This is the sixth in a series of posts about Children’s Book Week. Click here to read the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth posts.

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Although I enjoyed reading the book “Spectacles” by Ellen Raskin long before I needed glasses, this is a delightful book for any child who has glasses, needs glasses, or hopes they never need glasses. In other words — anyone.

“Spectacles” is about a girl named Iris Fogel who had trouble seeing clearly.

One day a fire-breathing dragon knocked on her door.

Scary, huh?

Turns out the fire-breathing dragon was actually Great-aunt Fanny!

See the fire-breathing dragon?

Iris was sure she saw a horse in her house…

… but it was actually her baby-sitter.

After many instances of being confused about what she saw, Iris’ mother took her to a blue elephant.

Er, an eye doctor.

The blue elephant / eye doctor determined that Iris needed glasses. She resisted, but then realized she got to choose between glasses that made her look younger or older, sweeter or smarter, like a scholar or a movie star, adorable or intelligent. (This picture of Iris wearing six different pairs of glasses was always my favorite page.)

So Iris’ vision problems were solved… until she took off her glasses and thought her family Christmas celebration was a red rhinoceros with a tulip in its ear.

The book is from 1968, so the illustrations seem a bit dated, but in a charming sort of way. And don’t you just love that the girl with vision problems is named IRIS? Me too.

This is the fifth in a series of posts about Children’s Book Week. Click here to read the first, second, third, and fourth posts.

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If you sat down and wrote a list of your favorite children’s books, chances are good that you would include at least one title by the beloved Dr. Seuss. But as charming as his fanciful, rhyming stories are, one of my favorite books is actually his book of ABCs that features alliteration more prominently than rhymes.

BIG A, little a, What begins with A?

Aunt Annie’s alligator, A a A…

BIG B, little b, What begins with B?

Barber
baby
bubbles
and a
bumblebee.

After a camel on the ceiling, a duck-dog, and an ear/egg/elephant, we arrive at F.

I always liked Lola Lopp.

I don’t know why, but N was always my favorite page when I was a kid.

Although most pages follow the pattern of “BIG X, little x, What begins with X?”, at just the right intervals, Dr. Seuss introduces some letters in a totally different way. It’s a refreshing break from the pattern, and yet it soon feels comforting to get back to the familiar rhythm.

W… w… W… Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.

Are you wondering how he handled X? No worries.

BIG T, little t, What begins with T? THANK YOU, Dr. Seuss!

This is the fourth in a series of posts about Children’s Book Week. Click here to read the first, second, and third posts.

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I’m not sure why I only remember one of the 26 books in the Sweet Pickles series, but “Me Too Iguana” made a lasting impression on me when I was a child. (Maybe it was the only one we owned?)

“Me Too Iguana” is the story of an iguana who wasn’t content with who she was. She wanted to look like everyone else and be able to do the special things that only certain other animals could do.

Iguana wanted a trunk like Elephant, a mane like Lion’s, stripes like Zebra’s stripes, and feathers like the ones Goose had that were flapping in the breeze.

So she took the DIY route and made her own trunk, mane, stripes, and feathers.

When Iguana began to envy Stork’s ability to fly, her friends became worried for her safety. They realized that she was trying to be like them because she thought all of those features were better.

So Iguana’s friends invited her to a costume party — with strict instructions not to talk about the costumes in advance. Of course, Iguana wanted to wear what everyone else was wearing, but she couldn’t figure out what to wear. When she got to the park, she was confused, because all she saw were little flashes of green.

When Iguana realized that nobody was wearing a trunk, a mane, stripes, or feathers, she took hers off to fit in. And then she realized that all of her friends had come in an iguana costume — and she wasn’t wearing ANY costume.

After assuring Iguana that she was dressed perfectly, Stork presented the prize for the best iguana, and of course Iguana was the winner.

“You have the loveliest, greenest color,” smiled Stork. “You have the longest, bumpiest tail. Congratulations! We all think you’re wonderful just the way you are!”

“Yes,” said Iguana, very surprised, “I do too!”

This is the third in a series of posts about Children’s Book Week. You can read earlier posts here and here.

