Children’s literature has a special place in our hearts. In a way, recognizing it as a separate genre and branding a book as a children’s book is not right because many adults are just grown-up children. The true passion, the apparent silliness, alleged lack of knowledge and timelessness, the adults’ perception of having already experienced it — all of these are applicable to all literature. Age appropriateness may be a concern, but the associated risk can be mitigated at the source, that is, by producing it meaningfully (for which, again, the onus is on adults).
Even so, we are fortunate to have so much of wonderful children’s literature. One such book was written by Alexander Raskin: When Daddy Was a Little Boy. It has stories of a daddy when he was a little boy. They are told by a daddy himself to his young daughter when she used to fall sick. Here is an audio recording of how Raskin introduces his book:
Rujuta and Apoorv enjoyed almost all the stories. We have read them many times. Nothing fancy or grandiose, but simple, dramatic, and powerful. The stories are each less than 8 pages long and can be read in any order. Delicate humor and drama is a cornerstone of many stories and it brings out many aspects of the human psyche quite simply. Here is one of my favorite stories: Little Daddy Makes a Mistake.
We highly recommend this book to everyone, not only for a pandemic season, but for any season.
Free Learner's School 