Pursuits : Elizabeth Thomsen

Archive for the ‘Kids' Books’ Category

Ribsy, by Beverly Cleary

This is an old favorite of mine, but I haven’t read it in many years. I was almost afraid to read it again. I’ve been rereading a lot of favorite books lately, and many of them have been disappointing. The books simply aren’t as good as they used to be. Ribsy, however, seemed as sweet, fresh and funny as it was when I read it to my little brother over forty years ago.

Ribsy is a good-natured mutt who lives with his boy Henry Huggins. He certainly never intended to run away, but one rainy day he escapes from the parked car while his family is shopping to chase a little dog who has been barking at him, and finds himself lost and confused in the parking lot.

“Ribsy had a pretty good nose, but unfortunately he was no bloodhound. He had never tracked a lost child over mountains and through forests. He was just an ordinary city dog, trying to track his owner across an enormous parking lot that smelled of oil and exhaust.”
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Catch Me & Kiss Me & Say It Again — Rhymes by Clyde Watson; Pictures by Wendy Watson

This is a collection of original rhymes that have the nonsensical charm of Mother Goose’s nursery rhymes. These are poems for the very young, and they aren’t meant to be read as poems, but to be chanted in a sing-songy way while bouncing a baby on the knee, carrying a toddler on the shoulders, or counting out fingers and toes. The authors are sisters, and Clyde’s rhymes are perfectly illustrated by Wendy’s simple, timeless pictures of happy babies and small children.
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