QotD: Children’s Book
Posted July 21st, 2005 @ 09:35pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: What was your favorite book as a child?
My Answer: Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein. No, that's not an affiliate link - it's just underlined. My mom attended some conference for parents of smart (I hated the term "gifted") kids while I was at some science fair or another, and someone recommended to the parents that they buy this book. She bought it on the way home.
You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.
Donate Life
Posted 21 Jul 2005 at 10:09pm #
I do remember Where the Sidewalk Ends. How can anyone forget this one:
Inside everyone's nose
There lives a sharp-toothed snail
And if you stick you thumb in,
He might bite your nail.
And if you stick your ring finger in,
He might bite your ring off.
And if you stick your pinky in,
He might just bite the whole darn thing off!
Or something like that. That poem had an illustration. When you're in third grade, the fact that a book talks about putting your finger in your nose is pretty cool. I saw Silverstein once when I worked on Martha's Vineyard. He was sitting on a bench, watching people walk by.
I tried, but I can't nail down a single favorite book as a child. In 2nd grade it was probably the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. In 3rd grade it was this book on codes and ciphers whose title escapes me. In 4th grade it was probably some choose your own adventure book. In 5th grade it was definitely the Dragonlance books, and in 6th grade it would have been Ender's Game. Those are the books that stand out in my memory of childhood the most.
Posted 21 Jul 2005 at 10:36pm #
The Chronicles of Narnia.
Can't wait to see the movie 🙂
I was in kindergarden when I started reading the series. Finished it in 1st grade 🙂
Posted 21 Jul 2005 at 10:44pm #
One that I liked from my very early childhood was Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton.
Posted 22 Jul 2005 at 10:47am #
I was just asking my wife yesterday if she had read any of his stuff. A commercial with a baby had just been on TV so she was on her "I want a girl!" thing again-- we have three boys, but ya know... I don't really want four. I asked what she thought the boys would think if we had a girl. She shrugged. I tried my best to quote Silverstein's "For Sale" poem but I didn't really remember much of it.
For Sale
One sister for sale!
One sister for sale!
One crying and spying young sister for sale!
I’m really not kidding,
So who’ll start the bidding?
Do I hear a dollar?
A nickel?
A penny?
Oh, isn’t there, isnt’ there, isn’t there any
One kid who will buy this old sister for sale,
This crying and spying young sister for sale?
Posted 23 Jul 2005 at 3:31pm #
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is one of my all time favorites. I've passed that one on to my little ones.