MADreads

Great books for adults to read out loud to kids or read for fun for themselves because they are just so good

October 23rd, 2008 Molly - Central

It is also not too early to start thinking about the holidays and these books make great gifts:

Happy Fiftieth Anniversary, Paddington! I first read A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond when I was in third grade based on a friend’s recommendation. I remember enjoying it, but couldn’t remember much of the plot when I recently picked it up in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of its first printing. I was surprised at how much of the phrasing I remembered exactly as I read it again and how truly comical the story is. This is laugh out loud stuff. When Paddington tumbles into his saucer of tea and is covered in sticky buns–ha! And when he gets caught in the display window at the department store–ha ha! And the idea of a bear from darkest Peru wandering about London in a Macintosh and safari helmet–timeless. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what generation you were a child in, Paddington is a classic.

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry is a spoof on the genre of children’s literature that pays homage to orphans, nannies, millionaire tycoons, confectioners, babies left on doorsteps, wicked parents, old-fashioned children, and on and on in all hilariousness. This book pokes fun at them all and riotously refers to many classics. When the little boy is trapped in the Swiss Alps and tries to apologize in German by combining words?  Sorrybrauten? Need I say more? Especially recommended for fans of Lemony Snicket.

And last but certainly not least, you won’t want to miss The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. This is the second book in the series featuring the Penderwick sisters and their escapades of childhood lived in the slow-paced manner of years gone by. In the first book, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, the girls, their widowed professor father and the family hound pack up for a summer holiday in a rented cottage on a country estate outside of Boston. The girls bake brownies, sneak through hedges, go to a dress-up birthday dinner and enjoy the kind of summer that seems impossible with a modern schedule of soccer practice, music lessons and the myriad of other activities around today. In the second book, the girls concoct the “Save-Daddy Plan” aka “operation prevent Daddy from dating - we don’t want a stepmother” with disastrous results. The girls are sweet, their relationship with their father is tender and honest, and their antics are refreshing. These books are an inspiration for those involved in the Slow Movement, or those hoping for a quiet wind down to a harried day.

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