Tea & A Good Book Brewing- Installment 29, Children's Books by Robert McCloskey

I am not good at picking favorites- especially in the world of books- but if I had to make a list of ten of my favorite children's book authors, Robert McCloskey would definitely be right there at the top.

Robert McCloskey's books take us back to an era referred to by many as the good old days, and yet they have a timeless quality to them as well that appeals to children of today with their sweet, funny and loveable stories.

Who wouldn't love Lentil, the story of a boy who couldn't sing, so he learned to play the harmonica...and ended up saving the day for the town of Alto, Ohio, with his music? As a child, I listened to this book on tape, and now when I read the book I automatically hear the voices and sounds that were used by the man who read the book!  It was that good and memorable!!!

Or Blueberries for Sal, where a young girl and her mother go berry picking and meet a mother bear and her cub who are out doing the same!

I have always loved Make Way for Ducklings, but when Wesley & I took a trip to Boston, MA. a few years back, we made it a point of going to the Public Garden and riding on one of the swan boats, because of the book and it was one of those lovely and quintessential experiences where you get to climb into the pages of a favorite story book, and it comes alive for you. At the time of our visit, we only had Elasa, who was one-and-a-half, so my other memory of the swan boat ride is that I had to work very hard to keep her out of the water by distracting her with snacks! She literally wanted to get into the water we were paddling through on our swan boat! Meeting Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings was a little more her speed, I guess!

One Morning in Maine tells another sweet story of Sal (only an older version this time!) and how she woke up one morning to discover her first loose tooth! And that was only the beginning of an exciting day in which she takes a trip to Bucks Harbour (in a boat) with her daddy and little sister, learning about life and growing up along the way.

One of Robert McCloskey's books that I don't think you hear as much about, but that still deserves its fair share of attention, is Time of Wonder. In this book, the author uses poetic language and vivid pictures to tell about a family's summer on the shores of an island in Maine. While many of McCloskey's books have the look of pencil drawings for illustrations, this book has more of a painted with watercolors look, which fits the nostalgic feel of the book quite well.

Interestingly enough, there appears to be one of his books that I don't remember reading: Burt Dow, Deep Water Man, and I plan to remedy that soon!!! In the meantime, I have no trouble recommending this book because of who wrote it!

 For slightly older children, there is Homer Price! Who can forget the doughnut machine from which the doughnuts just kept on a coming and a coming and a coming? Here again, I listened to this book on tape when I was young, and that is what I hear when I think about this book. Talk about feeling nostalgia...

Another book about Homer Price that I have a feeling I never read is Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price, although I can't be sure since I don't have a hard copy of the book to look through. Maybe it's another one to add to our family's library, where there's always room for one more...

Roberts McCloskey's books hone in on the joys and simplicities of childhood, and yet they have enough action and suspense to make them quite entertaining! From Lentil who liked to play his harmonica in the bathtub, because there the tone was improved one hundred percent, to Mrs. Mallard who was so proud of the brood of ducklings she was parading along, that she tipped her nose in the air and walked with an extra swing in her waddle.

As much as I love the stories, the illustrations, done by Robert himself, are equally delightful. I often think that books which are written and illustrated by the same person are some of the best, since the author was able to illustrate the story exactly as he pictured it. In this case, Robert McCloskey did a superb job of bringing his stories to life with the most interesting, realistic and often funny illustrations. His work brings to mind Norman Rockwell (a favorite artist of mine!) and perhaps it's because their work is from a similar era.

Just in case you're looking for a way to bring more McCloskey stories into your home, I thought I would bring to your attention a book that I discovered today called Make Way for McCloskey, which looks like a real treasure! It includes all of his published works, although Homer Price and Centerburg Tales are abbreviated since they are longer books with chapters. The book sounds great to me since I don't even own a copy of all his books, and I here they are, all in one!

And in my humble opinion, as far as children's literature goes, it doesn't go much better than that!