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Best in Children's Books, Volume 15
1. They Sailed on the Mayflower
2. How the Whale Got His Throat
3. The Oldest, the Youngest, and the One in the Middle
4. Puss in Boots
5. The Little Red Hen
6. Just-For-Fun Parties
7. Horatius at the Bridge
8. Our Vanishing Wildlife
9. My Pet, Peepelo
10. Let's Visit India
2. How the Whale Got His Throat
3. The Oldest, the Youngest, and the One in the Middle
4. Puss in Boots
5. The Little Red Hen
6. Just-For-Fun Parties
7. Horatius at the Bridge
8. Our Vanishing Wildlife
9. My Pet, Peepelo
10. Let's Visit India
- GenresShort StoriesChildrens
160 pages
First published January 1, 1958
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 22, 2024
I love the Best in Children's Books as a whole, but this one is only average. Then again, average for a Best in Children's Books is still pretty good.
I quite like "The Sailed on the Mayflower," which gives more background than many a kid's book on why the Separatists at Scrooby fled, first to Holland, and then to the New World, as well as giving the reader a feel for some of the personalities who took the Mayflower. It also points out that not everyone on the Mayflower was a Separatist and otherwise gives a more rounded version of the story than most versions written for children.
My other favorite from this is "Horatius at the Bridge," James Baldwin's retelling of the story with a few clips from Thomas Babington Macauley's poem. As a youth, I thought this James Baldwin was the guy who wrote "Native Son," and was amazed at the breadth of his skill, being able to write such excellent children's fare while accomplishing so much as a Civil Right's activist. As an adult I finally twigged to the fact that they were two different guys. The James Baldwin who wrote this and other children's stories was a white guy born in the nineteenth century who died when the Civil Rights Activist James Baldwin was a year old. But while not nearly so famous, the James Baldwin of the Best in Children's Books series was a pretty good writer.
The famous creator in this volume is Andy Warhol (the guy who caught the art world's attention by painting Campbell's tomato soup cans), who did the illustrations for "The Little Red Hen". I didn't like his drawings much as a kid but as an adult they're sketchy and colorful and I appreciate them a bit more. As a kid I much preferred the art in the Little Golden Book by Lilian Obligado. That version the hen has three chicks running around who added a lot of energy.
The rest of the stories all get the job done. "How the Whale Got His Throat" is Rudyard Kipling's Just-So story explaining baleen whales. "The Oldest, The Youngest, and the One in the Middle" is a little tale about a little girl being socially ostracized and how she works it out with the help of another friend. Puss in Boots is Puss in Boots.
The "do something" part in this one is "Just-for-Fun Parties," and although it has some good suggestions, the author thinks the Lone Ranger yelled "Hiiiiii Hooooooo Silllver!" By which I think she means "Hi Ho Silver," and how can I trust someone who doesn't know the Lone Ranger said "Hi- Yo , Silver" to design my cowboy party for me?
"Our Vanishing Wildlife" is an interesting little jobbie encouraging conservation.
The last story, "My Pet, Peepelo" is about a little boy "high up in the mountains of Mexico" who decides he'd rather keep his turkey than sell it to be eaten. I didn't mind that story as a kid, but I thought -- then and now -- that Joy Anderson's The Pai-Pai Pig does it better. But the purpose of the story is to give the reader some feeling for another culture and it gets that job done.
"Let's Visit India" is the usual; a page or so of text, a couple pages of pictures, and a two-page map with things to find.
I quite like "The Sailed on the Mayflower," which gives more background than many a kid's book on why the Separatists at Scrooby fled, first to Holland, and then to the New World, as well as giving the reader a feel for some of the personalities who took the Mayflower. It also points out that not everyone on the Mayflower was a Separatist and otherwise gives a more rounded version of the story than most versions written for children.
My other favorite from this is "Horatius at the Bridge," James Baldwin's retelling of the story with a few clips from Thomas Babington Macauley's poem. As a youth, I thought this James Baldwin was the guy who wrote "Native Son," and was amazed at the breadth of his skill, being able to write such excellent children's fare while accomplishing so much as a Civil Right's activist. As an adult I finally twigged to the fact that they were two different guys. The James Baldwin who wrote this and other children's stories was a white guy born in the nineteenth century who died when the Civil Rights Activist James Baldwin was a year old. But while not nearly so famous, the James Baldwin of the Best in Children's Books series was a pretty good writer.
The famous creator in this volume is Andy Warhol (the guy who caught the art world's attention by painting Campbell's tomato soup cans), who did the illustrations for "The Little Red Hen". I didn't like his drawings much as a kid but as an adult they're sketchy and colorful and I appreciate them a bit more. As a kid I much preferred the art in the Little Golden Book by Lilian Obligado. That version the hen has three chicks running around who added a lot of energy.
The rest of the stories all get the job done. "How the Whale Got His Throat" is Rudyard Kipling's Just-So story explaining baleen whales. "The Oldest, The Youngest, and the One in the Middle" is a little tale about a little girl being socially ostracized and how she works it out with the help of another friend. Puss in Boots is Puss in Boots.
The "do something" part in this one is "Just-for-Fun Parties," and although it has some good suggestions, the author thinks the Lone Ranger yelled "Hiiiiii Hooooooo Silllver!" By which I think she means "Hi Ho Silver," and how can I trust someone who doesn't know the Lone Ranger said "Hi- Yo , Silver" to design my cowboy party for me?
"Our Vanishing Wildlife" is an interesting little jobbie encouraging conservation.
The last story, "My Pet, Peepelo" is about a little boy "high up in the mountains of Mexico" who decides he'd rather keep his turkey than sell it to be eaten. I didn't mind that story as a kid, but I thought -- then and now -- that Joy Anderson's The Pai-Pai Pig does it better. But the purpose of the story is to give the reader some feeling for another culture and it gets that job done.
"Let's Visit India" is the usual; a page or so of text, a couple pages of pictures, and a two-page map with things to find.
Displaying 1 of 1 review