Monday, October 13, 2008

the little professor



When you have a blog, I have found that it is much better to divvy out the personal information slowly. Then, readers only get portions and snippets and the entire weirdness of who I really am isn't so glaringly apparent.

Today I give you this little fact about me. I generally dislike kid's movies and TV shows but I love children's picture books. You will never, ever see my child wearing a stitch of clothing with characters on it. And I would have to be bludgeoned to death before any character would make it onto my clothing. Let's just say that when we go to Disneyland, I spend the entire day fighting to withhold fashion judgement from other adults. It's a struggle.

However, there is one TV show that I really like. Not enough to buy any paraphernalia, but I really do think it is very cute and funny.
If you haven't seen Charlie and Lola, you should check it out.



Having spent some years of my life working in children's books, I have a huge library and a pretty good idea of what makes a great picture book. Here's one of my personal favorites.



This is just one of the many many great titles out there. I miss working in the book store. The Little Professor was a wonderful place to be. We had a train in our children's section where a child could sit and read with their parents. I wish I could spend just one more afternoon helping a child find a book they love. I found so many great titles from recommendations of clients and publishers. If you have a favorite book, from your childhood, or one that you found recently, I'd love to hear about it.

10 comments:

Kristi Kroeger said...

My kids are obsessed with Walter the Farting Dog. I guess that doesn't speak highly to my parenting, but they like Purplicious and John, Paul, George and Ben about the civil war and how the country came about. It's a John Sezecka book.

Bobbi said...

One of my all time favorites is "Betsy Buttons". It is a hard to find, old book. It's about a little pioneer girl whose only possesion that she could carry across the plains was her little handmade dolly, you guessed it, Betsy Buttons! The little girls love of Betsy ends up saving the family from an indian attack. I loved it as a little girl, my children have loved it and I hope to pass the love on to little grand kidlets someday!

Unknown said...

Great! Keep em' coming. Maybe I'll make a collage when we get a fair amount of suggestions. Oh, and I know a few of you readers are actually published children's authors/illustrators. Let's here from you!

K and/or K said...

Sometimes I think shopping for kids books would be great retail therapy, seeing as how clothing for an adopted kiddo can be risky (size & season are mysteries). But then just when I am about to go to a book store I stumble upon a great book cover like Mad about Plaid and I think, "No! Stop! You can't! You'll get addicted! Hold out! This is a patience test!" and so I sit at home. Someday though...it will start! The madness is inevitable I think.

Brittany said...

I am RIGHT THERE WITH YOU about kids not wearing clothing with characters on them. It is on my top 5 list of pet peeves!

It's just not right.

Breeding Fancy Art Prints said...

I'm not the biggest fan of tv for kids (or for grownups) either. I don't have any of my own, but I have nephews. Since my youngest nephew, 5, is ADDICTED to tv, when I'm around there's only so many books we can read, and pictures he can paint or draw before he goes crazy. So I let him, watch a little. But he already knows, "I know, I know. No Cartoon Network." Man, that stuff will rot your brain.!

Relyn Lawson said...

I really love Charlie and Lola. Lauren Child is a genius. I love her book Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Book even more than Charlie and Lola.

I am a second grade teacher who just finished teaching fourth grade for seven years. I am a huge book lover with a special thing for children's picture books. I think we may be kindred spirits here.

I don't know if you are interested, but I blogged about this very subject a while back. Here's the link if you want to read about some of my favorites. I also love the comments I got.
http://comesitbymyfire.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-have-been-absent-from-blog-world-for.html

Happy reading!

Relyn Lawson said...

Oh. One more thing, did you take that amazing first picture? WOW!

tollestrupfamily said...

The best book ever is Zagazoo. It goes through allt he stages of childhood/adolescence through animals. It's fun and funny! I also love Pat the Bunny. Classic!

Shellbells said...

I love charlie and lola too and their books are just as good as the tv show!!! You have good taste my dear!!! LOL