What’s to love about a book for children

Word books, comic books, illustrated books, storybooks – children have it good. In my home, the books that we buy for children find readers in adults too. I read most of the books they get and discuss them as well. In many cases, my kids memorise phrases, dialogue and passages and till they have the book fever, it finds a mention in our daily jokes and conversations.

It isn’t just me. Lots of adults confess to love children’s books. I think it’s because of their simplicity, vulnerability and curiosity.

Books for children have simple and direct language which is refreshing for us adults. I don’t mean that they are for people who are challenged, vocabulary-wise but because we are so used to couching experiences in complicated metaphors and explaining things for a purpose that the honest language is a whiff of fresh air.

“Everyone is a bit scared but we are less scared together.” – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

The unlikely friends in this book share a lot of wisdom through their simple observations about the world and life.

The honesty extends to feelings and experiences. If it’s a bad situation, well, it’s awful and that’s that. There’s no looking at the larger picture; everything is in the moment. Children feel unhappy, disappointed, let-down – they express it. Or at the very least, the feelings are talked about, not swept under the carpet to emerge as a neurosis years later.

“Ma, I want to tell you something. In our yard, there’s a passageway” – Some Days by Maria Wernicke.

It’s a beautiful book, sparse in words, with large illustrations, a lot of emotions expressed and acknowledged in just a few words.

These books are so joyful because everything’s new from the eyes of a child. Children are still exploring the physical world and getting new experiences. Don’t we wish we had the curious eyes and mind of a child all over again?

“The umbrella was like a flower, a great blue flower that had sprung up on the dry brown hillside.” – The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

I wish I had the pure, unadulterated joy of owning something as simple as an umbrella, even giving it up to someone who has actually tried to harm you. Lovely life lessons from this book.

Click on the book links to read my thoughts on them in detail. Tell me about a book for children that you read recently.

This post is part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.

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