Books & Children - Spark Imagination, Creativity And Learning

Time for another Book Review, this time I'm going to talk about children's books. I started thinking about this particular subject after a recent post I wrote on Dr Seuss. My daughter's loved Dr Seuss (I loved him too and still do) books when they were young but they also had other favorite's, some they still remember and talk about all these years later.

A lot of the books my daughters read are still considered classics, so I decided to write about several of their favorites. Because the post on Dr Seuss sparked the idea for this post, it just seemed logical to start with one of his books.

Published in 1965, Fox in Socks centers around two main characters - Fox, who is wearing socks  & Knox who's in a box - who begin a game consisting of silly tongue twisters. This was another beginners book and I can remember this one quite clearly.

My girls loved learning how to read this one but I think what they enjoyed more was when we read together and tried to read as fast as we could. Of course you know how that turned out (they don't call it tongue twister for nothing). lots of laughing but because it was such fun they spent hours learning the words so they could be the one to read it fast and not make any mistakes.

What's not to love about an adorable, happy, demanding mouse dressed in blue jean overalls. If you've read this book to your children I'm sure you noticed the story actually goes in a circle, starting with a little boy that shares a cookie with a cute hungry mouse. This action then starts a chain of events that when completed has the potential to start all over again.

Because after all, if you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk and a straw, then a napkin, a mirror to check for a milk mustache, which leads to a haircut. Next comes a nap, a story read, crayons to draw a picture, hanging the picture on the refrigerator which makes him thirsty, another glass of milk which of course will require another cookie to go with it.

My youngest daughter (who is now 28yrs old) is actually the one who reminded me of this book. During a conversation recently about kids books she remembered reading this in school and loved it but what she really loved was when she was chosen to bring home the mouse (plush of course) for the night - funny what sticks in your mind.

Written in 1963  (consisting of only 338 words) the book tells the story of a young boy named Max. Dressed in his wolf costume, Max is being so terrible that his mother sends him to his room without supper. Later that night his bedroom undergoes a mysterious transformation and he sails off to the land of the "Wild Things", where he becomes king. Here he can be as terrible as he want's but eventually Max gets tired of being wild and wants to go home. After arriving in his bedroom, Max discovers a hot supper waiting for him.

My girls loved this story and the beautiful illustrations. In fact I love the pictures so much I've added several more here for you to enjoy.

 

 

"Winnie-the-Pooh, Winnie-the-Pooh fuzzy little tubby all stuffed with fluff. He's Winnie-the-Pooh, Winnie-the-Pooh willy, nilly, silly old bear". Talk about a classic, this series has it hands down, think about it in this way - take a book that was published in 1926 fast forward 88years later and it's still read and loved by children and adults.

Of course it makes sense, how can you not love the story of an adorable bear, his home in the beautiful woods not to mention the cute array of friends he has. Not to mention the fun adventures they all take together. I think what has made this such a timeless classic is it's simple story of friendship, caring, understanding and love, now it's tough to beat that.

Pooh in an illustration by E. H. Shepard.

This was (and still is) my youngest daughters favorite set of books. In fact she still has the stuffed Pooh Bear she got when she was 2yrs old, it's pretty tattered after all these years but that came from not only many washings but more important lots and lots of hugs.
 

Ashley's Pooh Bear - Still Loved After All These Years

The last book I'd like to share is very special to our family. Bedtime Hugs for Little Ones is a book geared towards very young children. It's stories are about everyday events little kids might ask questions about, like growing up, shooting stars, counting sheep and bath time. The illustrations are really cute and very simply drawn almost like a child might draw.

Now what makes this book so special is that it was given to our daughters by their great grandmother (my husbands grandmother) when they were 5 & 2yrs old (25yrs ago). They adored her and loved the book, in fact I still have the book which has a hand written inscription from her to them on the inside front cover. 

The dust jacket is long gone and there is writing and doodling from when they played school scribbled though out but still special to us and I'm so glad to still have it.

Sit in a comfortable chair or lay in their beds and read a book to your children. They will not only be learning but more importantly you all will be making special memories together.