Your Favorite Book When You Were 5...

What was your favorite book, say when you were about 5? All of us were about 5 at one point in our lives, some a lot longer than others. I was 5 in a much different time than today. Although, I originally struggled with reading, there was a thrill of accomplishment whenever I completed a book “all by myself!”
But then I discovered the beloved “Dr. Seuss” (Ted Geisel). Reading became fun, a gateway to fantastic adventure—even a rhythmic and rhyming adventure. I learned words are cool! You can paint pictures with words.

Mr. Geisel created The Cat In The Hat in reaction to a Life Magazine article by Pulitzer Prize winning author John Hersey, published in the May 24, 1954 issue, titled “Why Do Students Bog Down On First R? A LOCAL COMMITTEE SHEDS LIGHT ON A NATIONAL PROBLEM: READING.” In the article, Hersey was critical of the then current state of school primers,

“In the classroom boys and girls are confronted with books that have insipid illustrations depicting the slicked-up lives of other children. [Existing primers] feature abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls.

In the classroom boys and girls are confronted with books that have insipid illustrations depicting the slicked-up lives of other children. [Existing primers] feature abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls.” “In bookstores, anyone can buy brighter, livelier books featuring strange and wonderful animals and children who behave naturally, i.e., sometimes misbehave. Given incentive from school boards, publishers could do as well with primers.”

5 years old for me was also long enough ago to remember “Fun with Dick and Jane.” A basic primer (beginner book) with simple imperative sentence structure such as “Look!”, “See Dick run”, etc. The stories were really boring. Although, I never thought of the illustrations as insipid, they were nevertheless uninteresting. Anyway, Mr. Geisel (Suess) responded to this “challenge” by rigidly limiting himself to a small set of words from an elementary school vocabulary list, then crafted a story based upon two randomly selected words—cat and hat. The results of this personal challenge are nothing short of amazing!

Children’s literature was never the same! Which Dr. Seuss story is your favorite? I loved “The Cat in the Hat”, but I think my favorite was “If I Ran the Zoo”.
“It is a pretty good zoo, said young Gerald McGrew and the fellow who runs it seems proud of it too!”

—This is from memory and perhaps I am a little off in my recollection—but it does speak to the power of the story and especially a story in rhyme.
Do you have another from when you were 5? How about classics like “Where the Wild Things Are”, “The Giving Tree” or “Good Night Moon” ? Think back to your early childhood— What was your favorite?