The Best Books Ever
They are the one type of book everyone is familiar with. Though they are not novels or scientific manifestos or text books. They aren't "how to" books or books for "dummies." They aren't self-help or autobiographical or any of those things, but then again they can be. You see, children's books, or said more specifically, children's picture books are what we all began with.
It was not to long ago when I found myself propelled into the past when I was the age of my son, of whom I was reading a Dr. Seuss book to. The book was familiar, for I had the same book as a child. Then, I came to the zizzer zazzer zuzz; the crazy animal with the long winding tail. I didn't know what the good doctor was talking about, but I knew, when I saw the creature, I liked it.
Then, there is rhyme; so often butchered, so sadly destroyed. I'd say it's enough to feel rather annoyed.
Read below, the beginning of my second book, Phoebe The Swimlazy Fish:
In the small wooded forest behind the old shack, in front of the rock with the big jagged crack, to the left of the hill past the old rusty knight, through the gold meadow clearing called Hidden Delight...
The above exerpt acts like fine, woven fabric. The words are the threads, the rhyme is the weave, and the result is a story full of life. Don't you think it should be? For life is very much like poetry, and poetry seems always to tell of life.
True, not all children's books are worth the paper they're printed on, but that can go for any book. The ones I speak of are the ones that grab you, hold you, fill you, and spark that desire deep inside that all children have, and sadly many adults forget.
Picture books are far more than books for kids. For all kids eventually grow up to be grown-ups. Kids eventually turn into, well, YOU. The value of those early lessons and adventures we all had in the pages of our children's books are immeasurable, but the results are not. It therefore stands to reason that the best books ever, would make the biggest impact in our lives. They would be the most encouraging and nurture our imagination when everything else falls short. The best books ever would accomplish things no other type of book could.
The best books ever...I'd say you already know the answer to that one. Just close your eyes and think back to your days as a child. Or, perhaps browse the children's section of the local bookstore. There's a 96.2% chance that, when you find the best book ever you read as a child, a smile just might find your face.
Have a Knewville type of day,
Johnny Knew
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Reader Comments (1)
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