ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606140013
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
It's been 30 years, but I still remember the first time my mom took me to a library.
I was maybe 3 years old, and we checked out three books - one of them, I remember, was about American Indians - and she read them to me over the next week. I was upset that we didn't quite have time to read all of them in one sitting.
From there, I was hooked. The library was an exciting place, and books created a world of comfort and curiosity for me.
I got the same pleasure when I started reading to my son a few years ago. It was a chance to reread books I had heard years ago - and to read new ones I'd never read.
And then reread them. And reread them again. Any parent knows that if kids like a book, they'll beg you to read it over and over - often in the same sitting. "Read it again," was something I heard all the time.
Ben, who just turned 8, has outgrown most of these books. He has graduated to ``Goosebumps,'' R.L. Stine's gross and scary series. (He has more than 30 of 'em now.) He's almost at the point where he can read them all by himself, but he still likes to be read to from time to time.
Like many kids his age, he has started to develop his own taste in reading. But he never would have gotten this far without all those years of being read to from books we both loved.
Here are a few that are among our favorites, starting with books for the youngest ages and moving up from there:
``Goodnight Moon,'' by Margaret Wise Brown, with pictures by Clement Hurd.
This is the best bedtime story you will ever read. A bunny in a bed in "the great green room" says good night to all things in and outside of the room: "Good night moon. Good night cow jumping over the moon. ... Good night bears. Good night chairs. Good night mittens. And good night kittens. ...'' Even the most junk food-crazed tykes will drift off to dreamland.
``Go, Dog. Go!,'' by P.D. Eastman.
Go, P.D. Eastman. Go! This is a rollicking book, perfect for the tiniest of tots. The pictures are hilarious. These wacky dogs are doing all sorts of funny things, and, in the end, they all converge on a party you have to see to believe. Or, as Eastman describes it: "A dog party! A big dog party! Big dogs, little dogs, red dogs, blue dogs, yellow dogs, green dogs, black dogs, and white dogs are all at a dog party! What a dog party!"
``The Fire Cat,'' by Esther Averill.
This book, published in 1960, is one I grew up with. It's about Pickles, a yellow cat with black spots. He has big paws and wishes to do big things, but spends most of his time chasing the little cats away from the vacant lot that is his home. Mrs. Goodkind tries to take him in, but he prefers the adventure of the outside. She suggests Pickles become the fire cat at the local firehouse. After learning how to slide down the fire pole and all his other duties, Pickles does indeed accomplish big things.
``Curious George Gets a Medal,'' by Margret and H.A. Rey.
All the books about this funky monkey are great, but this one was our favorite. Kids love Curious George because, like kids, he seems to go from one messy and hilarious misadventure to another - flooding his home with soapsuds, letting a pen-full of pigs loose, causing the dinosaur exhibit at the museum to come crashing down. But things always work out in the end, often with the help of his friend, simply know as "the man with the yellow hat" (who also favors yellow shirts and pants).
``The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV,'' by Stan and Jan Berenstain.
The Berenstain Bears series sometimes tries too hard at teaching kids lessons. But they are important lessons, and they are stories that children can relate to. And it's not just the Bear kids who learn lessons in these stories - the Bear parents have a lot to learn, too. This story about how the Bear family broke its TV habit is a great one for our television-addicted culture.
``The Mouse and the Motorcycle,'' by Beverly Cleary.
This story - the first in a series about an adventurous mouse named Ralph - is great to read when your children are ready to move on to chapter books. Here is an excerpt:
"Gee, you're lucky," whispered the boy.
In order to answer, Ralph had to stop. "I am?" It had never occurred to him that a mouse could be luckier than a boy.
"You sure are." The boy spoke with feeling. "My mother would never let me ride a motorcycle. She would say I might break a leg or something silly like that."
"Well, if you want to come right down to it," said Ralph, "I don't suppose my mother would be exactly crazy about the idea." He began to have an uneasy feeling that he really should be getting back to the mouse hole. ... ``Go on, ride it some more," said the boy. "I like to watch."
Pb-pb-b-b-b. Ralph started the motorcycle again and rode around in the moonlight once more, faster and faster, until he was dizzy from circling, dizzy with excitement, dizzy with the joy of speed. Never mind the danger, never mind what his mother thought. This was living. This was what he wanted to do. On and on and on.
"Lucky," whispered the boy with envy in his voice.
Ralph did not answer. He did not want to stop.
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: "The Adventures of Curious George," 1994,by CNBBook-of-the-Month Club Inc. 3 color drawings