Check out this New Yorker article where Elizabeth Kolbert Reviews children books with some wild takes.
Personal favorite:
"A parent is bigger than a child, but still a person. He or she can be appealed to, as in “Bedtime for Frances,” or even tricked, as in “Good Night, Gorilla.” The arrangement in “Goodnight Moon” is completely uneven. Time moves forward, and the little bunny doesn’t stand a chance. Parent and child are, in this way, brought together, on tragic terms. You don’t want to go to sleep. I don’t want to die. But we both have to."
Whoa! I can't say my parents' ever read this one to me - most of my books were Little Golden style foibles or Richard Scarry - but this perceived nihilistic lesson about our own mortality seems to be buried so deep most everyone is oblivious to it.
On the lighter side:
"Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise” (Dutton; $16.99), it seems safe to say, is destined not for the protectionist bookshelf but, rather, for the ever-growing permissive market, where anything goes—and nothing goes over better than flatulence.... “Gee Whiz!” is well researched, informative, and only moderately gross. (The volume is a follow-up to “The Truth About Poop,” by the same pair.) Were you aware, for example, that there are clouds of frozen astronaut piss orbiting the earth? Or that the Pilgrims used a substance known as “chamber lye”—urine mixed with ashes—to wash their clothes? I wasn’t, and I’m glad (sort of) that I am now."
BWAHAHAHAHAHA. This is the kind of thing kids love to bring up right in the middle of dinner. Or thirty year old scientists.
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1 comment:
It seems children come in two vaieties: one that likes to go to bed and sleep and the other that likes to put off bedtime as long as possible.
Personally, I think a bedtime story is a way to give a child time to calm down after a day of activity. Adults, many times, read to get to sleep. Kids can't read.
It also gives a parent time to sit next to the child and share part of their lives.
One problem is that sometimes parents are tired and find this activity time consuming. I personally enjoyed reading to my children, although I don't remember it as a nightly event. When my children were babies, I enjoyed having them fall asleep on my shoulder and then gently laying them in their bed.
I hope you enjoy reading to your little one.
Pat's Mom
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