Too much parenting, not enough imagination

[Dontavious]

Are there any picture books out there that bridge the perspectives between parents and children? One that shows children the struggles of parenting in a playful way. One that shows parents that it's still okay to use their imagination and dream?

[Michael]

Yes. Here's one I just bought: In the Middle of the Night

A quote from towards the end:

It was even better
than I had dreamed;
and my Father seemed
not tall, and me small,
but as if we'd become
sort-of-the-same size,
looking with surprise
through the same kind of eyes.

Some of Charlotte Zolotow's books are good for this. In The Summer Night, the father is definitely the parent, but it has "her father could understand why on this soft summer night she wasn't sleepy," and it goes from there. In Say It!, the perspectives don't meet until the end. Before then we get, "Come on, say it," she said. "It's magic," said her mother. "It's a golden, shining, splendiferous day!" "No," said the little girl. "That's not what I mean."

The imagination thing gets dealt with a bit in some classic easy readers: the original Little Bear where he goes "to the moon" is great - mother bear plays along with him. Also A Baby Sister for Frances where Frances runs away under the table and the parents talk about her as if she is gone.

If I think about it some, I can probably come up with more examples.

[Michael]

Some more:

adult/kid perspectives:
Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild!

parent imagination/playing along:
Every Day A Dragon
the series with Could Be Worse! - grandfather and his brother
Good Night, Little Bear
The Runaway Bunny

and remarkably enough, a wordless trilogy (the last book most of all):
Return

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Dad and the Dinosaur by Gennifer Choldenko was just published this year. When a little boy loses his toy dinosaur, his father understands why he is so upset, and even though it is late at night, takes the son to the soccer field to look for it.

[Dontavious]

Michael wrote: "Yes. Here's one I just bought: In the Middle of the Night

A quote from towards the end:

It was even better
than I had dreamed;
and my Father seemed
not tall, and me small,
but as ..."

This seems right up my alley Michael. I’m starting to put a collection of stories together that help bridge communication between the two. I hadn’t read “in the middle of the night” I’ll check it out today.

[Dontavious]

Michael wrote: "Some more:

adult/kid perspectives:
Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild!

parent imagination/playing along:
Every Day A Dragon
the series with Could Be Worse!..."

I can’t believe I didn’t think of “Harriet, you’ll drive me wild” such a classic. I’m going to revisit all of the titles you’ve listed and see what I can dig up. Thank you guys for the suggestions!

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Dontavious wrote: "Are there any picture books out there that bridge the perspectives between parents and children? One that shows children the struggles of parenting in a playful way. One that shows parents that it'..."

Great topic, Dontavious. Thank you for posting! I'll see if I can think of anything to add. (I moved it to the "Themes, Topics and Categories" folder since the Picture Book Club folder is just for the monthly reads in the PBC club; I think you may get more people seeing this thread in the "Themes" folder, too.)

[Elspeth]

There is an early reader book Early Reader: The Boy Who Made Things Up about a boy who makes things up and his father "who like machines far to much" they get stranded when the car breaks down and on the walk home the boy tries to get his dad to use his imagination. Has to be my all time favourite parent child bonding book. The best bit is the final page... but I shan't spoil it.

[Dontavious]

Kathryn wrote: "Dontavious wrote: "Are there any picture books out there that bridge the perspectives between parents and children? One that shows children the struggles of parenting in a playful way. One that sho..."

Thanks for the help Kathryn! My goal is to spark some engaging conversations about picture books and join some talks as well. I'll browse around the "themes" folder and see what I can stir up :)

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

Dontavious wrote: "Thanks for the help Kathryn! My goal is to spark some engaging conversations about picture books and join some talks as well.

Glad to have you aboard!

I did think of a book to add for this topic: Five Minutes' Peace