Our Favorite Kids Books: Stand-Alone Favorites (Part 2)

Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, by Judith Viorst

The more popular of the two “Alexander” books is probably Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Say that we’re rebels, but we enjoy Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday just a smidge more. The dry humor of both books is more than enjoyable. Alexander remains a relatable character, highlighting the problems faced by children every day. I believe there’s comfort to be found in these books because there isn’t ever a real resolve or a sure solution to Alexander’s problems. Sometimes, at the end of a bad day, all you have left are bus tokens. That’s life, and it’s okay.

The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales, by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith

Again, I believe that Jon Scieszka’s more widely accepted work is “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!” I have a vivid memory of trying to describe to my elementary friends this book that told fairy tales differently and strangely. They immediately said, “Oh! You mean that three little pigs book! Yeah, that’s hilarious!” and I shook my head, “No, no, no! The stinky cheese man!” I might have been from a different universe, the looks they gave me! With bizarre, slightly off-putting illustrations and incredibly creative re-imaginings of classic tales, The Stinky Cheese Man...” is comedic gold and a one-of-a-kind read. We highly recommend it to everyone.

Chewy Louie by Howie Schneider

My mother, sister and I got this book one day in a Barnes N’ Noble. I think we enjoyed it so much because we had a black labrador dog ourselves. Chewy Louie is about a family who adopts a puppy that chews on absolutely everything! The over-the-top visuals and dry humor similar to that of the “Alexander” books make for a wonderfully humorous story.

Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

This whimsical folktale is about the dangers of having a ridiculously long name. Tikki Tikki Tembo is really short for Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo and means “the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world.” When Tikki tembo falls down a well, it is up to his little brother Chang (which means “little or nothing”) to fetch help. However, he isn’t allowed to tell his mother anything about his older brother without saying the full name. Because of the length of Tikki’s name, Chang runs out of breath and can’t spread the news that his brother is drowning. Tikki nearly perishes because of his parent’s foolishness and the Chinese have since learned to only give short names instead of long ones. It’s quite silly, and I would suggest it as a wonderful addition to any library.

Pierre: A Cautionary Tale, by Maurice Sendak

Before writing this blog, I never knew a thing about this book. It’s extremely small for one thing, about the size of your hand. It’s always been on our shelves and it’s so bizarre that we grew an unusual love for it. So after doing some research, I learned that not only is Pierre written by Maurice Sendak, the author of Where the Wild Things Are, but that we’ve been telling the story wrong all this time, in that we haven’t been singing it! The story of Pierre is about a little boy who doesn’t care about anything. His apathy eventually gets him eaten by a lion, but thanks to his parents and a doctor willing to shake down a lion he survives and his near-death experience teaches him to be more caring.