Tea & A Good Book Brewing- Installment 32, Children's Books by Peter Spier
Getting started can be the hardest part of writing- even when I sit down knowing what I am writing about- so today I decided not to take any chances...
When I began staring at a blank screen, I got back up and put the kettle on!
It may be a balmy 92 degrees outside, but very few things in life cannot be improved upon with a cup of tea.
Even in July!
Today I would like to introduce you to another great children's book author by the name of Peter Spier!
Unlike Robert McCloskey, whose books are a part of my childhood memories (see my review here), I did not become aware of the works of Peter Spier until I was an adult, and now I have made sure to introduce them to my children!
Several months ago I got Oh, Were They Ever Happy out of our church's library and Parker took an immediate shine to it! I have no idea how many times I read it to him before the book was finally returned, but it was a lot! Then last week, when I was considering doing these books for today's review, I got a stack of Peter Spier's books out of our local library and as soon as Parker saw Oh, Were They Ever Happy, he chose it over all the other books to have read aloud first of all!
Now let me tell you something: when a two- year-old boy picks a book like this over truck and fire-engine books (of which we have a-plenty!!!) you know you have something special!
Oh, Were They Ever Happy is indeed something special! The books begins by showing the Noonan family out on their front lawn on a Saturday morning, with Mrs. Noonan asking her husband, "When are we going to paint the outside of the house? You've been talking about it for months!"
After breakfast, Mr. and Mrs. Noonan left for a day of errands, telling the children that the babysitter would be coming in a couple of minutes.
Only the babysitter never showed up.
It cannot be told which of the three children thought of it first, but there was plenty of paint in the garage. And lots more in the workshop in the basement. The brushes were down there, too. Lots of them.
Either Peter had a good imagination, or he had children (probably both!) because he is spot-on with his pictures of the mayhem that ensues, for indeed, the children take it up themselves to paint the house...and the window panes...and the fence...and quite a few other surfaces both on purpose and by accident!
After the painting is done, the children even clean up, and this is really the point when you just want to cover your eyes and try not to even imagine your bathroom looking like that...or your driveway piled high with that many empty paint cans waiting for the trash pick-up!!!
It is at this point that you almost want to close your eyes because the mess is soooo splendiferously great, and you can only imagine coming home to this...
And yet there the children stand, with shining faces as they look at the house: "Sure looks swell! Won't they be happy when they come home and see what we've done!"
Peter's illustrations are phenomenal in all of his books, and in several of them the pictures make the story...with little or no narration. His attention to detail is absolutely fascinating, and since he draws life as it is, the pictures are multi-leveled treasures meant to be absorbed over and over again.
Is it any wonder that children (and adults) find them delightful?
Oh, Were They Ever Happy has been a favorite of ours, but there are others that are quite nice...
Rain is all pictures and no words, and tells the tale of two children and their adventures outside and inside on a rainy day, with the wind. the ducks, the puddles, the cozy bath and dinner. And the next morning? Sunshine!
Dreams is another book with only pictures and shows two children looking at the sky on a summer afternoon and imagining all the shapes and pictures that the clouds make. At the end it says, "...and the next time you gaze at the sky: dream dreams!" Which is just what this books makes you feel like doing!
Tin Lizzie has a lot of narrations, complemented with some great, detailed pictures, which makes it a great book for an older child. It basically gives a history of cars, and features the Model T, called the Tin Lizzie, from the days of it's early invention to the day when she was 36 years old and finally retired behind a barn. There was no way of telling how many miles she had traveled since her mileage meter had broken years ago. But was this the end? Years later a man saw some glory left in the car and refurbished it and now, on beautiful weekends, Tin Lizzie is taken out on the road again for drives in the country, and wherever she goes people will say, "Oh, look at that car, just look at that great old car!"
People is another amazing work. We have had this book on our shelf for some time now, and Elasa, especially, has enjoyed pouring over the fascinating pictures depicting all the variety among people!
"We come in all sizes and shapes: tall, short, and in between. But without a single exception, we all begin quite small." And accompanying this narration are pictures of people from all over the world with their babies.
The book goes on to explore all different kinds of eyes, noses, ears, hair and clothes... "All of us want to look our best. Still, what is considered beautiful or handsome in one place is considered ugly, or even ridiculous, elsewhere."
Different kinds of games, homes, pets, holidays and food... "What people in one place consider a delicacy others would never touch, let alone eat!"
And the different kinds of religion, communication, rank & class... "We have invented a strange system of ranks, grades and classes...Yet we all live on the same planet, breathe the same air, and warm ourselves in the same sun. And in the end we all must die."
I especially like the ending:
Four billion human beings...young and old, sick and well, happy and unhappy, kind and unkind, strong and weak. People everywhere and all different. It is very strange: some people even hate others because they are unlike themselves. Because they are different. They forget that they too would seem different if they could only see themselves through other people's eyes. But imagine how dreadfully dull this world of ours would be if everyone would look, think, eat, dress and act the same! Now isn't it wonderful that each and every one of us is unlike any other?
Well said, Peter...well said.
You really have to see the book with all the pictures full of little fascinating details to fully appreciate it, as is the case with all his great book, so I would recommend that you do just that! Look up this great author at your library if you're not already familiar with his works and introduce your children to the world of Peter Spier.
It might even free you up from reading one more truck book!
Or you may think them the perfect companion to your own cup of tea! After all, the highest mark I give to any children's book is for the adult to love them as much as the child, and with these books, that just might be the case!
When I began staring at a blank screen, I got back up and put the kettle on!
It may be a balmy 92 degrees outside, but very few things in life cannot be improved upon with a cup of tea.
Even in July!
