Do you or a family member have a favourite picture book, read so many times that everyone knows it by heart - and can see the illustrations with his or her eyes shut?
Every night my 3 year old granddaughter requests
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| Wow! said the Owl by Tim Hopgood |
Yep. EVERY NIGHT. You might be able to slip in another book as well, but this one has to be the last book before sleep. It’s reassuring and upbeat, with a sense of wonder - and my 10 month old granddaughter already loves it, too.
This is the one my 4 year old granddaughter in the USA currently requests most:
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| Llama llama red pyjama by Anna Dewdney |
There are several picture books from my sons’ 1980s childhoods that I can visualise page by page because I was requested to read them again and again, and again. Top of the pile are:
Henry’s Busy Day by Rod Campbell - with the much-stroked (and snot-wiped-off) furry ending that makes you go aaah.
Dogger by Shirley Hughes was another huge favourite:
My sons totally identified with Dave and his toy dog. It’s quite a long book, so after the umpteenth reading, I’d attempt to skip the odd page, or summarise. They always caught me out.
Going further back, I realise that I must’ve been the same when I was a child, because I can still recite the entire text of this book and see all the illustrations in my mind’s eye:
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| Downy Duckling by W Perring and AJ Macgregor (first published 1942! The original got lost somewhere down the line, but I was able to find a new edition, yay!) |
I remember the feeling of comfort and safety that this story gave me as a child, and finding it again is like a warm hug from the past.
So what do all of these very different books have in common? I think it’s that they lull the child into his or her happy place.
It might be too overt for today's tastes, but the ending to Downy Duckling nails it:
What picture books have you read again, and again, and AGAIN?
Jane's very happy to report that one of her four granddaughters is currently stuck on one of her books - Who Woke the Baby? illustrated by Charles Fuge - at one and a half she's too small to say why, but she clearly loves to roar at the lion and clap at the happy ending.
