A review by bookwormmichelle
Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book by Anita Silvey

5.0

This book was MARVELOUS. I was initially a little nervous, as I've read some pretty bad "famous people commenting on their favorite books" compilations lately. Perhaps the key here is getting intelligent people to comment on their favorite CHILDREN's book, one that affected their lives in some way. Perhaps this helps people lose some of the self-consciousness I've seen in this type of book and gain back some of the joy of a child finding himself in a book. Whatever it is, this book is wonderful. I love the great variety of books cited--from predictable favorites like The Hobbit, or Little House on the Prairie, all the way to some offbeat choices ("Pink Ice Cream" or "The King, The Mice and the Cheese"?) I loved the heartfelt memories shared by the contributors. I spent a lot of time echoing their sentiments (Yes! I remember EXACTLY how I felt when I encountered Jo March) wondering at the books I did not know (hmm, wonder how many my library has), thinking of books left out (What??? No "The Endless Steppe" or "The Hundred Dresses" or "Betsy-Tacy" or "Anne of Green Gables"??? What were they thinking???) and even more time reminiscing about the books that I loved as a child and that still affect me today. Loved this quote from a contributor---"Reason 1,000,001 to have children--you get to read children's books all over again, no apologies or explanations required. And you get to understand them in a whole new way."
Or this one, from author Graham Greene "Perhaps it is only in childhood tha tbooks have any deep influence on our lives . . . In childhood, all books are books of divination, telling us the future."
Lovely, lovely book!