What were your favourite picture books when you were young? Not those recent wonderful things, but the ones that spoke to your child self.
It's funny, because Jen and I were just talking about childhood trips to the public library, and I mentioned to her that I would check one particular book out over and over again.
There was just something about Madeline that I loved. And I remember the creakiness of this particular volume's spine, and the library book smell that it had. Looking back, I think it was the idea of so many girls getting to live together, and have adventures in the streets of Paris, that appealed to me. I may have secretly coveted the yellow outfit, as well.
The Mitten by Tresselt is one that I had totally forgotten about until I made the move from Young Adult librarian to Children's librarian. As soon as I opened this book at my school, I was transported back to my babysitter's house. Mrs. VanDerVeen used to read me this book over and over again. I was especially fond of the colour palette. And each snowflake was worthy of examination!
Now, this is not the wonderful cover of the 1970s that graces my copy of Garbage Delight. The art in my copy is by none other than Frank Newfeld. The illustrations in this wacky book of poetry were just as important to me as the hilarious poems. I still have "The Puddle" memorized, and can break it out at will. This is the book that made me want to write for a living.So, what were your favourites?
2 comments:
Oh, I loved Madeline! Such a wonderful book. I only recently discovered The Mitten. I haven't heard of Garbage Delight- I'll have to check it out.
-Susan
The book I read over and over is called The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl. It's not really a picture book, but my favorite part is when the crocodile gets sizzled like a sausage. It seemed to me I could actually hear the sizzle noise when I read that part.
Post a Comment