They show us where the wild things are and where the sidewalk ends.
They tell us why Ramona is a pest, George is curious, and Sheila is great. They reveal why Alexander is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, and why Stanley is flat. They enchant us with little things: pigs, a prince, a mouse, a house on the prairie. And with big: a giant peach, a beanstalk, a red dog named Clifford. And they transport us: with Madeline to Paris, Eloise to the Ritz, the Hardy Boys to the old mill, and Nancy Drew to the Lilac Inn.
They’re children’s books. And from Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter, the great ones stay great. There’s just one catch: Getting your kids to read them. The best books for children are why summer reading is so much more than kids’ stuff.
(Hosted by Robert Siegel)
Guests:
Eden Ross Lipson, New York Times Children’s Books Editor
John Scieszka, author of the children’s books “The Stinky Cheese Man” and “Henry P. Baloney”
and Terri Schmitz, owner of the Children’s Book Store in Brookline, Massachusetts.