This book, from Cliveden Press (the 1979 edition), was the other primary fairy tale book of my childhood. As with the Childcraft book discussed below, when I think of fairy tales, a lot of the default versions in my head come from this book. And, also as with the Childcraft book, the boys didn’t spend nearly as much time with this book as I had as a child.
Authors: Many and uncredited
Illustrator: Uncredited
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Tagged Animals, Childcraft Folk and Fairy Tales, Classic Fairy Stories of the World, Cliveden Press, Denmark, England, fairy tale, food, France, Germany, I read this as a kid, Italy, out of print, translated
This book, Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse!, and The Elephant’s Airplane and Other Machines are peas in a pod. In all of them, various animals want something (a prize-winning project for a festival, a house, a means of transportation). In all of them, there really isn’t a story beyond that. The pleasure in these books (and there is a lot of it!) is all in the highly-detailed illustrations by Doris Susan Smith, whose artwork is very special. Of the three books, this was the least popular in our house and is the least essential. But it is still well worth having, again for the art alone.
Author: Anne-Marie Dalmais
Illustrator: Doris Susan Smith
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Tagged And May the Best Animal Win!, Animals, Anne-Marie Dalmais, Doris Susan Smith, food, Machines, Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse!, out of print, The Elephant's Airplane and Other Machines, translated
My family of origin had the whole 15-volume Childcraft set (the 1961 edition) when I was a child, but I ignored most of them (with the exception of this volume, Storytelling and Other Poems, Animal Friends and Adventures, Life in Many Lands, and Great Men and Famous Deeds). Most of them were non-fiction, and already VERY dated. This volume, however, was a favorite. It contains a variety of (mostly European) folk and fairy tales by lots of different authors and illustrators. When I think of fairy tales, a lot of the default versions in my head come from this book.
While I read some of the stories in it to the boys (fairy tales are important for cultural literacy!), they didn’t spend nearly as much time with this book as I had as a child. (After looking at the rest of the 1961 set as an adult, I ended up donating all the other volumes).
Authors: Many
Illustrators: Many and uncredited (although some pictures are signed)
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Tagged Aesop, Africa, Animal Friends and Adventures, Animals, Childcraft, Childcraft Folk and Fairy Tales, Denmark, England, fable, fairy tale, food, France, Germany, Great Men and Famous Deeds, Greek, Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, I read this as a kid, India, Life in Many Lands, Machines, Mama's Choice, Middle-East, out of print, Russia, series, Spain, Storytelling and Other Poems, translated
This is a book about helping children adjust to moving, like The Berenstain Bears’ Moving Day, but a bit more subtle. Slip’s otter family can’t find enough food, so they have to move to a new home, and Slip is sad. But when Slip finds a friend (and her family builds a new mud slide), she starts to feel better.
When I was small, I loved to look at the pictures in this book. And otters were very popular here when the boys were small. We liked visiting them at the zoo and we liked reading about them, in A Lot of Otters, Do Unto Otters, and this book too.
Author: Olena Kassian
Illustrator: Olena Kassian
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Tagged A Lot of Otters, Animals, Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners, food, I read this as a kid, Olena Kassian, out of print, The Berenstain Bears' Moving Day
This is another one that was so much fun to read aloud! If you’re reading this blog in English, you almost certainly already know the basics of this adventure. But the vibe may be unexpected. J.R.R. Tolkien told this first to his children and it really shows; there is a lightness and sense of play that largely goes by the wayside in the Lord of the Rings series that ended up following it.
Main character Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit and homebody, not a traditional heroic type. But he becomes a hero nonetheless by stepping outside his literal comfort zone and trying new things, while always maintaining his interest in creature comforts (as so lovingly described by Tolkien). It is not to be missed (and neither are the Lord of the Rings movies, which are masterpieces). Unfortunately, however, the three (!) movies made from The Hobbit should absolutely be skipped.
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Illustrator: J.R.R. Tolkien
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Tagged Animals, England, food, I read this as a kid, J.R.R. Tolkien, movie, series, songs, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings
Cat is concerned that he isn’t going to be getting a present from Santa this year (see the image below to understand why). But he has a plan–he can be Santa. And then he can give himself a present! Much like Mo Willems’ Pigeon, Cat is not one to let logic or plausibility stand in the path of a self-serving plan. Unlike that series, Cat doesn’t have a “voice” of his own–the reader (or audience) has to create a dialogue based on visual cues and signs. My youngest especially loved this one–it still gets read at Christmas time. (I understand that this book is part of a series, but we never picked up the other books.)
