William Steig

Boy and Dog Drawing

 

See the William Steig webpage. He is the author of The Amazing Bone, Dr. DeSoto, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and many other great children's books.

The Point

An innocent little movie from 1971, narrated by Ringo Starr, with music by Harry Nilsson, about a little boy, Oblio, and his dog Arrow, who are outcast. The movie is about acceptance and the inherent value in each person. The best part is the sweetness shown between boy and dog to the tune "Me and My Arrow". I liked it, but was a bit suprised that the kids liked it as much as they did. They keep wanting to re-watch it.

 

How to Soothe Toddler Tantrums

I could have done better dealing with our son's tantrums, so I thought the recent article in the NY Times about Dr. Harvey Karp's book "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" might be helpful to others. Note this summary of his technique:

... a toddler throwing a tantrum over a cookie might wail, “I want it. I want it. I want cookie now.”

Often, a parent will adopt a soothing tone saying, “No, honey, you have to wait until after dinner for a cookie.”

Such a response will, almost certainly, make matters worse. “It’s loving, logical and reasonable,” notes Dr. Karp. “And it’s infuriating to a toddler. Now they have to say it over harder and louder to get you to understand.”

Dr. Karp adopts a soothing, childlike voice to demonstrate how to respond to the toddler’s cookie demands.

“You want. You want. You want cookie. You say, ‘Cookie, now. Cookie now.’ ”

It’s hard to imagine an adult talking like this in a public place. But Dr. Karp notes that this same form of “active listening” is a method adults use all the time. The goal is not simply to repeat words but to make it clear that you hear someone’s complaint. “If you were upset and fuming mad, I might say, ‘I know. I know. I know. I get it. I’m really really sorry. I’m sorry.’ That sounds like gibberish out of context,” he says.

On his DVD, Dr. Karp demonstrates the method. Within seconds, teary-eyed toddlers calm and look at him quizzically as he repeats their concerns back at them. Once the child has calmed, a parent can explain the reason for saying no, offer the child comfort and a happy alternative to the original demand.

Frog and Toad Books

I wrote once before about Arnold Lobel, the children's author. Yesterday, I was picking through the used children's books at Goodwill, when I came across this Frog and Toad book with the author's signature, including a drawing of Toad. Now if only my son's name was Kevin:

 

Wake up! Wake up!

 

Waiting for a letter together:

 

Tooth Gnasher Super Flash

I'm away from computers for a few days, but had this post ready to go. No new posts until at least Tuesday.

Daniel Pinkwater has some books that are strange. The drawings are always simple, but the story line is always good and catches the kids:

Cover

 

Strange drawing of Mr. Popsnorkle floating above the car:

 

Floating Popsnorkles:

 

Fortunately Unfortunately

This slim kids book, published in 1964, by Remy Chartlip is short on substance but big on fun for little kids.

 

It is a simple story of a kid in which on alternating pages good and bad things happen to him.

 

The fortunately pages are in color, and the unfortunately pages are in black and white.

 

The pictures are as simple as the storyline.

Our kids enjoy it, and have created their own Fortunately / Unfortunately stories while on car trips.

When We Were Very Young

This book, written by A. A Milne in 1924, before he wrote Winnie the Pooh is a delightful book of poetry for children. I have been suprised that young children will sit and listen to poetry, even though I am certain they do not understand half of it. Just the souds rolling off the tongue, I suppose:

 

...The sea was galloping grey and white;
Christopher clutched his sixpence tight;
We clambered over the humping sand-
And Christopher held my hand.

We had sand in the eyes and the ears and the nose,
And sand in the hair and sand-between the toes.
Whenever a good nor' wester blows,
Christopher is certain of
Sand-between the toes.
...

Velveteen Rabbit

 

This 1922 classic at 31 pages can be read at one sitting. And kids will ask for it over and over. Somehow I missed this as a child, and read it myself for the first time as I read it to my son last year. Instead of the dinseyesque fairy tale I was expecting, it was a touching, almost believable story that makes childhood seem more real than adulthood.

Since it is a "classic" and about a stuffed animal, I'm a bit suprised that our 6yr old boy, who normally wants stories of superheros or even doesn't listen to stories, will get quiet and concentrate on every word as this book is read to him. The story just touches something deep in children.

We have the classic version which is available on Amazon for one cent (plus $3.50 Shipping), however there is a 1989 version with illustrations by Michael Hague that may be better than the original. Either one is fine, because the words are what really matter in this children's book.

Book Review - Owl at Home

 

There are so many good children's books it is hard to choose one to highlight. Last night I again read "Owl at Home" by Arnold Lobel to the kids, and they were enthralled. Unlike Arnold Lobel's other classic books, the Frog and Toad series, there is only one Owl book.

Originally published in 1975, the book has 5 short stories:

The Guest
Strange Bumps
Tear-water Tea
Upstairs and Downstairs
Owl and the Moon

The stories are meant for young readers, but works very well as a bedtime story book too. Many of the lines in the book, such as "mashed potatoes left on a plate" have become part of our family dialogue. The concepts in each story are perfect for the kids. For example my 6 year old is struggling with the concept in the last story about how it seems that the moon follows you, even when you are moving. Hard to explain, but it gets the gears going.

The stories are timeless, and the pictures are drawn with so much love, that I am certain that your children will fondly remember these stories when they are old.