If you Want to Raise Nice Human Beings, Read to Your Children
William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, The Amazing Bone, and Dr. DeSoto
I made a lot of mistakes raising my children, and there were some difficult times, but they turned into good-hearted, well-adjusted adults. I’m of the school that thinks babies are born with personalities, not as blank slates, and parents can only hope they learn how to read, swim, say please and thank you. It they turn out to be happy, kind, and considerate of others, you win. Bonus points if they’re respectful of tradition and copy only your best behaviors.
Looking back, I think reading to them was the most important thing we did. Messages from the books we read slowly seeped into their minds even more than our daily admonitions about what to say, what to do, or how to act.
I have a lot more to say about wonderful books, but today I’m thinking about cartoonist, illustrator, and author of children’s books: William Steig (1907–2003). We read his books over and over, probably from ages 5 to about 9 for each child.
Something scary happens in every story, and I remember a little head leaning closer, an arm encircling me at that moment. There’s always a resolution, a return to normal, and as soon as I’d read the clever solution, my child would go back to playing with whatever toy he or she was holding.
I can’t remember which of my kids gasped the first time we read Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1969). Although the pictures are of animals, one can imagine actual children having terrible experiences. Especially here in America, where we’ve been having an epidemic of school shootings and obnoxious, partisan Supreme Court decisions.
Reading about bad things can help kids understand real-world situations (however heart-breaking they are). In the stories, a child gets threatened with danger, or cannot go home. Going to the edge of awful possibility and coming back unscathed is a metaphor for all the icky things that can happen when you are small.
William Steig addresses just that.
In Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, a little donkey finds a magic stone that grants him a wish, and he mistakenly turns himself into a rock. He can’t go home. It’s terribly sad, but the book gives an opening to talk about things that can make someone cry, and how hard it is sometimes, to be away from parents. The book won a well-deserved Caldecott medal in 1969, but in 1977, police associations in several states were upset about cute little piggies portraying police officers. The associations tried to get Sylvester banned from libraries, which was beyond ridiculous. Thankfully, it didn’t happen, and it’s still available.
The Amazing Bone (1976) is about Pearl, a young pig who, while walking home from school, comes across a small bone that starts talking to her. It says, “I can imitate any sound there is.” Pearl takes the bone home, leaving her purse open so they can continue chatting. On her way, she’s confronted by a band of robbers wearing masks and then she meets a fox who wants to eat her for dinner. Good thing she has a talking bone in her purse, especially one that can mimic sounds. The graphics are magnificent, and every spring (for over 30 years now) when the forsythia fades, the almond and cherry trees are blooming, and the landscape is a swathe of white, pink, and lilac, we think of The Amazing Bone.
Dr. De Soto (1982) is about a mouse dentist who, together with his wife, helps everyone except animals that eat mice. A well-dressed fox with a toothache begs for their help, and they pity him. They agree to risk removing his rotting tooth. Then, while he’s under the anesthesia, the fox talks about how much he loves to eat mice! Dr. DeSoto’s father taught him to finish a job once he starts, so he and his wife figure out a plan to save themselves.
Children learn that dentists are good, things your father taught you are important, and sometimes you can figure out a way around a tricky problem.
William Steig is best known as the original creator of SHREK, but we never read or heard about it until the movie came out in 2001, when our youngest was six.
Although that child didn’t like all the singing, we bought the VHS tape and watched it over and over. And over. An ugly monster learns that he’s going to marry a princess who is even uglier, and he sets out to find her, with help from a donkey who wants to be best friends. Although the film might go in too many directions to notice, William Steig’s book nails some important concepts:
1) Everyone faces challenges, but through patience, smarts, and a little help from friends, you can be happy, and 2) It’s good, no matter who you are or what you look like, to find someone who loves you best of all.
Isn’t that what we all want for our children? Especially our adult children.
