Children's Books
So I spent yesterday shelving books in the kids section -- let me just say, that is a dangerous part of the bookstore! For one, I'm still not sure what a good number of the sections are supposed to be, which made putting some of those books on the right shelves a challenge. (Kids has more subsections than just about any other part of the store, I think) But mostly, every time I spend time in there I go home with a new list of books that I want to read -- children's books that just look really really interesting, or that I read years ago and remember fondly.
Honestly, some of the books in this section amaze me. I mean, Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn? Is that really a kid's book? Well, I suppose it would be good for their minds and imaginations . . . and I do love children's books that don't pretend that children are stupid. You know, the ones you read as a kid that influence most of your book selections as you grow old, and that you keep treasured, if battered, copies of for years and years . . .
I once spent more effort tryng to find a children's book than I ever spent trying to find any other book -- I hadn't read it in like, six yearts, and I couldn't remember the title, or the author, but I remembered the story, and I sort of remembered what the cover looked like. So I walked up and down the kid's aisles at the library, looking at every spine and pulling out anything that looked likely . . . I finally found it, actually. And I went out and bought it, so I wouldn't lose it again.
It's still one of my favorites, really. Pat O'Shea's The Hounds of the Morrigan. I haven't seen that one yet at the bookstore . . . I might have to recommend it.
On another note, the teen sections continually make me role my eyes. Really, how many vampire romances and high school clique stories do teenagers need? What happens to all the charm and whimsy and adventure that's on the kids shelves? I guess teenagers aren't supposed to need them anymore, now that they're "growing up."
Oh well. Maybe they'll appreciate them all over again once they're in their twenties, and the teenage melodrama gets old.
Honestly, some of the books in this section amaze me. I mean, Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn? Is that really a kid's book? Well, I suppose it would be good for their minds and imaginations . . . and I do love children's books that don't pretend that children are stupid. You know, the ones you read as a kid that influence most of your book selections as you grow old, and that you keep treasured, if battered, copies of for years and years . . .
I once spent more effort tryng to find a children's book than I ever spent trying to find any other book -- I hadn't read it in like, six yearts, and I couldn't remember the title, or the author, but I remembered the story, and I sort of remembered what the cover looked like. So I walked up and down the kid's aisles at the library, looking at every spine and pulling out anything that looked likely . . . I finally found it, actually. And I went out and bought it, so I wouldn't lose it again.
It's still one of my favorites, really. Pat O'Shea's The Hounds of the Morrigan. I haven't seen that one yet at the bookstore . . . I might have to recommend it.
On another note, the teen sections continually make me role my eyes. Really, how many vampire romances and high school clique stories do teenagers need? What happens to all the charm and whimsy and adventure that's on the kids shelves? I guess teenagers aren't supposed to need them anymore, now that they're "growing up."
Oh well. Maybe they'll appreciate them all over again once they're in their twenties, and the teenage melodrama gets old.