Animal Stories
Although I have yet to read it, I love the title of Katherine Rundell’s Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise. About twenty years ago I started collecting “chapter” books that I loved when I was in elementary school. Today they are called middle grade books (not to be confused with middle school, which does have some overlap with middle grade and YA). These are my comfort reads. Not only do they create a sense of nostalgia for when my life was simpler, but their messages still resonate.
Not that they are moralistic, I don’t mean that. I could smell those books a mile away, and I don’t even remember any of those titles. Messages of belonging and friendship and the power of imagination, have stayed with me over the years. So did the different kinds of places there were in the world beyond my life in Kansas.
A favorite of mine, and many, is Charlotte’s Web. I bought my first copy at the Scholastic book fair at school, (for 75 cents!) and my mom read it to me. I don’t know how many times I’ve read it, since then, but that equals the amount of times I cried near the end. The first time I cried, I ran into my room and threw myself on my bed and let the tears soak into my pillow. After I was worn out, I went to the kitchen for lunch. On the table, the pickle jar was almost empty, and my mom pointed out all the green strand-y things floating in the pickle juice. She said that it looked like Templeton’s rat nest, and I had to laugh.
I’ve read Charlotte’s Web to students when I was a librarian, and the smells of the barnyard still permeate my memory. And the cleverness of that little spider. And the friendships that grew in the barn. And even the crabby, but helpful rat.
I continue to seek current books that will give today’s children the same comfort, the same messages of belonging and friendship. I just finished reading Jasmine Warga’s newest book, The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan. I cried a little at the end, always a good sign! Children of all ages, especially young children, love stories about animals. I will be giving this one to my grandchildren, especially my granddaughter who loves “big cats.” She’ll hear a message of belonging, of knowing it’s okay to make mistakes (who doesn’t?), and sometimes friends are very different from you.
Turicum Tales 