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In spite of all the problems she causes, it’s hard not to love Amelia Bedelia. Her antics have been amusing children (and their parents) since 1963, when Peggy Parish wrote the original story of the well-meaning maid who often misunderstood what other people meant and created all kinds of problems.

When I opened the cover of the book to find the copyright date, I got such a kick out of the incredibly succinct Library of Congress summary: “A literal-minded housekeeper causes a ruckus in the household when she attempts to make sense of some instructions.”

Ruckus indeed.

On her first day of work as the housekeeper for Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Amelia Bedelia diligently worked her way through the to-do list they left for her, but unfortunately, she took everything literally.

She changed the towels.

She dusted the living room (with dusting powder).

When she finished drawing the drapes, she followed instructions to “put the lights out when you finish in the living room.” So she unscrewed the light bulbs and aired them out. “Just like pillows and babies,” she concluded.

Not surprisingly, Mrs. Rogers was angry when she got home and discovered all the problems that her new housekeeper had caused. She had even dressed the chicken! (Aren’t those overalls funny?)

But before Mrs. Rogers could fire her for incompetence, Mr. Rogers stuffed a bite of Amelia Bedelia’s fresh lemon meringue pie into Mrs. Rogers’ mouth.

The pie was so good that they decided Amelia Bedelia could continue to work as their housekeeper.

I think it’s somewhat unfortunate that it’s a woman in a service role who is portrayed as lacking intelligence, but of course this story is about so many other themes — double meanings in the English language; communication and misunderstandings; grace, forgiveness, and second chances; compensating for skills you lack; and maybe even about food’s ability to short-circuit rational thinking. 🙂

This is the second in a series of posts about Children’s Book Week. You can read about the first book here.

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One of the books I read to the kids tonight during bathtime was “There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon” by Jack Kent. I remember enjoying the book when I was a kid, so when I had an opportunity to buy it for twenty-five cents at a used book sale a couple weeks ago, I didn’t hesitate for a moment.

“There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon” is the story of a little boy, Billy Bixbee, who woke up one morning to find a small dragon in his bedroom.

The dragon was a friendly dragon, but his mother insisted over and over that there’s no such thing as a dragon.

At breakfast, the dragon sat on the table, and I love the logic that follows.

“This sort of thing was not usually permitted, but there wasn’t much Billy’s mother could do about it. She had already said there was no such thing as a dragon. And if there’s no such thing, you can’t tell it to get down off the table.”

Throughout the morning, the dragon got bigger and bigger until it filled the whole house.

But when the dragon smelled a bread truck, it ran off with the house on its back, leaving just the foundation and a confused Mr. Bixbee.

Finally, Mrs. Bixbee had to accept that there really was a big problem known as a dragon, and when they acknowledged this and Billy patted the dragon on the head, the dragon started getting smaller.

When the dragon was the size of a kitten again, the mother wondered why it had to grow so BIG.

“I’m not sure,” said Billy, “but I think it just wanted to be noticed.”

Of course, not all problems will go away when you pat them on the head, but it’s true that big problems can sometimes be avoided by dealing with them while they’re still small problems. Pretending that the problem doesn’t exist usually doesn’t make the problem go away.

If only all problems could be accompanied by such charming illustrations…

Children’s Book Week kicks off today, so I thought it was only fitting to read one of my favorite children’s books before tucking the kiddos into bed tonight.

“The Monster at the End of This Book” is a Little Golden Book by Jon Stone, and stars “lovable, furry old Grover.”

Grover is aware that there will be a monster at the end of the book and pleads with the reader to not turn pages. He tries tying the pages together, he tries nailing them together, and he even builds a brick wall, but each time, the young reader is able to turn the page — and Grover isn’t too happy about it.

After all, he’s scared of the monster.

Of course, when we reach the end of the book, we discover that the “monster” is just lovable, furry old Grover. And the furry blue guy suddenly pretends like HE was telling the READER not to be scared. On the very last page, he makes a confession that we can all identify with.

“Oh, I am so embarrassed…”

I love the way the book breaks the “fourth wall” between the story and the reader. The book becomes an object to be overcome, and the story becomes a conversation between Grover and the reader. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun to read it aloud with a great amount of expression!