Inspired by Kelly at Big A little a, Jen Robinson blogs about life lessons she learned from children’s books.
Oh, and Kelly was inspired by a couple of articles from the Guardian and its blog, Culture Vulture:
Michelle Pauli on Life lessons: which children’s books have taught you the most?
Lucy Mangan on why she’s still reading children’s books.
So, now I’m inspired. Here are some of the life lessons I learned from children’s books:
Curious George by H.A. Rey: Curiousity is good, but be careful. It’s also good to have a friend (or a dad?) with a yellow hat to rescue you when your curiousity gets you into trouble.
A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban: Being careful (suspicious that your friend is out to trick you) isn’t nice. Being friends is better.
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Red Shoes by Maj Lindman: A real gift is something you work hard to get for someone you love.
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel: When you run out of will power, go home and bake a cake. Also, a friend loveth at all times, whether you’ve lost your list or your button and especially when you’re embarrased to be seen in your bathing suit.
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: Odd things happen in this world. You just have to go with it, and see what will happen in the end.
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss: “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, and an elephant’s faithful one hundred percent.” Sometimes faithfulness gets its reward.
Eight Cousins and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. A big family might be fun.
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien: Hobbits, and by extension hobbit-like people, are amazing, and they may rise to the occasion with resources you never knew they had. Maybe I have stuff within me I don’t even know about?
I don’t know what I learned from Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey , but I do remember Captain Kangaroo reading it out loud with the beautiful illustrations, and I remember how comforting the story was. Maybe I learned that stories can bring comfort as well as insight. I know that when I’m depressed or distraught, I go to books.
So what life lessons have you learned from children’s books?
Oh, I loved the Frances books too as a kid! For just the reasons you wrote about.
I loved the Frances books as well. 🙂
If you haven’t heard the new CD of the soundtrack of Curious George, it’s quite nice for both adults and children. We listen to it during quiet time and I had it on with friends and they all thought it was great.