I learned to read at age three. The book was, Gone is Gone, or The Man Who Wanted To Do Housework by Wanda Gag. It's a Bohemian folk tale of a silly man who thought his wife had the easier role in the marriage and decided to trade for a day. Well, of course he had a terrible, even a disastrous time and we were all glad that baby Kindli came out of the day alive. I loved that book, demanded it be read repeatedly, and possibly memorized rather than read it. Now, it must be viewed as terribly un-pc as are the early Barenstain Bear books where Papa is portrayed as a bit of a buffoon. Both Wanda Gag's book and the Barenstain Bear books were funny on several different levels so adults could join children in a chuckle or two.
For a couple of years, I directed a children's library program in a smallish community, and had to dream up Saturday morning projects that would appeal to children aged 3 to 12. I soon found that the Library-lady-reads-a-book-or-two half hour that always ended our three hour session was most successful when it included a Barenstain Bear Book. I soon saw that elements of humor in the books held the attention of, and drew a laugh from the youngest child to the eldest. That was in the early eighties.
Sometime in the nineties, the Barenstains came under fire for disrespecting daddies and their newer books, to me, seem pallid little moral missives. Did the early books cause children to disrespect daddies? I think even the smallest children can tell a silly book-bear daddy from their own fathers. At least mine could. They have loved and respected their Dad even if I did read those stories to them at an early age, and they read them to themselves later on.
Huh! another rant! I actually meant to show you part of the Prescott Public Library remodel. This is the comfortable children's reading area.
But where, you may ask are the children? I found some here...
And as for the adults...observe the empty stacks in the background, and the wonderful varying ages of those using the computers..
I read something the other day about publishers thinking that soon people will be ready to give up the printed page altogether. This evidence to the contrary, I hope not!
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