Friday, November 12, 2010

Most subversive children's books

The Today show has published a list of the "9 Most Subversive Children's Books Ever Written." I'm going to highlight just three of the nine on the list.
The Little Engine That Could
The Little Engine That Could was one of my childhood favorites, and I've enjoyed reading it to my own children. I love the idea that it's a subversively feminist message...after all, the train that breaks down is a female, all the males who pass the toys by are males, and the final rescuing "I think I can, I think I can" little engine is a female as well. GIRL POWER!!





The Lorax (Classic Seuss)
I'd never read The Lorax until recently, when Kieran chose it as his birthday book to present to his first grade class last year, and his teacher was planning to read it to the class for Earth Day.  


The Complete Adventures of Curious George: 70th Anniversary Edition
Kieran during his Curious George phase
Curious George holds a special place in our family, as all three of our children have gone through their CG phases. We have the Complete Adventures of Curious George, and I remember Chris sitting through the really long stories with endless supplies of patience as a very small child. His favorite was Curious George Goes to the Hospital. Kieran then went through his phase (as I've written before, Chris Bohjalian signed one of his Curious George books at a book signing!). Now it's Nick's turn. That's fine with me, because I never get tired of Curious George!

Get subversive and read one of these classic children's books today!

2 comments:

  1. I'd go for Ferdinand the Bull. I was the matador in the school play in second grade. I got to wear a moustache and a cape!!!!

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  2. I've never read that one. Did you have a bull obsession? I remember my dad telling me about seeing a real bullfight in Spain, and how upsetting that was.

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