"There Was A Little Fur Family, Warm As Toast, Smaller Than Most....."
Written: Apr 21 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Makes a wonderful bedtime story.
Cons: I wish it still was published with a fur cover.
The Bottom Line: A book about love and the warmth that families share. A must for any child's library of read aloud favorites.
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| Prepoia's Full Review: Margaret Wise Brown and Miniature Book Collection ... |
During the childhood of your children, there are many moments that become a “forever” kind of memory. Some are the firsts that each experience; the first time they turn over, the first time they cut their first tooth, the first time they sit up, the first time they crawl, the first time they take a step (and at our house at least) the first time they eat spaghetti.
After 28 years of raising my “first” child, I have to admit that while I remember that they had these firsts, I don’t exactly remember the date, or the month, although I do remember they all happened in the “first” year. But there is one thing that is memorable, and it wasn’t a first. It was a MANY. It was the many times that I read to my child.
Throughout these many years, I have read hundreds (probably thousands) of books to him. Throughout the years, he’s had many favorites: “Oscar the Grouch” was big during the pre-school years because he memorized it and “read” it to me; “Ira Sleeps Over” during early elementary times; “A Light In The Attic” during the middle elementary years; then came years with no real stand out favorites; and finally Terry Brooks and the “Wishbone of Shannara book.
I could have chosen any of the above to write about, but it wouldn’t be about a book that spanned his childhood. Only one book, “The Little Fur Family” by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Garth Williams, fits that category. One will never know the absolute reason why that a child falls in love with a book or a story, but each child will find such a book. It may be that the first time you read it to him it falls on a day that it “speaks” to his feelings. It may be that you read the book with just the right inflections that its cadence forever murmurs through his mind. Or maybe, there is be no particular reason why. They just like the book and it brings back memories each time the child and later adult reads it.
I received “The Little Fur Family” as part of a baby gift from one of my husband’s clients when my son was born. The cover was blue and I sat it on the dresser in my son’s room because it matched the color scheme. When David was about a year old, I was cleaning off the top of the dresser in his room and had placed the dresser top articles on the floor. He (who always followed me from room to room as I cleaned) picked up the book and began to look through it. As I finished the dresser and began putting the things back on top, I picked up David and the book and sat down in the rocker and read it to him. He wasn’t talking yet, but he loved having me hold and read and talk about the pictures to him. That was the “first” time I read, “The Little Fur Family.”
And, as they say, “The rest is history.” The book has been read many times throughout the years and it always had to be read to him by me. Even when he could read it himself, he would choose that one for me to read as I read to him and his younger sister. They always took turns choosing the book and this one was always his choice. One time I didn’t read the words with the same inflections on certain phrases (he was about 7 at the time) and he told me that I didn’t read it right. I do think that when children are learning to read and be readers, the “sound” of the words is as important as the words themselves. Kids that have reading troubles in school, even in the middle school grades, tend to be the kids that can’t “hear” how the phrasing of words should sound or be read. To me, this is the number one academic reason that parents should read to their young children as often as possible.
Children love books that have a storyline, but they love even more repetitions when starting out. That’s why I enjoyed reading this book to them. Many children’s books (and many by Wise) get boring in the repetitions that they contain. This author also wrote, “Goodnight Moon” but this one becomes a chore to read because the word “goodnight” is repeated more times than I want to read it.
In “The Little Fur Family” the author relies on phrases rather than words that repeat.
The beginning line sets the pace of the repetitive phrasing, “There was a little fur family, warm as toast, smaller than most, in little fur coats, and they lived in a warm wooden tree.” As you pick up the rhythm of the phrase, you can continue with it throughout the rest of the book.
The story tells of a little fur child and his day. It mirrors many of the things that happen daily to all children. He goes out to play in the yard. While there, he sneezes and his grandfather who lives nearby in a stump comes “walking thump, thump, thump as he walks out of his hollow stump and says, “Bless you, my little fur grandson.” My son particularly liked this bonding part between the fur grandfather and fur child because his grandfather lives nearby and often would stop over and visit him when he played outside. The child stays outside until it is getting dark (at a certain age my son wondered why the parents let him play outside so long and even when it began to get dark) and then he runs into the house where his fur mother and fur father, feed him, clean him up and put him to bed. Before they tuck him in, they sing him a song. Simple storyline but powerful in its message of love between family members and the importance warmth in the circle of family plays in the security of children.
The date of publication on Epinions states 1985. I checked the background of the book (because I was reading this story to my son in 1972) and found that the book was originally written in the 1940’s. In fact, the original version of this book was only about 3” x 4” and was covered in a fur cover. My version is hardcover, larger in size and blue but looks and has the same picture that Epinion’s show on its website example. For the hundreds of times I’ve read this book over the years, my copy of the book still looks like new. David always took great care in putting this book away when either he or I would finish reading it. He now has it put away to read to his own children some day. It is one of the few books that has withstood the test of time.
THIS MONTH HAS BEEN DESIGNATED THE FIRST “ANNUAL BEDTIME STORY MONTH” BY THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY LITERACY AGENCY.
This has been written as part of a write-off to celebrate this new annual event. To read other submissions of reviews by members, there is a link to each participant and their review at:
http://www.pronetisp.net/~anjuliz/bookwriteoff.html
Participants are: Angela9049, Angelabar, Bpotter1, Caines, Cbgresh, Chrisceb, CJsmommy, ColleenMF, CyndiCM, Dandj, DarkMistress, Daxman, Debbie26, Dr_Steph, Ed_grover, Gina Hill, Gracef, Hawgwyld, Hhassell99, Jankp, Jenninca, Jo.com, Jodycw, KateTPZ, KCC8988, KCFemme, KMINER, Lisa_J, Lisalexx, Magenta321, Melkinwa, Merlot, Mimi369, Mom2Daniel, Mom2TyZick, NWinston, Phineaskc, Prepoia, ProEditor, Quasar, Redlass, Robinmichele, Rosieroon, Sherrylee, Staceys1, Tchoate, Wardukeky, Willetfk
I hope that you’ll all read the excellent reviews, pick up a few ideas about new books to read to your children, and then “Read, Read, Read!”
Recommended:
Yes
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Prepoia
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Location: Michigan
Reviews written: 307
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About Me:
I Love My Family, Teaching, Reading, the Internet, and Travel (and Epinions of Course)!
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