A cute story and a CONTEST!
As most of you regular readers know, I have been greatly preoccupied with the sorry slab job done on the 6th and getting it repaired. That preoccupation has stifled my creative abilities and made this blog pretty unappealing. For that I apologize and please let me redeem myself with a cute story and a contest?
Termite called from Disney to tell me a great story about his big brother, Miah, our son with Down’s Syndrome.
THE STORY:
The kids are at Disney this week, right? Well, they were were in a space capsule on a ride called “Space Mission”, which Termite said was so very convincing. A video started playing which made things more life-like, and as the simulator started vibrating and it felt like they were just about to blast off, Miah shouted:
“NO! NO! STOP! I CAN’T GO! WHAT ABOUT TI DU????!!!”
At that point, Dotter had to calm him down and make him understand it was only a video and a ride and that they truly were not going to another planet and leaving his precious puppy behind. Once off, he had no desire to go to space again!
Is that not priceless? (Notice he wasn’t worried about Mom of Dad–just his little dog!)
THE CONTEST:
I would like to know your favorite children’s picture book. Everyone who responds will be entered in a random drawing to win a personalized, signed copy of Before the Saltwater Came.
I have to go supervise the pouring of concrete now and hopefully come back with great photos for tomorrow!
BW
Right now my favorite is Knees Lifted High, it’s about Indian kids with diabetes. I use it here a lot. When I was a kid it was Supermarket Mystery. I still have that book!
I loved your story! 🙂
As far as my favorite children’s story…..that is too hard for me to choose. Since I have been in contact with thousands of children’s books, I have many favorites. I will say that my favorite type of book has to have beautiful pictures along with a great story.
The Napping House.The book won an award for the illustrations.
My favorite was from my own childhood….I know, I know, that’s ancient history. It was a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses” given to me by my third grade teacher, Miss Leifson. I’m impressed that I remember her name after all these years.
I’ve got my fingers crossed to win this contest and I’m feeling lucky.
– Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife
My favorite kids’ book is “Where the Wild Things Are,” with the wild little boy, Max in it? My son, Ben, now 32, was a lot like that little guy. Wild yet endearing. I have a small stuffed Max in my top dresser drawer and smile every morning as I open the drawer. Reminds me of how precious those years are with our little boys. They are gone so quickly!
Nowwwww you put up “Your Book” as a prize…after I’ve already purchased 3 for the grandchildren! I really don’t have a favorite. At this time the only thing that comes to mind are a LOT of Disney books. My younger brother joined a “Disney Book Club” and brought (it seems like a million) books to my children every time he came over. Having had an Epiphany a while back, I had Hubby bring them down from the attic. Now the grandchildren are enjoying them.
My and ZZ’s favorite was “Love You Forever”. There’s another one but I can’t remember the title….about going to sea in a sieve. Miah is too, too sweet. Mom and Dad you can take care of yourselves but itty bitty Ti Du can’t. Sniff!
Oh, Wendy! I literally laughed out loud about Miah. Of course he can’t leave TiDu! How precious.
You know I would have a hard time picking out a favorite children’s book. Like cousin Katy Bug, I loved “Love You Forever”, but I guess I’d have to say Beatrix Potter’s, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”. I still have a VHS video which shows the illustrations as the book is read. Guess I’d better put it on a CD before vhs players go the way of the dinosaur!
There are so many other good ones, though. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Velveteen Rabbit, Millions of Cats, Goodnight Moon. Okay, I’ll stop.
Okay, y’all need to put this contest on your blogs and or tell your friends because I am keeping it open until I have 25 entries. Bring on those entries, please!!
BW
It’s been tooo long since I looked at the pictures on anything. I remember most being read to and reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Oops, I think I just dated myself.
I love the illistrations in the book Timothy Titmouse… Not sure who drew them, but they remind me of Tasha Tudor.
I see that someone has already mentioned this book, but my absolute favorite is also Maurice Sendak’s, “Where the Wild Things Are”. Fabulous book. Love the puppy story.
I loved Too Many Mittens as a child just because of all the red mittens in the illustrations! The outlandish Suessian pictures always kept me coming back too–My current fav is Tops and Bottoms–love that tricky rabbit! LOL OH!-beatrix Potter!!
