It’s Children’s Book Week!

I know, I know, we’ve all been pretty wrapped up in the fact that it is National High Blood Pressure Awareness Month – but HEY, this is Children’s Book Week! These two national events are completely unrelated, so rest assured that you will not succumb to high blood pressure if you read a few children’s books…

However, I make no such claims if you are writing or illustrating a children’s book under deadline.

Anyway, Children’s Book Week began way back in 1919 – a very good year for me. It just so happens that 1919 was also the year of my grandfather’s birth. Remember him? He was the one who went to school with that dreamy Professor from Gilligan’s Island…

But I digress.

If you are a parent or write for children, you probably spend a lot of time reading children’s books as a grownup. But stop for a moment and consider those books you read as a child. What was your favorite? What made it special?

There is a particular picture book that is a precious part of my childhood memory bank. It was called The Daddy Book by Robert Stewart, but it was not my favorite.

You see, as soon as I was able to read, I was charged with delivering nightly bedtime stories to my little brother and sister. Well, they ALWAYS picked The Daddy Book. Every. Single. Night. We’re talking 800,000 nights in a row, at least.

You may be wondering what was so endearing about this particular book. Sorry literary fans, but it wasn’t the plot. Nor was it the stellar artwork. It was simply the fact that one of the pages featured a bare baby bottom.

Every time that page was revealed, my little sibs fell off of the bed in hysterics. Every. Single. Time. That’s 800,000 times, at least.

As far as I know, they haven’t suffered any permanent damage.

As for me, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder was my most beloved book. We read it in my 4^th grade class, and I still remember those particular school days as wonder-filled.

I must have talked about it nonstop at home, too, because very late one night I was awoken out of a deep sleep. My dad had just returned from a business trip to Vermont, and he had something for me to try.

It was maple sugar…

just like Laura had enjoyed long, long ago in the Big Woods.

I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.

PROMPT: Find that favorite childhood book and reread it this week. What a wonderful way to nurture that creative soul of yours. I know I’ll be pulling out my dog-eared copy of Little House in the Big Woods. To my sibs – I found a blog that highlights some pages from The Daddy Book here (sorry, but the bathtub scene is not one of them). For everyone else, check out the Children’s Book Week website. It even features a free bookmark created by Lane Smith.

And if you know a children’s book author or illustrator – particularly one who may be suffering from deadline high blood pressure – give him or her a great big hug.

Hugs make everything better…

I’m pretty sure I learned that from a children’s book.