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Jones, Rowling, and back to Alfie et al
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From: Peggy Rader <rader004>
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 16:04:17 -0500
Responding as a parent: My son, now almost 13, still will say of some kid he finds obnoxious, "He's such a Dernard!" (Annie Rose's pronunciation of Bernard's name).
He grew up with Shirley Hughes--starting with the "nursery series" of concept books, then to Alfie and Annie Rose, then Trotter Street. We reread the Alfie stories over and over and over and over and over. He seemed to find both great glee and reassurance in the stories and I, as an older, not-to-sure-of-herself mom, found great glee and reassurance also as I saw how the moms (and dads) in all of Hughes' books seemed to roll with the punches and respond to their children with true affection and delight mixed right in with aggravation and concern.
I know my son enjoyed the consistent cast of characters and, when he too found himself one day at age three locked in the house while I was locked out (this is true--he slammed the door on me while I was taking out the trash!), told me later he didn't cry, because he remembered "Alfie got the chair, Mommy, so I did too." I think he learned and grew with Alfie in many ways.
And although it isn't part of any of her series, I also have to put in a big plug for Hughes' book "Dogger." It also was a great favorite at our house.
I think her illustrations add tremendously to the appeal of Hughes' book. The characters are not only rounded by her excellent writing, but by the warmth, open nature, and delightful detail of her drawings.
"Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another."
-- G.K. Chesterton
Peggy J. Rader Communications/Media Relations College of Education and Human Development 117 Burton Hall, 178 Pillsbury Dr. SE University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN 55455 612b6?82 rader004 at tc.umn.edu
Message----From: Kathleen Horning To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Date: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 3:35 PM Subject: Jones, Rowling, and back to Alfie et al
Received on Tue 25 May 1999 04:04:17 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 16:04:17 -0500
Responding as a parent: My son, now almost 13, still will say of some kid he finds obnoxious, "He's such a Dernard!" (Annie Rose's pronunciation of Bernard's name).
He grew up with Shirley Hughes--starting with the "nursery series" of concept books, then to Alfie and Annie Rose, then Trotter Street. We reread the Alfie stories over and over and over and over and over. He seemed to find both great glee and reassurance in the stories and I, as an older, not-to-sure-of-herself mom, found great glee and reassurance also as I saw how the moms (and dads) in all of Hughes' books seemed to roll with the punches and respond to their children with true affection and delight mixed right in with aggravation and concern.
I know my son enjoyed the consistent cast of characters and, when he too found himself one day at age three locked in the house while I was locked out (this is true--he slammed the door on me while I was taking out the trash!), told me later he didn't cry, because he remembered "Alfie got the chair, Mommy, so I did too." I think he learned and grew with Alfie in many ways.
And although it isn't part of any of her series, I also have to put in a big plug for Hughes' book "Dogger." It also was a great favorite at our house.
I think her illustrations add tremendously to the appeal of Hughes' book. The characters are not only rounded by her excellent writing, but by the warmth, open nature, and delightful detail of her drawings.
"Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another."
-- G.K. Chesterton
Peggy J. Rader Communications/Media Relations College of Education and Human Development 117 Burton Hall, 178 Pillsbury Dr. SE University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN 55455 612b6?82 rader004 at tc.umn.edu
Message----From: Kathleen Horning To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Date: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 3:35 PM Subject: Jones, Rowling, and back to Alfie et al
Received on Tue 25 May 1999 04:04:17 PM CDT
