more:

A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
Said the flea, "Let us fly."
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

There was a young lady of Bright
Who could travel much faster than light.
She set off one day,
In a relative way,
And returned on the previous night

I heard the "bacon as a bookmark" story (in the context of "it happened here") when I was a library assistant in Ealing... and one of my colleagues back then claimed that on one occasion they had found a kipper stuck in a returned book, too. Must be quite a few absent-minded, or just careless, people reading library books at breakfast... Oh, and we had one local drunk who used to place his empty bottles on the bookshelves under the appropriate letters...

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"Some days I diet, other days they serve lasagne."



Post Edited (03-18-03 18:46)

Two poems with vaguely literary associations, both by Anon (one of the greatest writers of his/her time)

THE * ITSELF HAS A HISTORY: LISTEN

An author owned an asterisk
And kept it in his den
Where he wrote tales which had large
sales
Or erring maids and men,
And always, when he reached the point
Where carping censors lurk,
He called upon the asterisk
To do his dirty work !


THE IMAGINATIVE CRISIS

The spell is wrought: imagination swells
My sleeping-room to hills and woods and dells !
I walk abroad, for none my footsteps hinder,
And fling my arms. Oh ! mi ! I've broke the
winder.

You go away for five minutes and people run about being entertaining and thoughtful ..... I learnt to read from a book about a tiger, which my mother had to read to me until I knew it by heart, and could read it myself. When I went to school I was the *only* kid in the class would could read properly, which meant I got to skip lessons (and it was all downhill from there, really).

James James Morrison Morrison was a party piece in our family, and so was Cottleston Pie. I cleaned the children's section of Chadderton Library out, (I read *all* Dr. Dolittle, Swallows and Amazons and all 39 Just William books at least ten times each) and was given special dispensation to have an adult ticket (it didn't hurt that mother used to work there). Years later, when I was unemployed, I used to spend all day in the marvellous Central Library in Manchester, sitting under the enormous dome of the main Reading Room studying all manner of stuff that caught my fancy. I grew up in libraries.

Can I recommend to Eddie 'The Last Noo-Noo' by Jill Murphy, which I had to read to my niece a lot, and still kept me entertained even at the 33rd go. There are some very good picture books for small kids these days, but the ones I remember enjoying when I were a nipper were the Beatrix Potter tales, the Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley, and the immortal Orlando the Marmalade Cat by Kathleen Hale (fantastic pictures, great stories). Rupert Bear is a moron, but Paddington was cool, and his creator Michael Bond also did stories about a mouse called Thursday!



- - -
I am very interested in the Universe. I am specialising in the Universe and everything surrounding it. - E. L. Wisty

You know, I'm thankful that Jo Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books. I think it has helped bring literature to the kid-vid crowd. And I'm proud to say, most parents I know have made their children read the book before they see the movie, or at least have it read to them first. My niece, for one, who is a very strong reader and actually taught herself in Kindergarten, used an audio tape and read along with it. She did great. And her comprehension is fantastic.

It probably helps that her mother is a 2nd Grade teacher and her dad reads quite a bit too. And they always read to her. Although, they do use a lot of videos, they didn't let her neglect the reading aspect.

I personally learned to read when I was 4 and a half. My brother (a certified "genius" taught himself when he was 3 and a half by sitting on the toilet with encyclopedias!) I loved all the Paddington books. As well as the Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown books. And then came all the Judy Bloom and Madeline L'Engle books. I would rather spend my winter breaks locked away in my bedroom reading books under my bed than to hang out with all my nieces and nephews. They were fun, but my books were more interesting. I'm one of those people who speed through 3 or 4 books in a row in about 4-5 days and then don't pick anything up for several months. I go in spurts where I just can't get enough!

I just wish my retention was better. I remember the outline and the 'feeling' of it but the details always escape me. (Which is why I own paperback reference copies of TEA and LIAGB! to check everytime I have a question! LOL)

I asked my Mum when I learned to read, and she said she couldn't remember, I just always could. I don't remember learning. I enjoyed 'Swallows and Amazons' books too, but my specialty is pony books. Got 100's of them.

