Kids and favorite books

I don't know how universal this is -- and it probably depends on how much your parents read to you -- but it seems like most kids have a favorite book. A book that they insist gets read to them over and over and OVER -- until the parents have it memorized, and can read it without looking. But of course, you can't try changing the words, because the kid has the story memorized down to the word, and will correct you if you mis-speak or try to take shortcuts.

For me, it was a book called ''Parakeet Peter'' -- which, sadly (based on a quick Amazon.com search) appers to so out of print it's not even listed!!! Since it's one of my little-est kid books, it's in one of the many boxes of books (my parents encouraged reading!) out on the veranda. When the house -- finally -- gets built, and we have some bookshelf space, I'll take 'em all out.

So, for me it was ''Parakeet Peter.'' If I recollect correctly, in the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip it was ''Hamster Huey and the Eewie Kablooie.'' And, for the bub: ''Loud Leo Lion''

Very cute (biased, of course). She's thirteen months old, not quite walking, not lingual. And it's one of those cardboard-based books, with maybe five pages. But the finale of the book is when he finds his roar, by going ''Squeak -- squeak -- ROOOOAR!!!" And when you read ''Squeak... Squeak...,'' she turns expectantly to you, waiting. (Operant conditioning?) And when you go ''Rooooar!!!", she laughs, grabs the book, and then hands the book back to ya.

Cute.


--GG