Sunday, September 14, 2008

What is the first book you "read"?

Author/illustrator Tom Lichtenheld sent me this video recently that a fan had sent him--it's an adorable girl "reading" (perhaps by memorization) his book What Are You So Grumpy About?:



If the video doesn't work, you can view it here.

Alison Morris posted this discussion on her Shelftalker blog back in February, but I thought I'd reintroduce it here. 

The first book I remember reading was Whose Mouse Are You? by Robert Krauss, illustrated by Jose Aruego. I have it memorized to this day--I'll sometimes recite it at writer's conferences, so perhaps you've heard me talk about this before. ("Whose mouse are you? Nobody's mouse.")

One of my favorite picture books that I edited that best lends itself to this type of memorization/reading is Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith. It has such a wonderful rhythm and repetition. Th daughter of one of the authors I work with once recited it to me while visiting the office. It was SOOO adorable.

So, what is the first book that you or a child you know "read"?


P.S. I had originally planned on writing about Wabi Sabi today, but as the pub date isn't until October 1, I thought I'd save that for next week. But in the meantime, check out Betsy Bird's wonderful review of it here

4 comments:

Anna Alter said...

omg that video is amazing. I love how when she gets to the page where "a brother or sister touches you" her brother shrieks!

Christine Tripp said...

I remember Golden books, like little black Sambo, that's how old I amd but the books I can remember checking out of the library were Dr. Suess, cat in the hat and horten hears a who. Those were my first books chosen on my own. After that, Mad Magazine.
Listening to the sweet little one "read" what are you so grumpy about, you know she is reading the pictures, which lets you know how important the pictures in picture books are. Honestly, she is speaking in a foreign language, no one could make it out, listening to her, but the illustrations speak to those, too young to read. I love this book, told Tom so and he replied. This is the ultimate testimonial to how pictures tell the story to a child.
It's one of my favorite books... as an adult:)

Kristi Valiant said...

What an adorable video. Thanks for sharing!

Rita said...

Oh! Congrats on the wonderful reviews of Wabi Sabi, by the way! They are well deserved.