When I was tiny, I LOVED to read. We had millions of children's books growing up, and after I'd read all of them, I tackled our elementary school library. I felt like I'd read practically everything in there
My 5th grade teacher (okay, so I wasn't tiny by then, but work with me here) once told me that after the principal came to observe her teaching math or social studies, he talked to her afterward. "Did you know that while you're teaching, one of your students is just reading under her desk the whole time?"
"Oh, you mean Chelsea? Yes, I know. But she somehow picks up all the material and passes the tests, so I just let her read."
I know I couldn't do it now, but somehow that's how it worked back then.
Anyway... I love children's books. They've written a lot since I was tiny, but I still love finding and buying the ones I loved as a child. There is one book that I've been looking for forever. It's a picture book about a mouse. One page has butterflies all over it, and my mom would always stop there and let me choose which one was the most beautiful. And another page has the mouse standing under a toadstool while it rains. And that's all I remember!
I didn't find this book when I went through the boxes of kids' books at my parents' house this summer. And honestly, this is not much to go on. I don't remember the title, the author, or any of the words. Just the rabbit, the butterflies, and the toadstool in the rain.
Any leads, people?
Well, at the thrift shop the other day, I ran across an AMAZING children's book: The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury. It contains 45 children's books, including some of my favorites:
Madeline
Goodnight Moon
The Snowy Day
Make Way for Ducklings
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Curious George
Miss Nelson is Missing!
Where the Wild Things Are
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
The Stinky Cheese Man
The Story of Babar
Stellaluna
The Story of Ferdinand
The Sneetches
The Story of Little Babaji (which is a name-changed-but-otherwise-true-to-the-original retelling of Little Black Sambo-- for obvious reasons-- which is a story I grew up with and loved)
Anyway... many of my favorite books. It has the original text and most or all of the original pictures. I love it!
As I flipped through the pages, I found some lovely pictures of flowers, butterflies, autumn leaves, and a toadstool. I think I gasped out loud when I flipped to the beginning of that story and found my beloved childhood book: I Am a Bunny, by Ole Risom, illustrated by Richard Scarry.
I love my new book, and it's worth every penny of the $.52 I paid for it at the thrift shop!
Chinese lesson of the day:
There are many books about China, and I don't claim to have read all of them. However, of the ones I've read, three stand out to me:
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chang
This book tells the last 100 years of China's history through following the experiences of the author, her mother, and her grandmother. It's a very eye-opening account of what happened in China and how it affected the people of the nation.
Life and Death in Shanghai, by Cheng Nien
The author is a highly-educated woman put in prison during the Cultural Revolution. She recounts her experiences in vivid detail-- not only to show what happened to her, but also to intricately tie in how those experiences were directly related to the political whims and trends going on in Beijing. One of the best-written books I've read.
The Private Life of Chairman Mao, by Li Zhisui
When most Americans head to China, we think it's amusing to find all the kitschy Mao memorabilia sold everywhere, hearkening back to the days when Mao set himself up as the nation's political and cultural idol.
If that were all, it would be pretty amusing. But reading about what a horrendous person he was, what he did to his nation and people, first in the name of Communism and then in the name of Mao himself, how many lives were ended or otherwise ruined, it horrifies me that so many foreigners take him so lightly. It changed my view of Mao.
4 comments:
So you found it, huh? That's exciting! I am looking for a book from my childhood too. It's a book about magic, and these people can use cards with black dots on them to do magic or get wishes or something. But things do not turn out how they're supposed to. And Children and It." These are some suggestions that people have made during my quest. Help me Chelsea! Do you know this book?
I love childrens books too. I need an excuse to buy them. I love that u read in the back of the class! I only remember reading in school during High School :-)
One of the first books I read about China was the audio version of Life and Death in Shanghai. I still think of it often.
Congrats on an awesome deal!
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