LOL must be why I liked it so much.. no one has ever called me normal. I need to go get it at the library or something again. All I can remember is I loved the dichotomy of seeing the two pictures being something different upside down to right side up.
Two books by Kate Dicamello are great for 5+ year olds- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse. Very heartwarming and more complex than most stories aimed at kids. Also Roald Dahl.
Most inspirational **** that I've ever smoked: Roald Dahl favorites: Maybe not the finest literature I read as a runt but nonetheless, I read almost evey damn one. Anybody else read the teen sports/drama series Matt Christopher?
no Three Investigators or these guys? <object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZPkh0lxFOhE&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZPkh0lxFOhE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="300"></embed></object> All those books seem to find themselves in the same collection.
Nope in fact, I haven't even ever heard of them!! Looks like something else I will have to check out in the library
Hard to narrow it down to one. Other favorites (for little kids): Arnold Lobel (Frog and Toad series) Else Holmelund Minarik (Little Bear series) William Steig (Shrek! and other great stuff) Paul Galdone (adaptations/ illustrations of classics like Three Little Kittens) I tried The Phantom Tollbooth recently after reading so much great stuff about it and found it pretty boring. May have to try it again.
I'v e read Edward Tulane several times to my kids and I still have trouble keeping my emotions in check at the end.
My daughter is only 6 months old, but we've been reading Good Night Moon to her. I am really looking forward to her being a bit older and reading Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein to her. Once she's a bit older, I can't wait to introduce her to the author that made me such an avid reader: Lloyd Alexander.
Dr Seuss was a genius. Few people understand the true literary benchmark that is "Horton Hatches the Egg" here is the plot from wikipedia... The book can be broken down like this... Here we have the young, outstanding republican (Elephant) Horton who is forced to bear the burden of an irresponsible mother (obviously a deadbeat mother at that i.e. a bird-brain) named Mayzie who abandons her egg leaving Uncle Sam (Welfare... FDR was president at the time the book was written.) to care for it. As Horton sits on the egg he endures many trials. He is laughed at by every other member of "the jungle" which in theory is the allegorical representation of Earth. Yet through the whole ordeal Horton remains strong and resolute to the task through the horrendous conditions and when Mayzie returns to the world (i.e. finally sobers up) to claim her child, she finds the kid is more of a representation of a good American citizen like Horton despite being the offspring of a failed life, after this she does the predictable thing and gives the kid up. Horton then takes it on himself to raise the child and we can see it was really He who "brought him into the world" So you can see Dr. Seuss was a visionary who could break down complex social current events into simple child-like formats, therefor mesmerizing children and adults alike with subliminal hints as to how the world should work. He has always been a big part of my childhood and I am certainly better for it.
I doubt any of you have heard of him since he's from the New England ara but my favorite is Tomie dePaola. He writes and illustrates his own books. He's absolutely brilliant at what he does and I grew up reading his children's books.
2 pages in and NOBODY has mentioned the two authors I loved reading as a child: Judy Blume & Beverly Cleary. EDIT: Unbelievable. Both are posted AS I was writing this.