Speaking of children's books:

In other news.......

Fire Damages Presidential Library, Washington, DC

A tragic fire has destroyed the personal library of President
George W. Bush. Both of his books have been lost. The president is
reportedly devastated. Apparently, he had not finished coloring the
second one.

Terrorism Suspected.



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"I've often said that the difference between British and American SF TV series is that the British ones have three-dimensional characters and cardboard spaceships, while the Americans do it the other way around."
--Ross Smith

jon: Eddie is already a big fan of Jill Murphy's books, for it is she what is the author of 'Whatever Next', a tale about a bear who goes to the moon, discovers it's a bit crap, and comes home.

Also 'Peace at last', the tale of daddy bear who tries in vain to get some kip as mummy bear snores, baby bear doesn't sleep, the clock in the lounge is too loud, the tap in the kitchen drips and the cats in the garden make too much noise.

I kid you not. Splendid fun. I shall look out for 'The last noo-noo', especially as it's one of eddie's favourite words. anything with a tube on it somewhere is a noonoo. I blame the Teletubbies, as their hoover-creature is called Noo Noo.

I've got a charming photo book called 'The Kitten Who Couldn't Get Down'. Obviously not related to James Brown, then.

right, you owe me a new keyboard, and a fresh cup of tea. My colleagues are all looking at me most oddly...

Thanks for posting those two poems here, as I hadn't seen either before and enjoyed both.

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"Some days I diet, other days they serve lasagne."

Dave,

Sorry about the keyboard and cup of tea. If Norfolk's more convenient to you, you can have a cup of tea in the next few days. If Sheffield's better, you'll have to wait I'm afraid.
Beer and Dolby boxes don't go together very well either, so I'm informed.

For slightly older children _ 'The Ship That Flew' by Hilda Lewis, anything by Edward Eager, Joan Aiken's children's books... (If any of these are still available, which I fear may not be the case...)
Plus 'The Midnight Folk' and 'The Box of Delights', by John Masefield if I remember correctly.

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"Some days I diet, other days they serve lasagne."



Post Edited (03-19-03 19:17)

I don't think I'm a certified genius, though there are those who think I ought to be certified... anyway, I taught myself to read on Beatrix Potter at the age of three. (My great-uncle, who died a little over a year ago at the impressive age of 100, was the son of Beatrix Potter's coachman.) I also had all the railway stories by Rev W Awdry, well before they were known under the collective heading of "Thomas the Tank Engine". I hardly recall Thomas at all from those days; my favourite character was definitely Peter Sam! And I had the "Little Grey Rabbit" stories by Alison Uttley.

I've read quite a lot of the children's books already mentioned, and also a series that nobody's yet mentioned: the Professor Branestawm books by Norman Hunter, which used to send me into stitches at the age of about eight or nine. Anyone else read those?



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

yes, I did - they were suppose to be for boys, apparently, but I thought they were great. Very ffordian names, incidentally...

Supposed to be for boys? How? Why?

*FX: sound of mind boggling*



..........................................................................................

That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

Yes, I remember those... and another often-weird series that nobody has mentioned so far, the adventures of Bobby Brewster, too.

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"Some days I diet, other days they serve lasagne."

Yes I remember those. There was one where he was trying to help a friend who was trapped by pouring coffee and biscuits down the phone. By H.E.Todd if memory serves...

Now I remember Bobby Brewster. H. E. Todd came to our junior school to give a talk and sign books. My class happed to be on an outing around Norwich's medieaval walls that day, so I missed it. He left a few extra books and I bought one. It's probably in the attic upstairs.

Going back up a few posts - I remember 'Peace at last' - my sister had a copy of it and my Dad would groan in the most theatrical fashion when reading it. As for the Noo-Noo, my dog became known as the 'noo-noo' (now shortened to 'Noo') due to her habit of sucking up any food that happened to be lying about and searching for more with exagerated sniffing. She even answers to it now...



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.