Historical December 1984 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Reading may be the last thing on your minds this month.
After all, school is out for a week or two. Just in case you have ten minutes to spare, there are some good books to which you can give your divided attention. Younger readers don’t especially need short stories pointed out since picture books are always short, but why not skip words completely and breeze your way through a wordless book like Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer? Somehow, a little boy’s pet frog goes to an elegant restaurant inside of the same little boy’s pocket. You do the storytelling and you’ll certainly do the laughing. What’s the most popular short story collection for children at the Kiosk?
Well, what’s a fast-paced and funny series starring the world’s greatest boy detective? (No case too small. Fee: 25¢ a day plus expenses.) You should be ashamed of yourself if you’ve never heard of Encyclopedia Brown.
Each book in the series has a variety of short solve-it-yourself mysteries starring such characters as Bugs Meany and Fangs Liveright.
The answers are provided for those with rusty detecting skills.
There are two other good choices for middle grade readers.
And It Is Still That Way is a collection of legends told by Arizona Indian children.
The stories, which come from different tribes and try to explain how the world works, are sometimes funny, always very short, and always very wise. Find out why dogs don’t talk any more, and why Coyote isn’t blue.
In The Stories Julian Tells, five episodes describe different experiences and conversations of seven-year-old Julian and his younger brother, Huey. Julian tends to exaggerate everything and Huey tends to believe everything.
The funniest story is the one that tells about Huey’s misconception that cats come out of catalogs.
In another chapter. Julian learns that it is possible, even wonderful, to have a girl for your best friend. Older readers should sample The Thing without a Name by Ida Chittum.
These are authentic stories from the Ozarks, where the best crop is rocks, according to Granny Grits, the storyteller.
If you get past the staring eyes on the cover, you will find eighteen tales, some a bit scary, most very charming.
A lot of the charm is Granny’s.
As a child, she sewed clothes for frogs and blue jays.
As an adult, she told these stories. Read the title story and discover why those who listened to it never let their hands dangle over the edge of the bed at night.
Many tiny nuggets of reading pleasure for all ages (adults too!) can be found in Snowman Sniffles and Pigeon Cubes, two books of poetry and drawings by N.M. Bodecker. Short, humorous, clever poems bring familiar objects and experiences to life and give sound advice about living.
If this came true, you’d surely use your library more:
What this country needs
is an old-fashioned plot
with no commercials to spoil it:
a TV set
in every pot,
and instructions on how to boil it.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1984.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1984_12.pdf, printed page(s) 5; PDF page(s) 5.
