Five Favorites is a special feature at the LA Books Examiner in which our favorite authors share and discuss their five favorite books within a category. In this edition, Margaret Hyde, Oscar-nominated filmmaker and author of the popular Mo’s Nose children’s books series, discusses her five favorite children’s books.
Five Favorite Children’s books by Margaret Hyde
1) Harold and The Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson (1955)
This is my all-time favorite children’s book and favorite book to give anyone, child or adult, who is making major changes in his/her life. Harold uses his imagination to create his world as he goes along. This ability to make choices as you go and know that you can always make a different one is a comfort to me as a writer and parent.
2) The Book of Bad Ideas, Laura Huliska-Beith (2000)
This funny and deliciously clever book starts with a note to readers — “Seems like a lot of bad ideas come from what start out to be ‘good ideas’ Borderline GENIUS, in fact! But then something goes horribly wrong.” The bad ideas are numbered out of sequence from #239, asking your best friend to give you a quick haircut on class picture day, to the final bad idea of turning the book into a bike ramp or something. All the ideas are similar to ones that you might have thought of as child, or maybe your child has attempted, with a funny twist.
3) The La-Di-Da Hare, J. Patrick Lewis (1997)
This is a poetic whimsical tale about an imaginative mouse that convinces his friend the Honey Pot bear to go on a journey to the Island of Oh in search of an Eden and the lovely La-Di-Da hare. There is nothing surprising in the plot, but it is so beautifully written that it is wonderful to read aloud. The friendship is touching and heartfelt. I always feel touched when I read it aloud and finish with a wistful sigh.
Read the rest of Margaret Hyde's Five Favorite Children's Books at Frank Mundo's LA Books Examiner.
