed you as if you had a mental problem, and you almost wanted to cover the book in a brown wrapper as if you were reading smut, LOL. Now, you can read it proudly without having to borrow a child first.

By: SusanHenderson

SusanHenderson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:40:01 +0000

What a great list! And a few I need to look up and see what they’re about.

Since you mentioned Calvin & Hobbes, I should say that we have every single one. And we also have every Tin Tin and nearly every Asterix (though a few of them are pretty rough-going and so we didn’t allow the kids to have them). I hated comics and cartoons growing up. The only comic I “got” was Mark Trail.

By: SusanHenderson

SusanHenderson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:34:43 +0000

I’m still traumatized by Old Yeller.