One Fish, Two Fish

Can you tell from the title of this post that I've spent a lot of time in the last couple of weeks reading picture books? When my three-year-old niece brings me a book and asks me to read it to her, why, of course I have to do it.

I love Dr. Seuss, so having a young child around gives me a great excuse to read his work. Now, I'd like to read something other than The Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, but my niece loves those books. If I read them enough times, I just might end up having them memorized, the same way I memorized Green Eggs and Ham when her mama (one of my younger sisters) was little.

Last night, my niece wanted me to read a couple of books I hadn't read to her before. It was a relief to read something new, but I noticed a similarity between these two books and Dr. Seuss books: they rhyme. All the way through. My comment? "With all of these rhymes, I'm losing my minds." Lame, I know, but all the adults in the room cracked up because they've read the same books I have countless times. My niece also cracked up, but she had no idea what was so funny...which made the rest of us laugh harder.

I also learned that picture book authors can be a little warped, and the children the books are intended for never even realize it. One of the books I read had something to do with Farmer Brown and his birthday. All of the animals named something nice they could do for his birthday, and the turkey decided he could decorate Farmer Brown's Thanksgiving table. Reading that shortly after losing my mind due to rhyming books probably made it funnier than it actually was, but picture books can provide some great stress relief in the form of laughter.

One of the biggest things reading all of these picture books has done is give me a great appreciation for non-rhyming books written for people over the age of twelve.