I read my four year old son some sort of bedtime story every night. I’m usually very tired by the time it gets to his bedtime, and not always in the most patient of moods. That said, I do enjoy reading most of the stories we have at our disposal, but I can’t deny that I am relieved when he requests a short one.
Last night he stayed up till extra late because we had visitors, so when we headed for his bedroom I was falling asleep on my feet, and not too pleased when the story selected was a book we hadn’t tackled before - a “simple retelling” of the Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. The chapters are quite long, and I remembered it as a somewhat unreadable book from my childhood, so I didn’t approach it with too much enthusiasm.
Reading it aloud turned out to be an unexpected pleasure. My son fell asleep within the first couple of pages, but I found myself reading on and on, just because of its sheer sensory delights.
As this is a simplified version for young children I don’t know how different it is from the original. Whatever it is, I’m going to suggest it for bedtime reading tonight.
Has this happened to anyone else? Rediscovering books from childhood, revising your ideas about them?
As a kid, I liked Curious George. After reading it to my own kid, I discovered that I really, really hate it now. Too bad he liked it. :smack: I ended up reading it to him a lot.
We both liked Ezra Jack Keats’ “The Snowy Day”. If you can find it, “The Nursery Alice”, a younger child’s edition of the Wonderland story – not abridged, but totally retold in a simpler way by Lewis Carroll-- is very charming, IMHO.
FYI, The Wind in the Willows has been a frequent victim of “stealth” abridgement - where it’s hard to see that it’s abridged because it dosen’t really say it on the cover very big and you really have to look at the CIP on the title page verso to find out. From what I hear, the abridged WitW is not even really abridged for length or for clarity but rather for de-smartification and taking all the magic out. Also it’s more Toad-centered because of the movie. You might want to try reading the original again and see how you feel about it.
Personally I didn’t really like it as a kid, but I keep meaning to go give it another whirl.
It’s almost time of the year for The Polar Express, you know. That may be too young for your child but was one of my absolute favorites. Also The Velveteen Rabbit, although that one makes me cry still. Of course, neither of those are chapter books. Black Beauty is, which I adored as a kid even though it was nasty and brutal with the pain and suffering.
I’ve been reading a lot of kids’ books lately and rediscovering old favorites, but mostly for the older set. I love the Newberry shelf at Barnes and Noble - when I was a kid I think I read every Newberry book there was, and it’s such a delight to return to guaranteed pleasures. I’d almost forgotten about The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and The Gammage Cup. Oh, and A Murder for Her Majesty! Man, did I love that one. Still really good, too.
Oh, but the Lloyd Alexander books are even better now than they were when I was a kid, because now they’re much funnier. I didn’t realize how nasty they were when I first read them - I guess because a lot of kids books are nasty that way. But the Crone in the swamp really came a surprise to me when I reread them. Tee hee.
That’s what I plan to do, track down a copy of the original and read it again.
Plenty of recommendations for me to follow up, thanks!
Some childhood classics like the Beatrix Potter books haven’t dated as much as I expected, apart from the references to little Benjamin Bunny getting a ‘sound whipping’ from his father.
Interesting to see some books survive even in this post PC-world where many children’s books have been discarded or changed because of outdated attitudes like racism and sexism.
Your username reminded me - how about the Martha and George books, by James Marshall? They’re charming collections of simple, wittily-written stories about “Two Best Friends” - Hippoes who grow tulips, make pea soup and go to the beach. I loved them when I was little, especially because my parents are named Martha and George.
You can actually buy the whole collection of 4 or 5 books in one volume now. I have it sitting on my shelf.
I guess it could’ve been.
It was one story out of many in a large book.
I wish I knew what the storyline was, sometimes children take these tales to heart as their life story.
One of my favorites has always been Harold and the Purple Crayon, although according to family legend, it led to having to hide all writing instruments from me for some months–walls are such a temptation for the budding artist!
Other oldies but goodies include Andy and the Lion; Paddington Bear; Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day and all the Homer Price stories. As for a story that the PC police mistakenly tsk-tsked over, Sambo and the Tigers is a tale of a young boy’s resourcefulness, and, absent inappropriate illustrations, is a fine book if you can find it.
