We had rehearsal in a different place last night. Generally
we meet up every night at a nearby elementary school, but last night they were
having an event.
I still had to drive past the elementary school to get to
the new rehearsal location. If I’m being honest, the big sign proclaiming “Book
Fair” kind of made me want to stop by for a second. I, not at all surprisingly,
used to love whenever my school did anything book related. Fairs were
fantastic. And whenever the Scholastic pamphlet came out, I would spend the
rest of my day circling all books that I wanted, so that I could make an
educated decision over which ones I would declare to my parents that I couldn’t
live without.
It got me thinking about some of the earliest books I
remember reading – the picture books that still hold places on my shelves.
Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle were big favorites for me
early on. Martin came to my school once and signed my copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
And my young life was perfect. A few years back, I spent some time with one of
my little cousins and we read Chicka
Chicka Boom Boom (Martin & John Archambault). Sitting there, chanting about the alphabet, I had some
pretty strong memories of climbing up into the top bunk in the room I shared
with my sister, clutching that book to my chest, beside myself excited that my
parents had just gotten it for me.
Judi and Ron Barrett’s Cloudy
With a Chance of Meatballs was a book I read over and over again. Not only
did I love the idea that food would rain from the sky, but I was absolutely
enamored with the illustrations of this book. The expressions of the
Chewandswallow citizens as the weather turned on them were well worth turning
the pages for.
Chris Van Allsburg’s Jumanji
was another book where the illustrations just got to me. That, plus I always
really, really wanted my board games to come alive. Apparently, I wanted to
make all the same mistakes as Judy and Peter. Also, Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express continues to be
displayed on my coffee table every December. And I still feel a twist of
heartbreak when the little boy realizes he has a hole in his pocket.
Keeping with yesterday’s discussion of alternative fairy
tales, how could I not love Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!? Poor Mr. Wolf. Just trying to
get a cup of sugar…. And, of course, Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko’s The Paper Bag Princess. I mean, Princess
Elizabeth not only outsmarts a dragon and saves and dumps a prince, but also
manages to keep her paper bag from going up in flames. That’s just impressive.
Okay, clearly I could go on like this for awhile. Every time
I write one book done, two more that I love pop into my head. But it’s your
turn now – What were some of your earliest and most enduring literary loves?
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