Classic Remarks Redux: #8

See my intro post to find out more about my Classic Remarks Redux series. Thanks to the ladies at Pages Unbound for the prompts and inspiration.

SKIP – Nov. 4, 2016: Middlemarch has received criticism for the fate of its heroine Dorothea Brooke as some believe she does not live up to feminist ideals as she remains limited in her influence and matched to an inferior partner.  Do you think such criticism is warranted?

Nov. 11, 2016: Do you think the end of Charlotte Bronte’s Villette is a feminist triumph or an emotional tragedy?  (Or something else entirely?)

I haven’t read either Middlemarch or Villette.

Prompt #8 from Oct. 28, 2016: What is your favorite classic picture book?  Or you can tell us about a picture book you think will/should become a classic.

It’s hard to define “classic” when it comes to picture books. Some lists of classic picture books have books by authors that are still living and some lists restrict them to being at least 50 years old. And others are everywhere in between.

So I decided to look up the oldest known Children’s Picture book and found that it’s a book called Orbis sensualium pictus (Or The Visible World in English), published in 1658. This article from the British Library gives you a quick overview of it. The Wayback machine will let you view pages from it.

However, this isn’t a book that a modern reader would think of when they think of a picture book. So the history of picture books aside, one of my favorite “classic” picture books is Make Way for Ducklings. First published in 1941 and the winner of the 1942 Caldecott Medal. Make Way for Ducklings is still a delight to read today. Saying the names of each duckling aloud in a fun tongue twister.

Mrs. Mallard was sure that the pond in the Boston Public Gardens would be a perfect place for her and her eight ducklings to live.  The problem was how to get them there through the busy streets of Boston.  But with a little help from the Boston police, Mrs. Mallard and Jack, Kack, Lack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack arive safely at their new home.

I was an adult reading it to my goddaughter when I found out the places mentioned in the book are real and you can go visit them. There is even a bronze statue of the ducklings by Nancy Schön is a popular attraction in Boston Public Garden.

If you haven’t read this classic picture book I encourage you to pick up a copy.