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Mike Di's avatar

The sheer number of times you’re forced to read children’s books is astonishing (as a new parent). I’m so grateful for JDs ability to make books that are super fun to read. I like to challenge myself to read an entire Donaldson book with a cadence that’s fun, sometimes I try to read the Gruffalo pretending to be Anthony from RHCP (try it, it’s fun). Another favorite author of mine is Robert Munsch, although a lot of his stories are pretty mediocre, Michael Martchenkos illustrations are inspirational. I might write a similar piece about RM soon! Thanks for this inspo.

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Drunk Wisconsin's avatar

My son's first exposure to Julia Donaldson was through Yoto, so he fell in love with the song they made for Monkey Puzzle. My mom, whose English is not so good, just adores Donaldson's books. I think the relatively simple rhyming and fun message ends up really resonating. She and my son love to play Gruffalo where one of them is the mouse and they reenact the whole book.

My least favorite books are not those that are fun for kids and boring or annoying for adults, but those "kids" books that are really just adults inserting adult messages — or even political messages — into kids books. I don't care, the kid doesn't care.

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