CCBC-Net Archives

Favorite board books

From: Bokelman, Todd and Maggie <toddandmaggie>
Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 12:03:54 -0400

Maia writes:>

 I think that for very young


I think this is very true. My children are beyond the board book age now, and at their age, I of course have a great appreciation for all of the beautifully illustrated and/or beautifully written books that are out there for them. But when they were babies and toddlers, I have to admit that some of the board books they loved--and that my husband and I loved to read to them--were not necessarily what I would think of as distinguished. My children chewed on the books and played with them as objects, as well as
"reading" them as books. I think board books are a wonderful way of opening up the world of books to children, because they are so invitingly hands-on. Pop-up and lift-the-flap board books of any kind were always a hit (ours were always well-taped.) A few board books, though, definitely stand out as special. We liked Helen Oxenbury's board books a lot, and another favorite was a book by Maryann Cocca Leffler whose title escapes me--maybe it was "Grandma And Me." The fun thing about this book is that the words play against the pictures. Where the text reads, for instance,
"I help Grandma fold the laundry," the picture shows a rambunctious child throwing clothes from the laundry basket up in the air. And, of course, at the end, when "Grandma puts me down for a nap," the illustration depicts the exhausted Grandma lying on the couch while the child is still raring to go. This kind of humor is appreciated by even very young children--they love this sort of obvious disparity between what's said and what really is. Young children think it's hilarious when, for instance, you tell them that a pig says moo. Sometimes when reading board books to our children, my husband or I would purposefully misread certain words, and the kids would scream with laughter and then correct us.


Maggie Bokelman toddandmaggie at msn.com
Received on Fri 12 May 2000 11:03:54 AM CDT