Saturday, October 31, 2009

Friday Favorites - "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything"

I know, I know--it's not Friday. But I had to wait to post this until Halloween and now Halloween is minutes from over and I almost missed it. I don't even have little children to get into costumes and out into the neighborhood to use as an excuse for my lateness.


My pick this week is Linda Williams' The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything. My mom first found this book for my niece when she was very little. She loved it so much that a copy soon made it to my house. It is simply charming. At two years old, this was my son's favorite book. We made it interactive. The little old lady, out on a walk is confronted by a series of clothing items. Each makes a "sound" (although shake, shake is not really a sound). When we started reading the book, I did the "sounds" myself but soon my son was joining in the fun and I would let him read the sound words. By the time he was three, he could "read' this book himself. Although beloved by all three of my children, it was my oldest who truly loved this book. Tonight my fourteen-year-old and I read it together!

Beyond the fun factor, the book has a wonder message about being brave and facing fears. It teaches children that sometimes things aren't as scary as we might think they are. My copy is falling apart. But it will continue to be a part of Halloween for years to come.

15 comments:

  1. yes! A true Halloween classic. The local park in my town hosted a kid-friendly haunted hayride and it was loosely based on the storyline of this book. Pretty neat.

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  2. Haha, I can rest my head to John's shoulder at the soccer game. :D

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  3. I've never seen this one but I love the story about how you all have read it so much that it is falling apart. I love books like that! (sort of like The Velveteen Rabbit in book form!)

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  4. I like this one, too. This and Room on the Broom are two of my favorite picture books for this time of year.

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  5. Awww. Sounds like a book I need to get and send to my sister and her little people for next Halloween.

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  6. One of the best things about the holidays is rereading the kids' favorites with them as they get older.

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  7. My son LOVES this book. We checked it out of the library for Halloween the past two years.

    Great post!

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  8. Cute book!! I haven't heard of it but if my boys were small it would be one that I would read to them!

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  9. I will have to get this one! I think my little son would love it too! Thanks for sharing.

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  10. oh WOW! I have never read of this one.. but it sounds really good!

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  11. I have never heard of this book but it sounds delightful! The fact that your copy is falling apart is testament to how much you like it. I'm going to have to find it the next time I'm at the bookstore!
    It sounds perfect for a Halloween read.

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  12. This looks like fun - I'll have to keep an eye out for it...

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  13. Lisa, I can't believe I missed this post. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to head over here and comment!

    I haven't heard of this particular book before, but I love books that I can share with my kids (and doing the voices is very fun)!

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