Buy Two, She's Small

[lydy]

If you come across a children's book that you think is special, consider buying two: one for her now, and one for her when she grows up. (Or he, as the case may be.) If you're right, and it is special, then the book will be very well worn by the time she's an adult, possibly in tatters.

When I was very young, my mother and I would sit down together and read Hilary Knight's ABC. It was a Big Golden Book, and on every double page spread, there was a title that began something like, "A is for acrobatic alligators in airplanes" The pages would be a picture of what they call "whimsical animals" doing interesting things and objects, many of them beginning with the letter being illustrated. A has aviator jackets and apples and an accordion and an aeroplane named Agnes, and other things which I'm sure I'm not seeing in the picture just at the moment. The pictures are fun and complicated. I was particularly fond of "L is for leaping ladies and leopards" because my name begins with L. Ladies in lavender and lace ride leopards on leashes which leap over fences while lambs look on. One lady has a lily in her hat while another wears leather gloves. There are lilacs in the background. This I how I learned the word lorgnette. My mother pointed it out to me. I had no idea such a thing existed, and the word caught my fancy. I suspect I was the only five year old within a hundred miles who knew what a lorgnette was -- though I'm cheating a little, since this was sparsely populated farming country, and the actual number of five-year olds was rather small.

My copy is in terrible shape. The spine is just about gone, and while the pages are still very bright, as a book it's a very nice set of pages. Ah ha! thought I. I have been buying pop-up books on eBay, lately. (There is a paper engineering artist, Robert Sabuda, that you wouldn't believe! Really, lay your hands on Encyclopaedia Historica or America the Beautiful or Alice in Wonderland...but don't let anyone under the age of 18 near them. They're intricate and delicate...but where was I? Oh, yes, eBay.) So, I went a looking on eBay for a copy of Hilary Knight's ABC. No joy. Several hits, but all of them refer to the book as the one that launched his career. He is much better known for his Eloise books. I'm pretty sure I had several, but none left an impression like the ABC did. I did the next logical thing, I went out on the net. After some moderate amount of searching, I found four. Priced between $95 and $100.

So, if you see a book that seems really special that you want to give to a small child, consider buying two. One for the child, and one for the adult she will become.

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Some families go with the "first sib to have kids gets the childhood stuff" idea, or "first sib to have kids gets it first and has to pass it on." The latter almost never actually happens, and I find both pretty darn distasteful.

(I already bought my first book for markgritter's sister seagrit's impending spawn, but it's not to try to maneuver egalitarian possession of markgritter's sibs' childhood treasures.)