Well, what can you say about Mother Goose? My mother adored Mother Goose and read it to us often. But frankly, as a parent I never really got into it. I know the historic and literary relevance of nursery rhymes, but they just didn’t do much for me. My kids never seemed much interested in them either. Then I got the Mother Goose edition selected and illustrated by Mary Engelbreit (HarperCollins, 2005 with an...
Some children’s books are classics. Take Munro Leaf’s The Story of Ferdinand (Robert Lawson, illustrator). Originally published in 1936 by Viking, Ferdinand tells the story of a gentle, little bull who doesn’t want to butt and stick his horns around. Ferdinand wants to “sit just quietly under the cork tree and smell the flowers.” But when Ferdinand sits on a bee and gets stung, Ferdinand gets picked to fight in the bullfight in Madrid. Will Ferdinand fight?...
Purplicious (HarperCollins, 2007) by sisters Victoria and Elizabeth Kann is a sequel (of sorts) to Pinkalicious. As you may know from reading Pinkalicious, the main character, who is called Pinkalicious, loves all things pink. In Purplicious, she is at art class painting pink pictures. But soon artsy types in her class start making fun of her. “Pink is passe.” Black is in. “Pink is putrid.” Just like Kevin Henkes’ beloved heroine Chrysanthemum (one of my all-time...
Ok, I have to admit I don’t really like pink–unless it’s hot pink. I even refused to let my baby girls wear pink–unless grandma gave it to them. Call it my feminist protest, and yes, I know the whole pastel pink/hot pink disctinction is totally irrational. I’d also like to add that I’ve mellowed (some) over the years. But many girls (and their moms) love pink, ADORE pink, can’t get enough pink. So for all those pink lovers...
