I recently crossed six more books off the BBC’s Top 100 Children’s Books list.
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein: I remember once thinking that that story of The Giving Tree, which I’d at least heard about if not actually read myself, was cute. Now, the story irritates me. It’s about a tree that sacrifices everything–fruit, branches, and ultimately it’s very trunk–for the human that it loves. I can’t help but read it now as a tale of thoughtless human greed and destruction.
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown: This is another book that I was familiar with but maybe hadn’t officially read. It’s super basic, just a description of a room and its contents, followed by pages saying goodnight to those things. It’s not very exciting, but the pictures are charming, and it works for kids, which is all that really matters.
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats: The story isn’t much (a kid goes outside and plays in the snow), but the art is wonderful. There’s nothing more adorable than little Peter going on snowy adventures in his red, pointy-hatted snowsuit.
- Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love: In this book, young Julian sees some people dressed as mermaids, which inspires him to be a mermaid, too. He creates his own mermaid costume, and then his abuela takes him to a parade where other people are also dressed as beautiful sea creatures (apparently it’s the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, which I didn’t even know existed). This book is something of a shocker. It’s unusual for children’s books to depict little boys in their underwear, never mind transforming into mermaids. Personally, I think it’s wonderful, a book for a new and better age in which every child is accepted for who they are. But some people prefer to live in the dark past, and I didn’t have to look very hard online to find articles about the book being challenged. It was challenged a few years ago in a Connecticut school, actually. Sometimes my home state stinks, but the school ultimately kept the book, and good on them.
- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson: A cute story about a mouse who uses tricks to avoid being eaten by predators, including one very scary predator that he didn’t even know was real.
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr: In this adorable book, a mother and daughter are having tea when a tiger comes to visit. They let him join their tea party, and he proceeds to drink and eat everything in the house (except the people, fortunately!). Loved it.