On Story Bent

So historically I haven't always been able to make up my mind on Mother Goose rhymes, but after listening to some of the Stories are Soul Food podcast where Nate Wilson was talking (in one of the early eps) about the importance of rhyming books in developing a good ear for rhythm & for future storytelling etc., I got thinking on it again. Children need imagination food cultivating that sense of wonder & fostering the ability to see the world inside out and upside down and right side up. A sense of fitness and unfitness, and the absurdity and hilarity often popping between the two. Also ingraining the feel -- from even an early age -- of the rough edges of things. And I think all of that is something these early rhymes can uniquely supply. I really like the illustrations in this copy, sweetly and seamlessly flowing between people in Victorian garb and then tennis shoes. (I know that sounds corny but they actually do a really cute job.) There have to be 150+ rhymes, but my f...

This blog is for loved, less well loved, & even disliked books (in short, the good, the bad, & the ugly) & it's also totally biased, so making no apologies.  Anyway. The story of a child learning how to control his tongue & steer clear of bad words, I thought this one looked kinda cute & promising. I know it's supposed to be taken in a lighthearted vein -- & I expect my child to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff -- but for this particular age 1) I wasn't entirely happy about the prominence of the gardener-wizard solving the whole problem (esp. without self-control premiering at all) & then 2) his solution being to just replace the Bad Word with Polite Fillers. (I'm actually more of the camp that a bit of strong language -- not irreverent -- is sometimes called for too, so there's that.) And I'm certainly not against funny British-isms, but two of the minced (replacement) oaths they DO use in here ("zounds and gadzooks...