Author: Deborah Underwood
Illustrator: Claudia Rueda
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Tagged Animals, Christmas, Claudia Rueda, Deborah Underwood, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, food, Here Comes Santa Cat, Mo Willems, series
In my opinion, this not a top-tier work of Dahl’s (Charlie and Matilda are my favorites of his, and I’m very found of Danny, the Champion of the World, although I didn’t read that one to the boys). But, as I realized when I started reading his books aloud, even his second-tier work sets a high bar. This book is odd and fun and surprising–how many authors would dare, have the hero’s parents, on the first page of the book, “suddenly . . . eaten up (in full daylight, mind you, and on a crowded street) by an enormous angry rhinoceros which had escaped the London Zoo”? Or have the hero’s companions be giant insects? (For obvious reasons, like other Dahl books, this would not be the best book for a particularly sensitive or anxious child. Things are truly terrible for James before they get much better. )
Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I far prefer the original illustrations to those by Quentin Blake (who is now the default Dahl illustrator). Burkert’s pictures are very weird and atmospheric (James looks positively haunted, which makes perfect sense in the context of the book) and I love the subtle light peach color throughout the illustrations. I didn’t find its stop-motion movie very interesting and didn’t show it to the boys.
Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Nancy Ekholm Burkert
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Tagged Animals, Caveat, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Danny the Champion of the World, England, food, I read this as a kid, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, movie, Nancy Ekholm Burkert, Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl, songs, USA
Gracious, Prince Caspian (the second published Narnia book) is boring. I didn’t miss a thing not reading that one as a kid. So, I skipped reading it to the boys, going from Wardrobe straight to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the third published Narnia book). And then, well, I skipped reading them the rest of the series too (because they were dull as Caspian, even more preachy and dated than this book, and the boys never asked about them) and showing them the live-action movies. So, as far as our family is concerned, I guess this series is a duology. And a good one! While Lewis is so very preachy (which I supposes makes sense in the Christian allegory context that he was working within–see my discussion of Wardrobe for more on this) and the pictures are generally awkward (as with Wardrobe), it is full of adventure and a nice change to have an antihero as a main character, someone needs a lot of personal growth rather than starting off perfect. But the real draw in Dawn Treader, as far as I’m concerned, will always be the glorious Reepicheep. Well, and the opening line: “There once was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it.”
Author: C.S. Lewis
Illustrator: Pauline Baynes
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Tagged Animals, beach, C.S. Lewis, Caveat, England, fable, fairy tale, food, Machines, movie, Mythology, Pauline Baynes, portal fantasy, Prince Caspian, series, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Like Matilda, this book focuses on a child escaping from awful circumstances by the power of her mind and creativity. I read it over and over as a child–Sara’s times of luxury and deprivation, love and misery, were enthralling (as was the glimpse into British boarding schools of the nineteenth century). And the sumptuous pictures! I read The Secret Garden by the same author around the same time. It never spoke to me in the same way (perhaps it would have if I’d had a copy of the edition Tasha Tudor illustrated), but it did make a a musical I hugely enjoyed as a young teen. (Avoid the movie of A Little Princess with Shirley Temple at all costs.)
Caveat: Keep in mind that both A Little Princess and The Secret Garden are about 120 years old and aspects of them have not aged well at all–read them alone first, there are a lot of things you’ll want to be ready to discuss if you read it to a child.
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Illustrator: Tasha Tudor
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Tagged A Little Princess, Animals, Caveat, England, food, Frances Hodgson Burnett, I read this as a kid, Matilda, movie, Musical, school, Shirley Temple, Tasha Tudor, The Secret Garden
Oh, was there ever a better story for a book lover who doesn’t quite fit in? I knew from my childhood what a wonderful book this was to read alone, but this is another one where reading it aloud unlocks a whole new level of enjoyment. (That it has so many pranks and tricks did not hurt at all in keeping the boys attention.) That it has now been adapted into a musical is a fun bonus (although none of us loved the movie and we never have seen the non-musical live action movie).
Caveat: Like all Dahl books, this would not be the best book for a particularly sensitive or anxious child. Things are truly terrible for Matilda at home and at school for most of the book. But they do get much better!
Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
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Tagged Animals, England, food, I read this as a kid, Matilda, movie, Musical, Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl, school