My favorite picture book belonged to my mom when she was little and we (my sister, brother, and I) read it and loved it all through our childhood. My mother had been given the book by her mother when she had scarlet fever and was quarantined, which was rather a big deal for my Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother to spend money on something as frivolous as a book! My grandmother was a single parent and had to work full time to support herself and my mother. My mother was born in 1933 to give you an idea of the time. Anyway, the book is Janibelle. It is about a little African-American (negro in the book- another sign of the time) left in a garbage can to die and how the baby is found and brought to the hospital. She has no name but is loved and cared for by the staff. In the end one of the nurses adopts her and names her Janibelle. We read this book a thousand times in our childhood. I can still see all the pictures. Growing up in the deep south, I believe this book had an unconscious influence on me to battle the pervasive racism around me, that and my mother’s loud and insistent fight against all forms of racism. But this little book gave me a face, a human black face to love and care about. Anyway, that’s my favorite picture book and my mother still has it, and my children and grandchildren still read it!
My favorite is called Why Aiigator Hates Dog. It’s by the late great storyteller JJ Reneaux from Louisiana, and takes place in the bayou country. When I read it I can hear her gravelly Cajun voice and her accent, and when I read it, that accent comes out too–the only book that has that effect on me. I love the book because the illustrations are full-page, the language is colorful and comic, and kids hang on to every word. At my old library the kids liked it so much we developed the story into a puppet show. It was a real loss when JJ died suddenly from cancer in 2000. Her stories and music live on, a testament to her artistry.
My favorite would be….I love you forever….
My favorite childrens’ books are, Goodnight Moon and I’ll Love you forever. I read Goodnight Moon to my son and daughter when they were little and now read them to my sweet grandchildren. Thanks for the opportunity to win your book. Stephanie
My son and I shared a love of Where the Wild Things Are and I am sorry to say his other favorite one was Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar. It never spoke to me, but it surely did my son. I read it at least twice a day for a very long time.
I LOVE reading your memories about books. Aren’t they wonderful? I took the advice of a very wise woman a long time ago and spent money on books when there was hardly enough to pay all the bills because no matter what is going on in the world, whether there is electricity for lights or not, one can always read a book. Not true about TV and video games. Right? So, for you young moms out there who struggle, read read read to those babies and give them very special books at very special times and they will always treasure them. This inspires me to do a future post about this topic.
Thank you to all the new readers who have entered! I appreciate your taking the time to stop by and share your book memories with us. Please come back soon and see who won!
Emilie? Where are you cher?
Without a doubt, Brer Rabbit story collection and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!
I don’t suppose James Bond or John D McDonald count?
My early childhood fave was The Encyclopedia of Knowledge or something.
Sorry I read Bobbsey twins but my influences were always much older.
My current favorite children’s book is “Each Peach, Pear, Plum”. It is one that came to us when my daughter was little and it is the most worn out book of all the many books from her childhood. Lost of cleverness and great illustrations. My favorites as a child were Nancy Drew. I always thought she had the greatest life!
The Pokey Little Puppy …
Or whatever that little train was that could
Good, good, keep them coming. Only four more to go for a minimum of entries!!!
Where’s Emilie?
Hoover Dam – I cant find that email!!!!! I will talk to Milk Man and see if I can get him to ‘retell’ me…
Heidi – I know he’s a busy man. So, it’s okay if he’d rather not. I just wanted to know what he saw in the photos that was “wrong”. Since I am no expert, I need someone else to tell me what looked wrong in the process. Thanks!
My favorite right now and the one my grandson loves to hear is “Snowbaby Could Not Sleep,” by Kara LaReau and illustrated by Jim Ishikawa. I try to find a different book for my grandkids for each season. This was my (just under) 2-year-old’s this winter.
My all-time favorite however is Rudyard Kipling’s “Elephant’s Child.” For an extra-special treat you need to hear Jack Nicholson narrate it on video. We have worn two of them completely out — and not just the grandkids watching either.
Just a couple more. Maybe at the end of the day we’ll be ready to draw!
