Here are five books that I loved as a child and have made a part of our home library. There are some familiar titles, but also a couple you may not have heard of. 🙂
I’ll mention the silly one first. I’m not usually a fan of Sesame Street books, but The Monster at the End of This Book is an exception. It made me laugh as a child, and still brings a smile to my face. And there’s nothing cuter that my 4-year-old’s giggles as I read it to him. 😀 Just plain fun.
My mom still has the battered old copy of Katy and the Big Snow I made her read and re-read as a little girl. I think it was the illustrations and the use of white space to represent the snow that facinated me. We own several of Virginia Lee Burton’s books, including Choo Choo, The Little House, and – of course – Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.
Veronica’s Smile by Roger Duvoisin is long out of print, and I don’t understand why. This story resonates with me because, like Veronica, I have never seen myself as possessing any kind of special gifts. But in this story she discovers that she is still a valuable member of Mr. Pumpkin’s farm. I love Petunia’s comment near the end of the book:
“…when we do what we can with what we have, everyone is happy.”
We actually had a recording of Many Moons when I was a girl, and I can still hear Peter Ustinov’s voice in my head when I read it. It is a very funny story, especially the ridiculous lists and ideas produced by the king’s “wise men”, but also quite poignant.
Miss Jaster’s Garden is sadly out of print – again (I bought my copy ten years ago when Miss A was little), but it is well worth getting if you can find it for a reasonable price. It is the whimsical story of a hedgehog who gets in trouble for “stealing” Miss Jaster’s flowers. The illustrations are beautiful and detailed, down to the endpaper maps. And it has possibly my favorite last line to a story ever:
And there was nothing but peace and sunshine and a touch of Sweet William.
What were your childhood favorites? Please share! 🙂
My list. 🙂
1. The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins
2. Go Dog Go
3. Mike Mulligan
4. Not Counting Monsters
5. Far Side Gallery 3 😛