I stumbled upon this meme at the adorable blog, Tessa’s Wishful Endings. Really it’s as simple as the name; you talk about a favorite book related subject on Fridays. It could be anything from favorite authors, books and genres to favorite reading spots, opening sentences and love triangles. Basically the world of novels is our oyster and with Friday Favorites, we can conquer it.
Favorite Children’s Books
Let’s travel back to the past for a moment, shall we? Let’s step into 7-year-old Lindsey’s shoes, a little girl with long hair because she longed to be the blonde version of Pocahontas. A little girl who loved Peanut Butter more than life itself and named her dog after the friendly ghost, Casper. A Lindsey who sang at the top of her lungs at every opportunity and who had a thing for Barney. What was this version of Lindsey’s favorite books?
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
7-year-old Lindsey would tell you all that she liked the book because her favorite color was purple, but 22-year-old Lindsey recognizes the wit she possessed years ago. This book is an advocator of creativity and imagination. We watch Harold create a world with his mighty purple crayon, drawing dragons and moons, pies and one-tree-forests. Little Lindsey had a magical soul even then and she recognized a fellow patron in Harold. This book is the kind that you need to be reading to children, especially the way people are constantly entertained by technology nowadays. It’s nice to remember how brilliant a child’s mind is when all you give them is a crayon.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
“If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer…
If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!”
7-year-old Lindsey would pull this book out when she wanted to be reminded that anything was possible. It was a perfect book for reading aloud also with fun rhymes that seemed to flow from the tongue.
7-year-old Lindsey didn’t want to read about boring, ordinary things, she wanted to read about a polar bear in the fridge or diamond gardens. It was a fantastic tale that amused adults but stayed with children like a well-kept secret and it remains a favorite of mine to this day.
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
If you tried to suggest a story of the classic, “Three Little Pigs“, 7-year-old Lindsey would just roll her eyes at you and exclaim you’ve got it all wrong. If you want the real story, she would say, then you need to read this book. The wolf is actually innocent, and that last little pig framed him! Little Lindsey would happily argue with you all day about the logistics of the story and I think that’s my favorite part of this book. It inspires critical thinking and debate. It teaches perspective and logical arguments to children. To this day I’ll still argue that the pigs had it coming all along.
Those were the three books that stick out most in my childhood. They made life a bit more magical and for that I’ll always be grateful.
What were your favorite books as a child? What would you draw with a purple crayon? Who do you think is innocent: the wolf or the pigs? Share below and happy reading!
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