Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Flashback Tuesday: Giant John by Arnold Lobel


I just found out that one of my favorite books as a kid has been reissued with a new cover. I loved the book Giant John by Arnold Lobel. The copy we had was from the Weekly Reader we used to get at school.


As I said this is one of my favorite books~I can still see the illustrations~the castle, the king & queen, princess & dog. I loved the part where the fairies come and make John dance and then how they felt sorry when his dancing destroyed the castle. One of my favorite illustrations was of when John goes home to find his mother so desperate for food that she is about to eat her shoe. Oh and the part where they only had two potato chips left in cupboard....I could go on and on.


When my niece Celia was a little girl I used to read it to her. She always wanted to take the book home but I couldn't part with it. There is also an illustration with the moon in it~I think it was one of her first words. A few years ago I finally found a few copies on an out of print website and bought it for all my siblings. I of course, still have the original.
This is a great book for any kid~it is one of the most fun books to read aloud~a classic story for everyone! It makes a great gift!!!

1 comment:

  1. This is one of my all time favorite books! I think of Giant John often too ~ especially when I put broken things back together ~ I remember that when the castle was destroyed, GJ "did not cry" but got right to work. The fixed castle didn't look quite the same as it did before but everyone thought it was beautiful! Just like this book!!!

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