Saturday 7 April 2012

When I mentioned "LIttle Golden Books"

last week "JeanfromCornwall" rightly said, "Don't knock them". I won't. We had quite a few of them. They were part of my pre-school life. We had them at home, at kindergarten and at Sunday School. We found them in the homes of other children too. We still have some.
We had "The taxi that hurried" and "Scuffy the Tugboat" and "Fix it please" as well as others. They were read to us and then we read them ourselves.
I suspect they were the books that helped me learn to read to myself. They were familiar, so familiar I could work out the words for myself. I can actually remember sitting on the back step of our our house in the small country town I was born in and reading the words to myself. I was reading aloud. If I got really stuck over a word and my father was gardening or doing something in the shed I could ask for help but I was expected to try and "sound it out" for myself.
They all had the same format, thin cardboard covered books with bright illustrations. The print varied in size - but not greatly. The illustrations were usually simple and realistic representations. I think, without looking, that the mother in "The taxi that hurried" is wearing a hat and gloves.
The books are old-fashioned but you can still find some. They were probably, relatively speaking, cheap. They were also useful. They made good presents. They were presents that still lasted. We still have some. Children who visit still read them.
I had to buy a book for my father to give his great-granddaughter-number-two for her birthday this week. In the bookshop, looking for something for a one year old, I thought of these books. I still have my "Splish Splash Rainy Day" with all the little fold pages. I loved opening those up and pretending it was a surprise each time I did it. In the bookshop I knew what sort of book I wanted to find. I knew what my father would want too.
It was not a Golden Book. There are none of those in the local bookshop but there was a book with flaps.
It was a "Miffy" book. It is very simple and Miss One Year Old is almost old enough to appreciate it with some help from her parents. I bought that. My father posted it this morning. I hope Miss One Year Old gets as much pleasure from it as I did from the Golden Books.

2 comments:

jeanfromcornwall said...

Miffy is a delight for a first book. I was able to track down and buy a brand new copy of the Little Golden book, "The Colour Kittens" for my grandaughter last year - it is still in print!

catdownunder said...

It is? It has to be about 60 years old! But then Ping is still available too - and, I think, Make Way for Ducklings - and look at Peter Rabbit - he's over 100!