Children’s Book Reviews
Reviewed by Michele Reutty, Director, Oakland Public Library
Suggested by Deborah Pfeuffer, Children’s Services Librarian, Oakland Public Library
Which came first; the book or the TV series??? In this case it was the book that gave birth to wonderful children’s series that have captured the hearts of children everywhere. However, to truly capture their minds, why not introduce the children in your life to the original books and all their charms?
Little Bear
Written by Else Holmelund Minarik
Illustrated by Maurice Sendak
The words that come to mind when you think of the original series of Little Bear books are “endearing” and “enchanting,” and it’s hard to disagree. Dear Little Bear, so innocent and imaginative, comes alive in the words of Else Holmelund Minarik and in the drawings of Maurice Sendak. (Yes! The illustrator of the slightly scary “Where the Wild Things Are” and the dream-like “In the Night Kitchen” also did the sweet illustrations for the “Little Bear” books.)
These books were always intended for beginning readers with first grade reading skills. In fact, Little Bear’s persona is that of a typical six-year-old.
First published in 1957, the books didn’t become a TV series until 1995 and ran until 2000. Reruns can be seen in the United States on Noggin-books can be borrowed free of charge from any BCCLS Library.
Clifford the Big Red Dog
by Norman Bridwell
Who hasn’t seen Clifford on TV and didn’t wish they had a ginormous dog in that rosy hue? Clifford was the runt of the litter and nothing on a grand scale was expected of him. It was through Emily’s love and attention that he grew to be 25 feet tall! And it is the gentle giant’s obliviousness to his size and the abilities that are his by virtue of his size that provide the plots for the books on which the TV series is based.
Clifford first made his appearance in book form in 1963 and new books about him are still being published by Scholastic. He was named after an imaginary friend of Bridwell’s wife, and his looks were based on a giant Visla.
All’s well that ends well with Clifford, and usually because of him, the world is a better place.
The Max and Ruby Picture Books
Illustrated and Written by Rosemary Wells
According to Rosemary Wells on the Nick Jr. site, “Max & Ruby celebrates the relationship between Ruby and her younger brother, Max, and the universal nature of sibling relationships.” Preschoolers will delight in how the problems between three year old Max and seven year old Ruby are solved!
However, I believe a lot of the humor in these books is derived by Wells’ illustrations. In the book “Max and the Dragon Shirt” Ruby tries on many dresses while Max is focused on how to get a dragon shirt instead of the pants their mom has sent them to buy. Picture a girl bunny in tie-dye and earrings, and a tee shirt with a (not very scary) monster rabbit on it and you’ve just got to smile.
Spin-offs of the series include alphabet and dictionary books, books translated into foreign languages and Max and Ruby books based on Greek mythology.
No wonder the TV series based on the books, which ended in 2007, was popular in every European country as well as Africa and Asia!
But come read the originals on which the series was based—funny words…funny pictures!
Curious George
By H. A. Rey and Margaret Rey
Like a cat with nine lives, this book series went through several incarnations, each wonderful in its own way.
Hans Augusto and Margret Rey escaped Nazi occupied Paris in 1940 with the manuscript for Curious George in their luggage. They wrote (Margret) and illustrated (H.A.) seven books in the series, (though in the beginning the only author cited was H.A.). Over seventy years later, the original Curious George books are still in publication!
After H.A. passed away, and after the success of the first televised version, Margaret edited a new series of Curious George books from 1984 to 1993. (These are mostly out of print.)
However, the “New Adventures of Curious George” continues to the present. Though credited as “illustrated in the style of H.A. Rey”, they are written by any number of Houghton Mifflin writers.
Around the world, the adventures of Curious George have been translated in many languages, and George takes on names such as “Peter Pedal” in Denmark, “Nysgjerrige Nils” in Norway, “Nicke Nyfiken” in Sweden, “Hitomane Kozaru” in Japan, “George Ha’Sakran” in Israel and “Jorge el Curioso” in Spanish speaking countries. And it is true that in England when the mischievous monkey first made his appearance there, he had to be renamed Zozo so no association was made between him and the reigning monarch, King George VI.
There is something so appealing about that cute little monkey who innocently gets into scrapes and is rescued by the fatherly “Man in the Yellow Hat.” Curious George is a classic of children’s literature.
Thomas the Tank Engine
The story of the “Thomas” books begins in 1942, with a child confined to his bed with measles. His father, the Rev. W. Awdry, would tell the child stories and rhymes, the child’s favorite rhymes being about trains. For Christmas, 1942, Rev. Awdry constructed a toy tank engine for his son Christopher, which gained the name Thomas. In the coming years, Rev. Awdry published three books about other engines, based on true incidents, but stories about Thomas were requested by Christopher, and 1946 saw the publication of “Thomas the Tank Engine”.
And so the “Railway Series” began. Twenty-six were written by Rev. W. Audry up to 1972; then from 1983 to 1996 fourteen more were written by his son, Christopher, followed by one more in 2007—41 in all! The series is now written by staff writers from Random House in the “Step into Reading” series for beginning readers. But as in the original series, the stories always focus on a problem to be solved, and the artwork is detailed and colorful. Thanks to re-runs and the numerous books in this series in the Library, Thomas has gained yet another generation of fans!