My brother and sister and I loved Dr Seuss’ **Sleep Book ** when we were children. The rather battered, 40 year old family copy is now entertaining my nieces.
Well, I guess it depends on the child. A four year old does not seem too old for a good picture book. Cloudy With A Chance For Meatballs (about a town that receives its food from the sky) could bring some funny dreams! I think kids of all ages enjoy illustrations.
More:
Tikki Tikki Tembo (nice rhythms)
Babar (the whole elephant thing is fascinating for kids, cool illustrations)
If you want to try something older, to be continued each night, I enjoy both the E.Nesbit fantasy books (she basically invented the children’s adventure story)as well as the more contemporary author who admired her, Edward Eager.
I now have a long list of books to check out. Some of these are new to me because I had a more British-centred upbringing. I remember some notable exceptions - American childrens’ fiction like **The Four Story Mistake ** series (Elizabeth Enright), and **Harriet the Spy ** and its sequel, which are for slightly older children. I also read **Edward Eager’s ** books and loved them. **Half Magic, Magic by the Lake ** and others. **Louisa May Alcott ** and the ‘Katy’ books, but those might be too girly for my son. Or perhaps not?
We have **Where the Wild Things Are ** and several **Dr Seuss ** classics. I plan to dig out the **Paddington Bear ** and **Babar books ** and Pippi Longstocking which I loved too. I’ll be curious to see how well they have endured when I re-read them.
I like the sound of Martha and George, for obvious reasons. I’ll be looking up all the others mentioned. Thanks so much.
For properly inflicting pain and suffering, there is no better choice for young children than the (color) Fairy Books. That’s probably where your copy of Snow White and Rose Red came from. Green Fairy Book? Blue Fairy Book? And when I say pain and suffering, I do mean that I give fair warning that these are reasonably unbowdlerized versions of the fairy tales, with dismemberment a’plenty.
Snow White and Rose Red can also be found in the usual edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Also, for those with little’uns, I recommend Wanda Gag’s edition of Grimm’s tales; they have the same flavor but are simplified and retold to a 3-4 yo’s level. Hansel and Gretel are still about to get eaten and still shove the witch in the oven and all that, but the stories are clear and easy to understand. This book also has Snow White and Rose Red.
For bedtime–this is a 4-yo girl we’re talking about–we always like chapter books. Picture books are for daytime. Right now, we’re reading Finn Family Moomintroll, which we really like. We’ve successfully enjoyed one Edward Eager book and one Pippi book, and have loved Lois Lowry’s Sam stories (funny books about Anastasia’s little brother). The “Magic Treehouse” stories by Mary Pope Osborne are a big hit, too, but repetitive for a grownup’s taste. If your kid is too young yet for The wind in the willows you might try The reluctant dragon by Kenneth Grahame; a much shorter and simpler story, and a lot of fun. Oh, and the “My Father’s Dragon” books (3) are great for little kids, lots of fun.
We are reading a lot of Sandra Boynton to Loren right now, but she is 18 months. She loves Doggies, and so do I. Hippos Go Berzerk, is also a current favorite. The Owl and the Pussycat is going over well at the moment too.
If you are reading chapter books, I suggest Beverly Cleary books, like Ribsy and Ramona the Brave.
We have hidden 3 books each about a pie/pizza/cake that is shared somehow. They are repetative and the scanscion is wrong. It is horrible to read those once, but repeatedly is too much.
We are slowly working up to non-board books. She so easily can tear the pages, but she wants to turn the pages herself and will sit and look at her books for up to an hour by herself. I want her to have access to all her books, but now my attention wanders after a bit of watching her read her book and then she starts to get less careful and I hear a little rip She gets to practice with junk mail now. That seems to be helping.
Maybe wait another year, but my son very much enjoyed the original Peter Pan and the original The Wizard of Oz last year when he was 5. Right now Suburban Plankton is reading him Peter and the Starcatchers, a sort of pre-quel to Peter Pan.
Also The Velveteen Rabbit, although that one makes me cry still. Of course, neither of those are chapter books. Black Beauty is, which I adored as a kid even though it was nasty and brutal with the pain and suffering.
She gets to practice with junk mail now. That seems to be helping.