To quote Kathleen Kelly from the Nora Ephron classic, You've Got Mail: "The books you read as a child become part of you in a way that no other reading in the rest of your life does." One of the many benefits of my Master's program is the excuse to read great kids' books. I've been reminded of books I loved as a kid and been exposed to a long list of new greats.
As I'm sure a lot of you were, I was a voracious reader as a kid. My all-time favorite is Harriet the Spy. I really, really wanted to be Harriet M. Welsch when I was ten years old. Unfortunately, my neighborhood was quite boring. I still love a good composition notebook, though.
If I had to choose an author whose work was consistently awesome I'd go with E.L. Koningsburg without hesitation because: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Escaped adolescence without reading this one? Get thee to the library! Or Amazon, whatever. Should you know a nerdy child at any time in your life, immediately hand them a copy of The View from Saturday and stand back; your work here is done.
These, of course, can all be described as one of the greatest kid terms of all time: "chapter books." You remember when you graduated from those flimsy little readers to chapter books, don't you? It was marvelous. You'd passed up the beautiful illustrations of picture books and entered the children's book void. Then, behold! Chapter books!
Life-altering chapter books aside, picture books are their own kind of magical. An easy way to find wonderful picture books is to hit up the list of Caldecott winners. The Caldecott award, in case you're not a children's literature nerd, is an award given for illustrations in literature. Some of my favorite past winners include Make Way for Ducklings, Where the Wild Things Are, and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble was written by William Steig, who wrote some of the greatest picture books. He's responsible for Amos and Boris as well as a personal favorite from my childhood, Doctor DeSoto (yes, that's the story of the fox who's a dentist).
Go forth with your library card! Relive your childhood! Be the favorite relative this holiday season! Read!
As I'm sure a lot of you were, I was a voracious reader as a kid. My all-time favorite is Harriet the Spy. I really, really wanted to be Harriet M. Welsch when I was ten years old. Unfortunately, my neighborhood was quite boring. I still love a good composition notebook, though.
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| This is what a hero looks like. source |
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| I want to go to there. Also, pencil sketches, amiright? source |
Life-altering chapter books aside, picture books are their own kind of magical. An easy way to find wonderful picture books is to hit up the list of Caldecott winners. The Caldecott award, in case you're not a children's literature nerd, is an award given for illustrations in literature. Some of my favorite past winners include Make Way for Ducklings, Where the Wild Things Are, and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble was written by William Steig, who wrote some of the greatest picture books. He's responsible for Amos and Boris as well as a personal favorite from my childhood, Doctor DeSoto (yes, that's the story of the fox who's a dentist).
Go forth with your library card! Relive your childhood! Be the favorite relative this holiday season! Read!
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