Friday, April 6, 2012

Bad Babies Book of Color

I am going to write about a book that I am almost positive is out of print. But if you find it in a used bookstore, or in the library I promise it will bring your little one a lot of enjoyment.
The name of the book is "The Bad Babies' Book of Colors".  The author is Tony Bradman, an Englishmen educated in Cambridge.  You would think a man who earned a master's degree there would write stuffy books about the history of the British empire, but no, he turned to children's books. 
He has written well over fifty children's books, although a young man <a little older than I am, no smart comments peanut gallery!>  including the Dilly the Dinosaur series.
But my personal favorite is the "Bad Babies' Book of Colors".  It is done in rhyme.  And the emphasis is on the story, but somehow, the color learning is an integral part of it.
The first paragraph begins  "Today is our Bad Baby's birthday. And who is at William's GREEN door? Could it be his good friend the mailman, bringing birthday greetings galore?"
The rest of the story goes on to say who is arriving, what they are bringing, what they do and how they play.
The pictures are done by Debbie van der Beek. They are beautiful pictures, with bright happy colors.
I used to read this book to my children constantly. I only just bought it again through ABE books, which is a site that you can use to find old, hard to find, and out of print books. As soon as I got it I tried to read it out loud to my son. He is in his 20's. For some odd reason he seemed to find my timing off a bit. He was trying to listen to the Daily show on the computer and I wanted to read to him. I ignored his protests and started reading the book out loud, he switched to metallica music, I kept reading, he reached for his speaker to up the volume, knocked the whole thing over and the room was silent. I finished the story, and looked at him. He had a look of complete exasperation and defeat on his face as I smiled and said  "Wasn't that lovely?"
Look for it in your local library. "The Bad Babies' Book of Colors" is an enjoyable read at any age!

No comments:

Post a Comment