Which children's books do you remember? | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Kathy Manos Penn is a native of the “Big Apple,” who settled in the “Peach City” – Atlanta. A former English teacher now happily retired from a corporate career in communications, she writes a weekly column for the Dunwoody Crier and the Highlands Newspaper. Read her blogs and columns and purchase her books, “The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday” and “Lord Banjo the Royal Pooch,” on her website theinkpenn.com or Amazon.

Kathy Manos Penn with Lord Banjo
    Seeing a Facebook post about best loved Golden Books took me on a trip down memory lane as I recalled my favorite childhood books. High on that list was "The Poky Little Puppy," and a bit of research revealed that it ranks as the top-selling children's book of all time. When I tried to call to mind other Golden Books I loved, "The Three Little Kittens" was the only additional one that popped up.

    Never fear, I recall plenty of other books I enjoyed. I have fond memories of Mom taking me to the library, I think on Saturdays. "Angus and the Ducks" is one of the books I checked out repeatedly. It's the story of a little black terrier who discovers ducks one day when he sneaks out of his house. As an adult, I thought of that book every time I saw a friend's dog run into the lake to chase the ducks.

    I have forgotten plenty of books from my early years, but I had a delightful experience surfing Amazon. It took seeing the covers to make me remember my favorites. If my memory of the covers is that vivid, I know I must have read those books over and over. When I clicked on Angus, I was rewarded with the cover of "Make Way for Ducklings," triggering another happy memory.

    The "Curious George" series was another favorite, one that has stood the test of time. This summer I spent the day with my high school friend Beth as she made my dog a royal purple robe-you know about Lord Banjo and his robe, right? I had to laugh when I discovered she'd been making party favors for her grandson's Curious George birthday party just the week before.

    I still have my three Dr. Seuss books. They came in the mail as part of the Beginner Books series by Random House, which also included non-Suess books: "Stop that Ball," "Cowboy Andy," and "The King's Wish."

    Another book I could remember even without seeing the cover was "The Five Chinese Brothers." Before locating it on Amazon, I thought to myself that in this age of heightened sensitivity, it had probably been banned. I couldn't readily remember the story, but the description, "a dramatic retelling of an old Chinese tale," makes it seem harmless enough.

    Trigger warning! The childhood book that has indeed been banned from some libraries is "Little Black Sambo," originally published in 1899. Because the title and illustrations in the original are considered offensive, it was reworked in later tellings. The title and the setting change, but the story remains the same: "[A little boy] encounters four hungry tigers and surrenders his colorful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella so they will not eat him. The tigers are vain, and each thinks he is better dressed than the others. They chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of melted butter; [the boy] then recovers his clothes, and his mother makes pancakes of the butter."

    To end on an uncontroversial note, I also spied "The Story of Ferdinand," a book that's now been made into an animated movie. What wonderful childhood memories.

    Kathy Manos Penn is a Georgia resident. Her latest book, "Lord Banjo the Royal Pooch," and her collection of columns, "The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday," are available on Amazon. Contact Kathy at inkpenn119@gmail.com.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )



Comment

( August 19th, 2018 @ 10:58 pm )
 
I loved those Golden Books too, and my wife made sure that we had Golden books to read to our 4 children.

Thanks Kathy for the sweet nostalgia of those not so simple times.



Watching Dragonflies The Ink Penn, Public Perspective, Body & Soul The Contents of a Summer


HbAD0

Latest Body & Soul

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a Community Partner Engagement Plan to ensure the voices of North Carolina communities and families continue to be at the center of the department’s work.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Spanish-language Cafecito and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Feb. 27, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
Part of ongoing effort to raise awareness and combat rising congenital syphilis cases
Recognition affirms ECU Health’s commitment to providing highly-reliable, human-centered care
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new Statewide Peer Warmline on Feb. 20, 2024. The new Peer Warmline will work in tandem with the North Carolina 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by giving callers the option to speak with a Peer Support Specialist.
A subsidiary of one of the largest health insurance agencies in the U.S. was hit by a cyberattack earlier this week from what it believes is a foreign “nation-state” actor, crippling many pharmacies’ ability to process prescriptions across the country.

HbAD1

The John Locke Foundation is supporting a New Bern eye surgeon's legal fight against North Carolina's certificate-of-need restrictions on healthcare providers.
Shia LaBeouf received the Sacrament of Confirmation, completing his conversion to Catholicism, on Sunday, and the actor’s confirmation sponsor suggested LaBeouf may become a deacon “in the future.”
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the following statement on the Trails Carolina investigation:
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a draft of its 2024-25 Olmstead Plan designed to assist people with disabilities to reside in and experience the full benefit of inclusive communities.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Tues., Feb. 20, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is investing $5.5 million into the FIT Wellness program, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program in the UNC School of Medicine, to improve reentry services for the justice-involved population.

HbAD2

As of Feb. 1, 2024, 346,408 newly eligible North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard.

HbAD3

 
Back to Top