We're on a Bill Peet kick here lately. We've loved him for years, but right now we just can't get enough of his zany, happy stories and captivating cartoon illustrations.
Peet's books are written with either prose or clever rhymes:
The blue-snouted Twumps feed entirely on weeds,
And along with the weeds they swallow the seeds.
Eating seeds causes weeds to sprout on their backs,
Till they look very much like walking haystacks.
When a mother Twump has young ones to raise,
Her weed-covered back is where they all graze.
Of all the odd creatures, you won't find another
Who supports its young as both fodder and mother.
(No Such Things)
We're sorry if you've been to our local library and find the Bill Peet section fairly empty. We did that a couple days ago and intend to keep them for the full six weeks. We do own some, many of which were bought with glee off the library sale shelf last spring. They're all excellent, library-bound copies, sure to last through children and grandchildren.
Sometimes a child will take a huge pile of Peet books and disappear for an hour. More often than not, though, I'm the one with the huge pile, children crowding for a place on the couch to listen to the "Peet-fest." Guess I don't have a photo of that.
Ben loves the illustrations. Since spending time with Peet, he's been noticing how houses and buildings have faces and he's been drawing them, too.
Don't you love when children form a relationship with an author? (So CM! :-)
Posted by: Cheryl | November 02, 2009 at 11:17 PM