Once Upon a Time...

As a former junior high English teacher, I have a fondness for the written word, particularly quality children's literature. It seems that many of life's most valuable lessons are so eloquently and succinctly shared on the pages of children's books. That's why I was so thrilled to stumble upon Amy Gash's What the Dormouse Said: Lessons for Grown-ups from Children's Books. It's a true treasure, and I refer to it often. As Amy writes, "The ability to get to the essence in just a few lines, as authors for young people with short attention spans must do, is the mark of a gifted writer for an audience of any age."

With the birth of my "bonus baby" a little more than three years ago, I have had the pleasure of rediscovering some of my favorite children's books along with uncovering some new tales with my older two. I truly enjoy reading these books and discovering wonderful nuggets of wisdom. I'm planning on sharing some of those insightful gems in this blog, especially when I find one that perfectly fits with whatever meandering musing I might be blogging about.

Children's author Judith Viorst summed up my thoughts exactly when she wrote that those bits of wisdom shared in children's books..."remind us that we should never grow so old, or change so much, that we cannot find room in our hearts for the wisdom of children's books." On that note, I'm off to read a bedtime story to Bonus Baby and look forward to what life lesson we might learn tonight.