Betty's Books: Beastly Feasts! & The Story of Ferdinand

I was raised on Mother Goose rhymes — everything from the undemanding but entertaining verses “Humpty Dumpty” and “Jack Be Nimble” to the counting rhyme “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” and tongue-twister “Baa Baa Black Sheep”. Later, I graduated to Robert Louis Stevenson’s traditional, if somewhat archaic, “A Child’s Garden of Verses” which I memorized, first page to last.

My children were fed on a slightly different menu of verse. Dr. Seuss was the clear winner and at a moment's notice, any one of them could rattle off lines from his books by heart (“I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am,” our oldest son would mutter if he didn’t like his dinner).

Expanding their horizons, my husband introduced them to poems such as T.S. Eliot’s "Macavity: The Mystery Cat." They'd whoop and holler each time his voice trailed off at a stanza's end. In unison, they'd exclaim with him: "Macavity's not there!" Imagine: Children ages 5-9 finding Eliot... irresistible. They loved the rhythm, humor, and pictures Eliot drew with his words. The verses rolled off the tongue in such a way that they couldn't help but memorize them, line by line.

Poetry is great reading material for grandchildren for any number of reasons. Maybe the best among them is that it sets imaginations free in a way that prose simply cannot.

I let this sentiment inform my grandparenting, and see to it that poetry is a part of the reading agenda I set for my grandchilren. I was delighted to find a book of poetry among the recommendations this month from bookseller McLean & Eakin.

Poetry: Beastly Feasts!, by Robert Forbes (Overlook Juvenile, 2007)

Subtitled A Mischievous Menagerie in Rhyme — is a collection of delicious rhymes about animals, loving and not-so-loving. There are plenty among the 40-odd poems that will appeal to grandchildren ages 7 and younger such as "The Rhinosaurus":

“When you feel the earth shake, at the drive-through zoo,
Better take a look around, he might be after you.
Not only is he enormous, he’s also very fast —
He is the Rhinosaurus, a beastie from the past.”

The slightly older set will appreciate the more sophisticated poems, such as this one that describes the perennial standoff between cat and goldfish in "Ode on a Fishbowl":

“His life is just a big bowl and nowhere can he hide;
With glass and water all around, he’s always magnified.
He looks out from his thin weeds and sees what he most fears:
Two big eyes, and whiskers, and pointy little ears…”

I could go on quoting these luscious little poems, but they are best read aloud to your grandchildren. They’ll eat up the madcap creature illustrations by cartoonist Robert Searle (creator of the St. Trinians School cartoons). Add in the search for the secret beast hidden within each drawing and you have the makings of a repeat read for years to come.

P.S. Some juicy gossip for you: Yes, author Robert Forbes, is one of those Forbes. A vice president of the family business, he heads up the lifestyle magazine, ForbesLife.

All-Time Classic: The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf (Viking Juvenile, 1936)

From the time I was 3, until my parents just couldn’t stand it anymore, I made them, or a sibling, aunt, older cousin — whomever was in the vicinity — read Ferdinand the Bull to me. Before long, I had that book down pat, word for word. Funny that at the time, I lived Eloise-style in a hotel. Into the lobby, I'd carry my copy of Ferdinand. Then, plop myself next to a guest and attempt to astonish him or her by reading the book aloud — until a family member yanked me away.

What is this simple book's appeal? Why such obsession at an early age? It's quite simple, really: A young bull in Spain — who prefers sitting under a cork tree to snorting and butting heads with fellow bulls.

By a twist of fate, he meets the wrong end of a bee on the day five men come to select the “biggest, fastest, roughest bull” for the bullfights in Madrid. Once in the bull ring, though, he gets over it. He continues his non-violent way of life, ignoring the brutish bullfighters. He sees “the flowers in all the lovely ladies’ hair... "

The message in this timeless tale is, of course, somewhat pacificist. Ferdinand's poetic inaction — in the face of being uprooted from his beloved cork tree and thrown into the Matador's tantrums — is the heart and soul of this story. The other takeaway message? It's perfectly OK to be yourself. Ferdinand never feels pressured to be an aggressive bull or join in the antics of his peers.

Note: There's a message for your grandchildren’s parents, too: Ferdinand's mother, on understanding that he is not lonely, but perfectly content with his chosen way of life, “let him just sit there and be happy.” This is a children's book with, quite possibly, the happiest of all happy endings.

Thanksgiving Favorites

While the older family members are crowded around the boob tube watching football, you'll have the perfect chance to snatch up your little grandchild for some cozy one-on-one storytime. And, the books' subject matter couldn't be more to a grandparent's liking. It's all about spending time with your family, and sharing in the delicious harvest fare.

Molly’s Pilgrim, by Barbara Cohen (HarperTrophy, 2005)

A short, simple story about a turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrant girl from Russia who's taunted by her classmates — about her clothes, accent, and understanding of American customs. It's a tug-at-the-heartstrings book reminding us why people still flock to America — for the same freedom that lured the Pilgrims so many years ago. This book can teach an important life lesson to your grandchildren about accepting those who are different from them.

Pilgrim’s First Thanksgiving, by Ann Mcgovern (Scholastic, 1990)

This book gives a child’s-eye view of the first Thanksgiving, starting at the Mayflower voyage. Children learn how “the Mayflower was as big as two trucks”; that the Pilgrims brought two dogs and a cat on the ship; and, how the Pilgrims survived their first year thanks to the lessons they gleaned from an Indian named Squanto. These are easy-to-absorb history lessons that early readers and their younger siblings will soak up.

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving, by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic, 1993)

Patterned as a parody of the beloved Clement Clarke Moore poem, this story focuses on eight children who take a field trip to a turkey farm. To their horror, they discover a kindly old farmer there — who is about to kill off the birds for Thanksgiving dinner. The kids’ solution? Smuggle the turkeys home, of course. The outlandish humor may appeal to grandfathers and make this book their top pick as an easy, before-bedtime story to read with the grandchildren.