For me, one of the great things about working at the library is getting to enjoy children’s books in the course of the day. As a non-parent, I would never have occasion to be exposed to what we call Easy Books at the library. So today I decided to feature four of my all time favorites, and invite you to remember along with me that very special time in your earliest life when you were first exposed to the magic of books. I hope you enjoy it.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst was written back in 1972, when I was eight years old and had moved on to reading Juvenile fiction but I was lucky enough to discover Alexander when I worked as a book store clerk in New Orleans in the late 1980’s and it has been my all time favorite children’s book ever since. Poor Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, and the day just goes downhill from there. From the breakfast table to the carpool, from school to the doctor’s office, nothing goes right for Alexander on his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
I am painfully aware that the beloved children’s classic was disastrously made into a movie a few years back, but even that outrage can not dim for me the enduring appeal of Theodore Geisel’s pseudonym Dr. Seuss. By my count Dr. Seuss is easily the most prolific author ever of Easy Readers and is almost certainly the first poet most children have read and memorized since The Cat In The Hat first stepped in in 1957.
That these books were carefully designed to use a strictly limited vocabulary, repeated numerous times as an aid to children learning to read is largely obscured by the delightful poems and highly imaginative and playful illustrations that are indelibly stamped upon our memories. Who among us does not know I do not like Green Eggs and Ham, I do not like them Sam I Am or has not counted One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish.
If you do not have children, or even if you do, and have not recently been around these classic books, stop by your library soon and pick them up and pass a few minutes visiting with Dr. Seuss. As the ACOA people always say It’s Never Too Late To Have a Happy Childhood. (Alexander is shelved with Easy Picture books, look in the V’s for author Judith Viorst. The Dr. Seuss titles are all Easy Readers, filed in the D’s for author Dr. Seuss.)
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September 25th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I was just a teensy weensy bit too late for Dr. Seuss.
But it’s never too late to have a happy childhood, so I’ve been reading him on and off for about a decade now.
I love “Green Eggs and Ham” the best.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:39 am
the children’s section is both the most delightful and most frustrating area of the library to work in. delightful for the joy in the books to be shelved and the children who read them and frustrating because the wee ones don’t really know their ABC’s yet, so the alphabetical arrangements are inevitably askew and require much fixing
September 27th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I was just the right age for the Dr. Seuss books. I also make a point of putting together a full set as either a birthing gift or for my friend’s kid’s early birthdays. If the family has four kids, in my view they need four sets since you never outgrow them.
This got me thinking, I need to dig out my Encyclopedia Brown books for a friend’s older kid.
September 27th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
You didn’t mention it, but I think Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax” is as timeless as can be. Kids can get the same thing out of it that I did way back in the 70’s.
September 27th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I’ve never read the encyclopedia browns, though I used to love alfred hichcock’s three investigators. I will pick up a copy of lorax next time I shelve in that area
September 28th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
If you like brain teasers you might want to give on of Sobol’s “Encyclopedia Brown” books.
I credit those books with my insanely high reading comprehension scores on standardized tests when I was a kid.
I was turned on to them by a summer camp counselor when I was 10 or so. He used to read one mystery each night. (Each book is about 8-10 mysteries.) We were allowed about 10-15 minutes after lights out to discuss the mystery and try to come up with a solution. After that summer I acquired them all and devoured them.
September 29th, 2007 at 9:49 am
thanks for the tip, techfun. I will try to grab one at work today and give it a whirl