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A few Sebastian book notes
Today I pulled out The Portmanteau Book by Thomas Rockwell and read a few of the stories to Sebastian. It's really for older boys - probably eight years old at least - but although he didn't understand all of it, he loved "Hot I: Nakedness", particularly the part when the boy ran out naked into the street because his brother had told him that the water mains had burst while he was in the tub. My little guy was positively hysterical.
He also really got a kick out of "Hot II: Toiletpaper" and "Crazy Tom".
I should also note that a couple of weeks ago I finished reading The Adventures of Phunsi to him. It took us about eight or nine evenings, at least. Like The Portmanteau Book, it was a bit too old for him; it was first published in 1946, so the vocabulary was more advanced than you'd see these days. I'd guess it's appropriate for ages seven and up; a well-educated and intelligent seven, though.
I'd forgotten what an absolutely lovely story it was. It's about a little zebra who can run faster than anything - so fast that he can't be seen. Of course he also can't see where he's going when he's going that fast. He and his mother get captured in Africa, and are shipped to the zoo in New York. Phunsi eventually escapes, and has all sorts of interesting adventures in the greater New York area. One of the things I like best about the book is that it's filled with songs and poetry. Almost every creature Phunsi meets - and there are a lot of them - has a story to tell in song form. The one frustrating thing about that is that I'm no good at making up tunes on the fly, so I usually ended up reciting the songs rather than trying to sing them.
Something odd: I was driving Sebastian around not long ago, and he asked me "Is this a dream?".
"What do you mean, baby boy?"
"My life feels like a dream sometimes."
"Well, you're definitely awake now!"
He also really got a kick out of "Hot II: Toiletpaper" and "Crazy Tom".
I should also note that a couple of weeks ago I finished reading The Adventures of Phunsi to him. It took us about eight or nine evenings, at least. Like The Portmanteau Book, it was a bit too old for him; it was first published in 1946, so the vocabulary was more advanced than you'd see these days. I'd guess it's appropriate for ages seven and up; a well-educated and intelligent seven, though.
I'd forgotten what an absolutely lovely story it was. It's about a little zebra who can run faster than anything - so fast that he can't be seen. Of course he also can't see where he's going when he's going that fast. He and his mother get captured in Africa, and are shipped to the zoo in New York. Phunsi eventually escapes, and has all sorts of interesting adventures in the greater New York area. One of the things I like best about the book is that it's filled with songs and poetry. Almost every creature Phunsi meets - and there are a lot of them - has a story to tell in song form. The one frustrating thing about that is that I'm no good at making up tunes on the fly, so I usually ended up reciting the songs rather than trying to sing them.
Something odd: I was driving Sebastian around not long ago, and he asked me "Is this a dream?".
"What do you mean, baby boy?"
"My life feels like a dream sometimes."
"Well, you're definitely awake now!"