My 3 Favorite Childhood Books & Why Reading Is (Still) Fundamental

 3.  The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack & Kurt Wiese (1933)

My aunt would read this whenever I stayed at her house, and it always managed to chill out my hyperactive behavior (I was always EXTRA turnt at her house for some reason--probably because she had a huge in-ground pool & tons of games).  She also had a backyard full of ducks and a mean goose that almost bit my finger off, so I always associated this book with her.  🦆🪿

Ping is a duck who's always last in his family to board the boat home after feeding on the Yangtze River all day, which earns him a whipping by their human owner.  So one day he decides to run away rather than face his punishment, which almost ends with him becoming someone's dinner.  Moral of the story:  It's better to face up to minor consequences than to run from them and potentially get yourself hurt (or worse).  Ping was included in the Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children in a 2007 poll. The illustrations are colorful and immersive and the story moves quickly to keep young readers engaged.

*Due to the age of the book, there may be issues with how Chinese people are portrayed--I can't remember--but there's a good chance it would be considered insensitive bordering on offensive today.  I'm not sure that whipping ducks is a real practice over there.  

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2.  Corduroy by Don Freeman (1968)

This one was a favorite at my maternal Grandma's house.  She lived in "the city" where I longed to be so badly even from a pre-school age.  And this book reminded me of "the city" in several ways, mainly because it was set in an urban shopping mall.  It also featured a Black child and her mother as the main (human) characters, and it did so in a way that was totally natural and non-political despite the author being a white man.  No awkward AAVE or other forced/unnatural content--just a sweet story about a child who wants to buy a teddy bear who's a little imperfect. After her mom says no, they go home and the bear goes on a late night adventure through the mall searching for his lost overall button. 

Like Ping, Corduroy was included in the Top 100 Picture Books for Children and it's not hard to see why when you read it.  I always felt like I was about to go on a Big City adventure when my grandma broke this book out, and we often did, to Toys R Us, the park, the grocery store, her giant church with the tiny grape juice shots... even her backyard was exciting, with its hanging tree swing and strawberry patch.  Side note:  Maybe this is where my love of abandoned shopping malls started?!

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1.)  Mister Dog by Margaret Wise Brown (1952)

Coming in at #1 is a little-known Little Golden Book by beloved children's author Margaret Wise Brown.  My paternal Grandma would read it to me when she came to visit nightly when I was a toddler & I got completely lost in its illustrations and storyline, which followed a dog named Crispin's Crispian, a human-like canine. 

The plot is simple:  A dog with no owner who belongs to himself does whatever he wants every day, an idea that was ALWAYS appealing to me.  As grandma read to me, I'd imagine the day when I'd have my OWN place and could do the same.  Glorious.  On top of that, Mr. Dog was extremely particular about his schedule, doing everything in a very deliberate order:  eat breakfast, play with the other dogs, put everything in its right place--"the cup in the saucer, the chair under the table, the stars in the heavens, the moon in the sky, and himself in his own little bed.”  VERY appealing to an autistic child who, at age 2, already had a set of rituals I'd scream and cry about if they got disrupted. 

I was surprised to see opinions on the internets are more, uhh, split on this book, with one blogger calling it the "worst book she's ever read" lol. (Take the paywall off that article and let's have a fair debate, lady!)  People are entitled to their (wrong) opinions, but Mister Dog will always hold a special place in my heart as the book I read until it damn near fell apart.  The pages were worn and the spine discolored.  I admit, it's a bit eccentric with its strange names ("Crispin's Crispian?") and gritty illustrations of a weary dog in his open robe looking a tad hungover (see below), but that's what makes it special.  To me, a weirdo.

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Brain Food vs. Brain Rot

Can't spell "brainrot" without "AI"

These were only 3 of the many, MANY books that I owned as a baby/toddler that were read to me on a daily basis.  I had no siblings until I was 3 1/2 and didn't go to daycare or preschool, so I had no contact with other kids until a pretty late age. This made reading and educational kids' shows like Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow & Mister Rogers' Neighborhood all the more important for my early development.  By the time kindergarten testing rolled around, they said I could skip to 1st grade, but thankfully my mom vetoed that idea.  (I was good academically but socially and emotionally?  Notsomuch).  😬

Think of reading, writing, drawing/doodling and educational TV as brain food while "smart" devices, AI, loud/bright/"silly" non-educational programs, computers, video games and internet = brain rot.  Like sugary treats, these things may be okay in extreme moderation, but they have an innate addictive quality and will rot your teeth (brain) out in abundance.  

The 1,300-lb elephant in the room

But my days of being read to by family members were in the mid-late '80s. Nowadays with smartphones, tablets and other internet-connected devices in every hand & pocket, parents rarely make time to read books to their kids unless it's to do their homework for them.  They rarely teach them special songs, random facts or other things that help their competence and imagination grow.  Just shove a sippy cup of juice/soda in their mouth, give them a device with a well-charged battery & walk away.  As one commenter put it, smartphone addiction is "a(n) epidemic of child neglect that's being normalized".  And it's being normalized because the adults/parents are the ones most addicted.

Reading, watching videos or playing games online is NOT the same as reading a book, writing with pen and paper or playing a board game.  And in excess they're harmful to the developing brain.  Countries like Sweden are reverting back to pen and paper in schools because of the disruption of brain development, increased attention deficit & processing problems in students taught primarily online. While being tech-literate is important in today's world, there's no question that you can go too far with constant access to online devices and their notifications, updates and "on-call" texting capabilities that become a 24/7 distraction.  

Admitting the Problem:  The 1st Step 

Someone sat down and made this meme when they could've just gone outside.

People often reminisce about the "good old days" of their childhood and how they didn't know how good they had it before smartphones, as if some foreign enemy nation is imposing this lifestyle on us.  Good news:  IT IS A CHOICE. 

If that's really how you feel, you have a problem (denial; addiction) and you need to own that, not make an excuse like "Durr I have to have my phone on 24/7 for my job!" or similar.  If that's actually true, get a flip phone with calling/texting capabilities and use a laptop for your internet needs at home, and leave it at home.  NOBODY needs to be online all the time.  Everyone born before 2007 lived in a world without smartphones--Millennials and older generations all grew up without them and did just fine.  (Better than fine, judging by our literacy rates).

I'll be the first to admit, I've been terminally online since we first got a PC in my house at age 15.  The internet is more addictive and life-altering than any drug I've tried, which includes a helluva lot of them.  I divide my life into "Pre-Internet" and "Post-Internet" periods the way the world measures time in "Before/After Christ", not only due to the amount of time I spend online but the overall impact that time has had on my daily life... even when compared to the "hardest" drugs or most addictive experiences I've tried.  (I lived in Vegas for years so I know a thing about instant gratification via gambling, shopping, clubbing, etc).  My vice is the device.  I managed to get in a lot of trouble as a teen in a time before social media even existed, so it terrifies me what kids could get into today with all that unsupervised internet access. 

This post is about promoting books, not dissing the internet so GO READ SOMETHING & make sure you foster a love of reading & unstructured play in the kids in your life!  Stupid is never cute. 💕