Today I would like to introduce you to another great children's book author by the name of Peter Spier!
Unlike Robert McCloskey, whose books are a part of my childhood memories (see my review here), I did not become aware of the works of Peter Spier until I was an adult, and now I have made sure to introduce them to my children!
Several months ago I got Oh, Were They Ever Happy out of our church's library and Parker took an immediate shine to it! I have no idea how many times I read it to him before the book was finally returned, but it was a lot! Then last week, when I was considering doing these books for today's review, I got a stack of Peter Spier's books out of our local library and as soon as Parker saw Oh, Were They Ever Happy, he chose it over all the other books to have read aloud first of all!
Now let me tell you something: when a two- year-old boy picks a book like this over truck and fire-engine books (of which we have a-plenty!!!) you know you have something special!
Oh, Were They Ever Happy is indeed something special! The books begins by showing the Noonan family out on their front lawn on a Saturday morning, with Mrs. Noonan asking her husband, "When are we going to paint the outside of the house? You've been talking about it for months!"
After breakfast, Mr. and Mrs. Noonan left for a day of errands, telling the children that the babysitter would be coming in a couple of minutes.
Only the babysitter never showed up.
It cannot be told which of the three children thought of it first, but there was plenty of paint in the garage. And lots more in the workshop in the basement. The brushes were down there, too. Lots of them.
Either Peter had a good imagination, or he had children (probably both!) because he is spot-on with his pictures of the mayhem that ensues, for indeed, the children take it up themselves to paint the house...and the window panes...and the fence...and quite a few other surfaces both on purpose and by accident!
After the painting is done, the children even clean up, and this is really the point when you just want to cover your eyes and try not to even imagine your bathroom looking like that...or your driveway piled high with that many empty paint cans waiting for the trash pick-up!!!
It is at this point that you almost want to close your eyes because the mess is soooo splendiferously great, and you can only imagine coming home to this...
And yet there the children stand, with shining faces as they look at the house: "Sure looks swell! Won't they be happy when they come home and see what we've done!"
Peter's illustrations are phenomenal in all of his books, and in several of them the pictures make the story...with little or no narration. His attention to detail is absolutely fascinating, and since he draws life as it is, the pictures are multi-leveled treasures meant to be absorbed over and over again.
Is it any wonder that children (and adults) find them delightful?
Oh, Were They Ever Happy has been a favorite of ours, but there are others that are quite nice...
Rain is all pictures and no words, and tells the tale of two children and their adventures outside and inside on a rainy day, with the wind. the ducks, the puddles, the cozy bath and dinner. And the next morning? Sunshine!
Dreams is another book with only pictures and shows two children looking at the sky on a summer afternoon and imagining all the shapes and pictures that the clouds make. At the end it says, "...and the next time you gaze at the sky: dream dreams!" Which is just what this books makes you feel like doing!
Tin Lizzie has a lot of narrations, complemented with some great, detailed pictures, which makes it a great book for an older child. It basically gives a history of cars, and features the Model T, called the Tin Lizzie, from the days of it's early invention to the day when she was 36 years old and finally retired behind a barn. There was no way of telling how many miles she had traveled since her mileage meter had broken years ago. But was this the end? Years later a man saw some glory left in the car and refurbished it and now, on beautiful weekends, Tin Lizzie is taken out on the road again for drives in the country, and wherever she goes people will say, "Oh, look at that car, just look at that great old car!"
"We come in all sizes and shapes: tall, short, and in between. But without a single exception, we all begin quite small." And accompanying this narration are pictures of people from all over the world with their babies.
The book goes on to explore all different kinds of eyes, noses, ears, hair and clothes... "All of us want to look our best. Still, what is considered beautiful or handsome in one place is considered ugly, or even ridiculous, elsewhere."
Different kinds of games, homes, pets, holidays and food... "What people in one place consider a delicacy others would never touch, let alone eat!"
And the different kinds of religion, communication, rank & class... "We have invented a strange system of ranks, grades and classes...Yet we all live on the same planet, breathe the same air, and warm ourselves in the same sun. And in the end we all must die."
I especially like the ending:
Four billion human beings...young and old, sick and well, happy and unhappy, kind and unkind, strong and weak. People everywhere and all different. It is very strange: some people even hate others because they are unlike themselves. Because they are different. They forget that they too would seem different if they could only see themselves through other people's eyes. But imagine how dreadfully dull this world of ours would be if everyone would look, think, eat, dress and act the same! Now isn't it wonderful that each and every one of us is unlike any other?
Well said, Peter...well said.
You really have to see the book with all the pictures full of little fascinating details to fully appreciate it, as is the case with all his great book, so I would recommend that you do just that! Look up this great author at your library if you're not already familiar with his works and introduce your children to the world of Peter Spier.
It might even free you up from reading one more truck book!
Or you may think them the perfect companion to your own cup of tea! After all, the highest mark I give to any children's book is for the adult to love them as much as the child, and with these books, that just might be the case!
I remember a few Peter Spier books from my own childhood or my younger siblings' childhoods - Noah's Ark, The Fox Went out on a Chilly Night, The Erie Canal, and two that you mentioned - Tin Lizzie and Oh, Where They Ever Happy. They were, indeed delightful. Bravo for bringing us another wonderful, classic author!
ReplyDeleteI read Tin Lizzie more times than I care to remember to my motor loving child, and I knew People and Rain were great books - but you mentioned a few others that I have never heard of. I'll try to fix that on my library visit.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the book recommendations. I especially love your children selections since I'm always looking for a new favorite book to introduce to our children.
Gina
Oh, how I used to love RAIN when I was a little girl!!! I'd forgotten what it was called, though.
ReplyDelete