Sunday 24 August 2008

This is... my favourite children's book

I adore kids books. In fact, I'm half way through re-reading the Narnia series. I love the simplicity and sheer fun of children's books. And I love the illustrations.

I loved Jim Henson, Sesame Street, the Muppets (I still do! Probably moreso now!). When I was in early primary school, my favourite books was definitely:

The climax in this book is what gets me every time! Our copy is one of those giant books and it's falling to bits from so much reading. I think it was passed down from a cousin originally. This book is all in the telling.

"Lovable, furry old Grover is distressed to learn that there's a monster at the end of this book! He begs readers not to turn the pages, but of course kids feel they just have to see this monster for themselves. Grover is astonished--and kids are delighted--to discover who is really the monster at the end of the book!"


It was followed closely by My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes. It goes something like "The cat from Spain flew and aeroplane; The cat from France liked to sing and dance; The cat from Berlin plays the violin... but my cat likes to hide in boxes!" My all time favourite page from this book was "The cat from Norway got stuck in the doorway". I thought that was hilarious.

However around middle primary school, my love for non fiction books was unearthed. My all time favourite children's book was "The body and how it works". (Nerdy, hey?)

I wasn't able to find my original copy to take a photo (it's somewhere in these bookshelves!), but mine was hardcover with a pink spine. This is a copy of the front of the 1998 reprint in paperback.


It covered everything from digestion and the nervous system, to pregnancy and fetal development and I couldn't get enough of it. I used to read it all the time, from cover to cover, or sometimes just flick through it. My favourite pages in the whole book detailed the nervous system. There was this funny picture of a man with his lips and eyes and hands all exaggerated, demonstrating which parts of the body receive the most sensory information. My fascination with the nervous system pages was very telling about my future career path! It's amazing how my passion for my field of research started so young... (and then grew consistently with age!).

Thanks Potty Mouth Mama for a great topic! and also to Three Buttons who is the lovely host of This is ...

7 comments:

Cindy said...

My son loves those rythmic style books so I might have to find my cat at borders. He loves the non-fiction too, his weakness though is animal encyclopedias, he has bee carring they around since he was 2. I wonder if it will follow him later in life.

Liesl said...

Oh I love that DK book - its fabulous.

I might have to get a copy of My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes. I haven't seen it before, but it sounds like something the boys would love.

Lexi:: PottyMouthMama said...

I LOVE My Cat Likes to Hide In Boxes. One of my favourites too.. And I love Grover - hello everybodeeeee!! Ha! I remember that book.

Anonymous said...

Super stuff! I'm always on the hunt for great children's books and have recently discovered Bayard and their series of StoryBoxBooks, AdventureBoxBooks and DiscoveryBoxBooks (which has a special focus on teeth!) They have work by acclaimed children's books illustrator Helen Oxenbury appearing in the Storybox series for September. In addition to this, they also have some great activities for rainy days: http://www.storyboxbooks.com/potatoprinting.php, http://www.adventureboxbooks.com/macaroni-picture-frames.php, http://www.discoveryboxbooks.com/skittles.php Enjoy!

kt said...

OH my gosh I my gosh!! The monster at the end of the book is both Morgan and my favourite childhood book too! (we were both very excited to find this out and that we have two copies). I actually snagged mine from a friend who gave it to me cause I used to read it at her house so much. it even has a coffee ring on the front cover but is so loved.

hehe the last page "oh I am so embarassed!"
such an interactive book :)

.girl ferment. said...

my brother and i loved a monster at the end of this book.
and you have muppets make puppets?
that must be a goodie.
xx

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