The invitation is simple: ”In this book, with your little eye, take a look and play ‘I spy’” Once in a while, it is a treat to discover the unalloyed joys of a children’s book. But how many armed bears do you want in these woods? Haha look at the bunnies, the bunnies know what the fuck is up 'Should we teach him about the safety?' 'Nah'

(You'll need a Boston accent for Cinderella!) It's great fun to SWEET PONY-RIDING CHRIST IT'S THAT FUCKING UNDERAGE BEAR AGAIN AND HE'S STILL ARMED On each page, a simple rhyming couplet introduces the storybook character who's hiding. I mean.the bearlet shot him out of a tree and he landed in a river, but they fished him out and all's well that ends well? (That's the real plot!) Let's - look, let's try to move on. Okay - well - look, I guess the baby's okay. My child loves turning the pages and looking for WHAT THE BLOODY SHIT, IS THAT BEAR ARMED?! That's not even a grown bear! That bear is a child! Jesus pond-skipping Christ, is he just wandering around in the woods with his safety off? He literally just came within a foot of shooting a baby! This lovely children's book is a fun, rhyming hide and seek game featuring favorite characters from storybooks. I am thankful for those who nurtured me, and for the privilege of nurturing others.

“ Send postcards to people when they are alive, not flowers when they are dead.”Īnd a love of reading nurtures our acorns into saplings and on to mighty oaks. A simple gesture that filled me with joy, and flooded a difficult week with happy memories.Īn aunty figure in my youth, had two favourite axioms: Last week, a friend I gave it to more than ten years ago, and who now lives in Australia, sent me a picture of her younger child with the book, saying her kids still love it. I hope that one day, they and their children will pass it on. They usually say how much they and their child enjoy it. This remains one of a few special books we both know off by heart, more than twenty years later.Īnother daisy chain: it’s a book I’ve given to many friends. The whole book is a daisy chain of names familiar from fairy tales and nursery rhymes, creating a story that includes Robin Hood, Baby Bunting, the Three Bears, a Wicked Witch, and Cinderella. My child learned to read the book: pretend reading (memory), then properly. ' Tom Thumb in the cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard Then I would read, but stop before saying the last words on each page, allowing my child to jump in with the next name. This is such a book.įirst, I read this to my child, pausing before pointing out the next character, who would be hiding in the picture somewhere. Some of the best picture books have a similar structure, with repetition, rhyme, and rhythm as cues. Love of language and literature works best as a daisy chain, down the generations.

Each peach pear and plum