Gosh, I don't believe I've read any kids' or young adults' books in the last couple of weeks--except with the grandkids. Instead I've been reading some fairly unsatisfactory grown-up novels. (I typed "ADULT" at first but was afraid you might interpret that as porn!) When I get my fill of blood and guts or lust and immorality, I find myself going through my library on the NOOK--looking at a new story about Tom Swift or the Bobbsey Twins.
I do want to note that this is Teacher Appreciation Week. I cannot say enough about great teachers and what they do for ALL OF US. And I cannot say how I feel about lousy teachers and systems and legislators, etc., who are destroying our most precious resource. I don't think that is trite to call children that either. Also not trite and always, always true is the bumpersticker philosophy: If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher.
Thank you to all those teachers and librarians and authors and illustrators. I owe you big time!
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Once again my NOOK has made it cheap and convenient for me to read another overlooked gem from my childhood: The Bobbsey Twins. (I downloaded the entire series, I believe, for $2.) This one was tricky, however. I found it more difficult than any of the others so far to separate my adult/2012 self from the little girl me who might’ve read this around 1956. The time setting would’ve been quaint even in 1956 and it certainly was today, but I think that is appealing now and would’ve been back then also. It is very sexist—with the girl twins being weaker and flightier and in need of protection—and I couldn’t help but make note of that. Since I was an only child I probably was weak, flighty, and in need of protection though! The Bobbsey family employs a cook/housekeeper and a handyman, a colored couple, Dinah and Sam. Outside of television shows such as Amos and Andy I don’t think I saw a black person until I was in high school. What would I have thought of the dialect in this book? Makes my skin crawl as I read it now. Since I have so many of the subsequent stories available, I expect I will read more.
After that, a couple of sweet Little Golden Books, again illustrated by Eloise Wilkin. Baby Looks is written by her sister, Esther Wilkin. I noted that there is a dedication in this book, something I don’t recall ever seeing before in a Little Golden Book. The dedication is to Margaret Dean who posed for the pictures of the baby. This was copyrighted in 1960 so I place Ms. Dean at about 53 years of age. I wonder where she is now. I suppose Google might have that answer. Curious. Like all the other books that I love so dearly, this one was nice to get reacquainted with—even with the big picture of Daddy’s pipe and ashtray! I don’t remember when I bought this book but the price on the cover is 39¢! My Puppy was another 50th anniversary of Little Golden Books reissue. This author is Patsy Scarry. Any relation to Richard Scarry? Google, I’m coming! Cute little boy, cute dog, cute story. Perfect for reading to a child in your lap.
Ah, “B” Is for Betsy. This one has been on my children’s book shelves since MY Betsy was a little girl. The illustration on the cover even resembles her a teeny bit. I’d forgotten what a dear story this is. I certainly don’t remember reading this as a little girl but it’s entirely possible. This is the sort of childhood that I had—or close to it—and I think in some respects my children had, but it breaks my heart to say that my grandchildren and virtually all children these days do not have. All the loving adults around them. Safe neighborhoods where they can play and have adventures each day. Farms to visit. Recess at school. Piggy banks for pennies that can actually be used to buy very special treats. What do children today have? Tales from Daycare? A Day at the Mall? Makes me sad. Would a child reading this story today even appreciate it or would she think it was all make-believe?
Something that reading these books as an adult has prompted me to do is learn more about the authors. I can’t recall being curious about who wrote the stories I was reading as a child. After reading “B” Is for Betsy I was curious about Carolyn Haywood. I knew that she wrote many books and I thought this was her first one. Turns out she was an illustrator to begin with and “B” Is for Betsy was her second book—and she wrote for about fifty years after that beginning. I appreciated the following quotation I found and feel like I would’ve adored Ms. Haywood and would like to read and maybe write books her way: “During this time I was becoming more and more interested in children's books and eventually, through my interest in illustration, I found my way to Harcourt where Elizabeth Hamilton was editor of their juvenile department. She encouraged me to write something about little American children doing the things that little American children like to do.”
