Dr. Seuss is popular year-round in the Children's Room at Seymour Library. This time of year, however, one of Dr. Seuss' books skyrockets to the top of the bestseller lists.
That book is “Oh, the Places You'll Go.” When we checked the Amazon Web site earlier this month, it ranked first among sales of children's books - ahead of Harry Potter, ahead of the ever-popular “Goodnight Moon” and even ahead of the children's novel “Hoot,” which was made into a just-released movie.
“Oh, the Places You'll Go” has become a favorite graduation gift since it was published 16 years ago. Its exuberant rhymes and brilliant illustrations delight new graduates, whether they're finishing first grade or college. Its opening lines capture the excitement of someone making a new beginning: “Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!”
In fact, there are a lot of children's books that provide good reading for graduates. Almost any book by Shel Silverstein makes a great gift: “The Giving Tree,” with its tale of a tree's unconditional love for a little boy or his classic books of poetry, “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic.”
Picture books are filled with all kinds of life lessons. It's the rare parent who doesn't take a nugget of wisdom from “The Velveteen Rabbit” as it's being read to a child. In fact, there's a self-help book for adults based on Margery Williams' beloved tale: “The Velveteen Principles: A Guide to Becoming Real - Hidden Wisdom from a Children's Classic” by Toni Raiten-D'Antonio. It's available through interlibrary loan.
Another one of our favorite picture books is “Miss Rumphius” by Barbara Cooney - and not just because the title character, at one point in her life, works in a library. Miss Rumphius sets three goals for herself: to visit faraway places, to live by the sea and to make the world a more beautiful place. What she does, and how she accomplishes her life's work, inspires readers young and old.
A picture book that deserves a wider audience is “The Three Questions,” Jon J. Muth's retelling of the story by Leo Tolstoy. The main character, Nikolai, wants answers to three questions: When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? Amazingly, in the space of a slim picture book, Nikolai gets exactly the right answer to all three. It's the kind of book you read, then immediately share with someone else.
“The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” by Newberry Award-winning author Kate DiCamillo, already feels like an old favorite. The chapter book, intended for readers age 9 to 12, tells the story of Edward Tulane, a china rabbit who learns life lessons after he is lost at sea.
It's hard to select just one wish for graduates, but we'll leave you with this, the poem “How Many, How Much” from Shel Silverstein's “A Light in the Attic:”
“How many slams in an old screen door?
Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread?
Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live 'em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends how much you give 'em.”
Danette Davis is children's librarian at Seymour Library in Auburn
“Oh, the Places You'll Go” has become a favorite graduation gift since it was published 16 years ago. Its exuberant rhymes and brilliant illustrations delight new graduates, whether they're finishing first grade or college. Its opening lines capture the excitement of someone making a new beginning: “Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!”
In fact, there are a lot of children's books that provide good reading for graduates. Almost any book by Shel Silverstein makes a great gift: “The Giving Tree,” with its tale of a tree's unconditional love for a little boy or his classic books of poetry, “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic.”
Picture books are filled with all kinds of life lessons. It's the rare parent who doesn't take a nugget of wisdom from “The Velveteen Rabbit” as it's being read to a child. In fact, there's a self-help book for adults based on Margery Williams' beloved tale: “The Velveteen Principles: A Guide to Becoming Real - Hidden Wisdom from a Children's Classic” by Toni Raiten-D'Antonio. It's available through interlibrary loan.
Another one of our favorite picture books is “Miss Rumphius” by Barbara Cooney - and not just because the title character, at one point in her life, works in a library. Miss Rumphius sets three goals for herself: to visit faraway places, to live by the sea and to make the world a more beautiful place. What she does, and how she accomplishes her life's work, inspires readers young and old.
A picture book that deserves a wider audience is “The Three Questions,” Jon J. Muth's retelling of the story by Leo Tolstoy. The main character, Nikolai, wants answers to three questions: When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? Amazingly, in the space of a slim picture book, Nikolai gets exactly the right answer to all three. It's the kind of book you read, then immediately share with someone else.
“The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” by Newberry Award-winning author Kate DiCamillo, already feels like an old favorite. The chapter book, intended for readers age 9 to 12, tells the story of Edward Tulane, a china rabbit who learns life lessons after he is lost at sea.
It's hard to select just one wish for graduates, but we'll leave you with this, the poem “How Many, How Much” from Shel Silverstein's “A Light in the Attic:”
“How many slams in an old screen door?
Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread?
Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live 'em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends how much you give 'em.”
Danette Davis is children's librarian at Seymour Library in Auburn
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Jim MagillI wrote on May 26, 2006 11:45 AM: