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Just noticed the Filter Mag cover posted over at WeLoveYouSo.com, a site related to the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are movie.  Love the style, and seeing it brought a wave of nostalgia as I thought back on some of my favorite childhood books. When I first learned how to read, I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. My mom was disappointed that I wasn’t excited about reading and decided to give me incentive to read by giving me money every time I read a book. I can’t remember how much she gave me – a nickel? a dime? a quarter? Whatever it was must have seemed like a lot to me at the time. (Never underestimate the power of pocket change on a kid – how else could my parents have gotten me to pick up those spiky sycamore balls by the hundred each fall? Eventually I wised up.) I started reading book after book, asking for my money when I was done with them. But soon enough I forgot about the money and just kept on reading.

One of my favorite’s (and my mom’s favorite) was Love You Forever, which upon rereading as an adult is kind of a bummer, as it’s about the cycle of life. Kind of like revisiting The Giving Tree:

What are you guys trying to do to me! How do parents get through these books without getting weepy, either over the mortality of their parents or of themselves as parents or your own mortality? It’s strange to look back on these things at this age, the age where you start to see your parents not just as parents, but as people; when you start to think about having children of your own some day and feel bad for being so bratty and slamming so many doors. (Oh and by the way mom, if you are out there, in regards to Love You Forever – please don’t grab a ladder and crawl through my window at night if you want to see me! Just give me a call and use the front door.)

Some of my other favorites:

• Any Spot book
• The Poky Little Puppy
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
• Lost in Dinosaur World – a predecessor to another childhood favorite, Jurassic Park. I had Dino World on tape and would listen to it repeat at night. I’ve always been a night owl. My mom would say, “I can’t make you go to sleep, but I can make you go to bed!” and this is what I listened to in bed.
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is so visually beautiful! It was written back in 1969 and has been followed up by many other animal-themed books, illustrated in the same collage style that made Caterpillar so visually striking. Fun fact: the author, Eric Carle, started out as a graphic designer. He also currently writes a blog!

My favorite modern line of children’s book I’ve encountered recently is the Pigeon Presents series by Mo Williams. It is, like all good children’s books, entertaining to read as an adult, as well. He wants to stay up late, he wants a puppy, he wants to drive a bus – a very curious pigeon indeed! I found it while poking around at the Strand and found them very endearing. Won’t someone let that pigeon drive the bus? Come on, guys.