Kid's Books

January 15, 2012



Alrighty, I was thinking tonight as I was reading to my kiddo, I need to do a post on kids books. Don't worry, I don't mean picture books...good heavens, I don't think I could survive writing a review for all the picture books my kiddo has in her library.

I'm talking about those books that all off us...well, the ones of us who read as a kid, read. They are truly classics. I'm going to talk about three different series in this post. So bear with me as I dive into children's books...and I have a feeling there will be more.


The first of these of the kid literature world I would like to dive into is Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. I didn't read this book as a kid, I will admit, so I come to this book with only an adults point of view. I grew up with the Disney's cartoon of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Too, and finally, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. I loved these films. So, I assumed that the movies would be close to the book. Boy was a wrong.

Ok, not really, but what really drew my attention when I was reading this to the kiddo last year, and we're reading it again now, is that it rambled. At first I thought it was my dyslexia that was making it hard to process....No, I actually lost my train of thought reading through this book. It rambles and that made it difficult for me to follow in parts of it. However, I did enjoy seeing wonderfully big words that you just do not see these days even in some adult literature. People were so much smarter in 1926 when this book was first published.

My kiddo loves Winnie the Pooh whether it be in movie form or the book and I'm quite glad she enjoys it. I was spoiled by the movies growing up, so it changed my expectation of the book. I will say to read! on this book, because if I don't, I'm afraid the kiddo would clobber me. I kid. It is fun to see how Winnie the Pooh was first thought of and how the original story was told.

Now then, it's time to move on to The American Girl Series by several different authors.
I grew up with this series of books and I just found out around Christmas, that American Girl is celebrating 25 years! Holy cow! I had no idea they had been around that long. I am glad that they are still around and thriving. I started reading the series to my kiddo right before Christmas. I started off with Meet Molly, then Meet Felicity and Meet Samantha. The kiddo has picked Molly as her favorite so far. We've made it almost all the way through the Molly series.

I've always liked these books. And thinking back as a kid, I remembered these books to be longer! How perceptions have changed on what a long book is. Anyway, I love the lesson's behind these books. The importance of family, friends and many of other things. I'm so glad that I can now share these books with my kiddo. So, I say to read!



On to the last, but definitely not least, Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I think that this is a staple in most of American kids libraries. I hadn't read these books in a long time. I decided to pull them out of some book boxes and read them for the first time to my kiddo last year. When I first read these as a kid, I didn't understand some of what I was reading. These were actually some of the first books I ever read, after learning how to read. So they hold a special place in my heart.

However, now that I'm older and understand the things that have been written about. I realized, my kiddo wasn't ready to hear some of what was written. In Little House in the Big Woods, I had no idea the detail that was written down on butchering a hog! Granted Laura is right around the age my kiddo is in the book, but times have changed and our meat is bought packaged in a store. So, I figured it would be better to hold off on reading that to the kiddo till she is a little older. Granted, learning what head cheese is and crackling a pigs tails sounds interesting, but hey, I really don't want to know how said animals goes from mooing and oinking to ham or a hamburger on my plate.

Seeing how the books are written, I liked seeing how Laura Ingalls Wilder had the book grow with the life she was describing. Little house in the Big Woods is read like a kids chapter book in a way, but as you get to These Happy Golden Years, it's kind of a jump to go to older books. It wasn't all kept on the same level. It grows with the reader. And, this series is to read!

There will be more to come with kid's books as the year goes on. There are some not to positive reviews I have for a series or two, but I will save that for another time.

2 comments

  1. Great reviews! I am almost ready to start older books with mine. Hard part is finding good boys series. I found a couple that we will start but just harder since, well, I am a girl and read girl books ;)

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  2. There are so many out there to choose from. I figured I would start with the ones I knew I would like or had good memories from. I completely understand. The girl stories are different from the boys. I tried reading How to Train Your Dragon with the kiddo. It's different from the movie I will say. I think it would be a good boys story, but it was a bit much for me. :-)

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