So lately I've been thinking a lot about children's literature (it probably has something to do with the fact that I've spent my spring break watching the Disney Channel) and how much I LOVE it. I could probably spend the rest of my life curled up in bed reading children's books and be eternally happy and immersed in disguised poignancy and all that.
A few of my favorites:
Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech (Bloomability is terrif too)
Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Paterson (kicks Bridge to Terabithia's ass)
Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Louis Sachar (this book freaked me out - the thing with the rat?!)
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster (the illustrations! The illustrations!)
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle (I cried when she died. Really.)
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles - Julie Edwards, aka THE Julie Andrews (Julie Andrews wrote this. For real. I didn't know it was possible for me to love her more, but I do. I also had a really embarrassing moment in the 4th grade when I suggested that we read this for our next in-class book, but no one really took me seriously back then... possibly because I had just hit four feet and my glasses were still about half the size of my face)
Mr. Popper's Penguins - Richard and Florence Atwater (why, why, WHY was this the only book they wrote?!)
The BFG - Roald Dahl (okay, I would marry Roald Dahl. I have read every word this man has written.)
The Trumpet of the Swan - E.B. White (or his other books. I just found out like, two weeks ago that E.B. White was "White" of "Strunk and White")
Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli (I wanted to be Stargirl. I haven't read the sequel, btw. I don't know how I feel about it.)
the Sammy Keyes mysteries - Wendelin Van Draanen (I also wanted to be Sammy Keyes. Seriously, it's Nancy Drew for the Vassar set. Scathing remarks, puzzling conundrums, and cute boys. Helloo!)
A Long Way from Chicago - Richard Peck
Frindle - Andrew Clements (who DOESN'T want to invent a word? Seriously!)
Baby - Patricia MacLachlan (this book introduced me to my favorite poem EVER, "Dirge Without Music" by VC's own Edna St. Vincent Millay... this poem is everywhere in my life; it's even on the wall of the Villard Room)
Anastasia Krupnik and all sequels - Lois Lowry
and my ALL TIME FAVORITE... not only my ALL TIME FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK but my ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK:
A Summer to Die - Lois Lowry (please excuse the title, it is the most beautiful piece of literature I've ever read, and that includes you, Franz Kafka)
xx and I'm off to reread "Baby"
littleone
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7 comments:
this blog constantly posts really long blogs that no one wants to read. we have asked for more pictures and events, but you consistently feed us excruciatingly long and painful 'essays'. im going back to mads.
Aw, yeah!!!
1:29:
We are in essence something completely different from Mads, and if you want "short" stories all the time, you're visiting the wrong site.
However, we have heard your concern about the length of some of our posts. Sometime around Monday, March 24, (after Spring Break) we will undergo a refresh, which will include the imposition of a limit of 250 to 275 words per post, which is basically the height of a screen.
You should also keep in mind that the the width of the posts is very small, about one third of a typical page, and therefore the "long" posts aren't really "essays." They barely fill half a typical page.
But why are we responding to you? You're never coming back.....
=P
If you want another Vassar gossip blog, start your own. The people behind Blog9 are offering an interesting and admirable alternative. Yes, many of their posts are long "essays," but if you actually read past the first few lines, you might find yourself interested in what they have to say.
you know, 1:29, when i came back to look at this on the screen, it looked much longer than it did on my webmail. but come on, aren't you used to reading 3954830 pages of, like, econ? we're college students, we are supposed to be expert readers! :-)
plus, as our fine administrator pointed out earlier, this IS NOT mads and isn't trying to be! hence the reason we don't talk about pictures and events, because mads really has that covered.
and i can promise you that you aren't interested in pictures of my spring break. they would consist of landscapes of my living room and portraits of the fake-tanned yuppie moms that i sell overpriced dance shoes to for a living. you REALLY wanna see that?
roald dahl is AMAZING! Boy totally inspired me to visit europe :) his short stories are surprisingly creepy though..
I looooove the Wayside School series to bits and pieces! And "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin is hot shiet too. Loves it.
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