I just saw a blog from someone who was cleaning out her mother's home. She came across many favorite children's books that she remembered. Instead of keeping them, she took pictures of them. I don't really have a lot of the books from my own childhood but I do have several that I used to read-aloud to my kindergarten and first-grade classes.
I think the newest one among these is Shel Silverstein's book. They are all "old" by the standards of when they were written. But it didn't matter. The children all loved the stories. So I got to read them over and over again to each new class.
The classes loved the silliness of these poems and his "The Giving Tree" is a classic.
Old fashioned classic. Any kid can relate to the antics of this boy.
So many kids were unfamiliar with this book but they knew of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland. They grew to love it as we read through it.
The book is so different from the movie. We would watch the movie after we finished it and then have a comparison discussion.
Once again, an old classic has become a movie. I was reading this to kids long before the current movie came out. I hope the movie has inspired kids to read it.
Holding on to a real book, snuggling in with a blanket, and reading (or being read to) is one of life's simple pleasures.