My favorite book was Pippi Longstocking.
I loved books and read everything I got my hands on.
Still do – many, many, many years later.
Elisabet
Oh, my gosh! I didn’t think anyone else in the world ever read Pippi Longstockings but me and my sister. Wow. I was so happy to read that entry.
I never did write the book I liked as a kid. I liked Alice In Wonderland. I haven’t seen a copy of it in many years, but I still can picture a few of the illustrations, like… Sitting in the garden having a tea party and falling down the rabbit hole. Bw, I know you’re probably surprisedby this admission. It didn’t have a single Speck or Red illustration! ( Actually I didn’t even know what either of them looked like back then.)
Hi Steffi, Alice was one of my favorites, too. My grandmother gave it to me when I was quarantined with some childhood illness and I remember thinking what a strange book it was!!! It must have been a little over my reading level when she first gave it to me!
My favorite book is “Butterfly Kisses.” My husband would read it every night to my daughter, Emily., and then he would give her butterfly kisses after tucking her in.b Now my husband is serving in Iraq and I read it every night and give Em her “butterfly kisses.”
I love the wide variety of books listed here, and I even see some I’m going to check out at my library just because I love good books and admire brilliance in writing and illustrating!
I’ll leave this open today and we’ll have a winner tonight!
BW
CONTEST OVER AND THE WINNER OF A PERSONALIZED SIGNED COPY OF “BEFORE THE SALTWATER CAME” BY RANDOM DRAWING IS NONE OTHER THAN FRETH.
Congratulations, Freth. Please go to the Tag that says My Book and fill in the contact form explaining to whom you would like the book personalized. Then put your mailing address, please. We will confirm shipment of the book via your email address.
Thank you everyone for playing, and I look forward to the day that Suzanne the Farmer’s Wife wins a bayou prize!!!
BW
You see what happens when the flu & nasty stomach viruses hit the ER??? Extra shifts…spell check here plz…to fill in as staff members take turns filing in with the rest of the pts?? lol I HAVE TO MISS A BW CONTEST!!!!!! Well I may have missed the contest, but I LOVED this contest. I don’t remember my personal childhood favorite book…hard to believe since there were only 2 books back then….but my sons favorite book when he was little was a sesame street book…The Monster at the End of This Book. I read the covers & colors off that book!!! But I will pass this pearl on to other moms of boy who Hate to read. My son has me turned on to a series by Rick Riordan. The first one is called The Lightning Thief-Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Im as hooked as he is and every time they announce a book sale I always tell him to look for the next book in the series. Its a teenage boy living in modern day that finds out his father is Poisidon and he now has to “battle” demigods, monsters and crazy characters from greek mythology. Only thing is, mortals cant see these characters so this makes for lots of interesting trouble this kid gets into. I love these characters, the references to the greek tales, the this authors writting style…Im hooked from page one. My child hates to read but will dive off into these series, thats enough to send this author a big ol pot of gumbo or a whole pecan pie just for him!!! lol
Miss ya’ll
I’m so glad you’re back, Deb! And both my boys have been sick and on anti biotics since they got back from Disney. I’ve been sick. And both boys are sick AGAIN this week. So I know you’ve been busy. Stay well, though. Thanks a ton for telling us about these books. I can’t wait to get the first one for Termite. Sounds like a written version of a video game he likes to play. I’d much rather have him reading, though! Sorry you missed the contest! You have a copy of my book, don’t you?
Yes mam I sure do, and I proudly have shared it with our elementry school…making darn sure I got my treasured copy back!!! I wouldnt have taken a second copy tho if I had been able to enter on time..would have loved to have passed it on to one of your other deserving readers. But I couldnt help adding to the list. I will look for our copies and send them down to yall. They are very inexpensive through the scholastic press. I was shocked when I impatiently went looking for our next edition in the book stores!!! I patiently waiting until the next book fair!!!!! LOL. I think Termite would love them, they are so full of action packed adventure with halarious twist and turns…I honestly laughed out loud when I was reading where Percy hailed a cab, jumped in to find his cab was driven by those three old hag witches that share one tooth and one eye…and of course the one driving had the tooth, not the eye….