7 bizarre but brilliant facts about your favourite childhood books
If you were a kid back in the days before iPads and PlayStations, weekends and school afternoons were all about either playing outside or reading a book. If you were more partial to the latter, chances are you’ve read most of the classic children’s books, like The Little Prince and Charlotte’s Web. Join us as we take a walk down memory lane and find out a bit more about our favourite childhood books.
1. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery – Saint-Exupery was inspired to write this beloved book in the 1930s when his Saigon-bound flight crashed into the Sahara Desert. The hallucinations he experienced led to the creation of the classic book.
2. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss – Theodor Seuss Geisel’s (Dr Seuss) publisher, Bennett Cerf, bet the author he couldn’t write a book using just 50 words. He did, and Cerf was forced to hand over $50.
3. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein – Publishing house Simon & Schuster turned down the book, wrongly believing it would not resonate with children. “The trouble with this Giving Tree of yours is that [...] it’s not a kid’s book — too sad, and it isn’t for adults — too simple,” editor William Cole told Silverstein.
4. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak – This 1963 picture book was almost about horses, but to Sendak’s disappointment, he couldn’t actually draw them! Instead, he created new animals based on his own hairy family members.
5. Curious George by H. A. Rey – In 1940, just after Paris was invaded by Nazis, Rey and his wife fled the city on bikes with the Curious George manuscript in tow. It was almost confiscated by an official who believed the couple to be spies.
6. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White – The idea for the book came from White’s fascination with the eight-legged friends in his own home. He loved the tiny critters so much that when he moved from his farm in Maine to New York City, he brought a spider egg sac, allowed them to hatch, then let them run free around his apartment – until his cleaner complained.
7. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle – Carle came up with the idea for the book while playing with a hole puncher and thinking of a bookworm. The story was almost named A Week with Willi the Worm, but his editor suggested he change worm to caterpillar.
Which of these books was your favourite as a child? Have you introduced your grandchildren to any of them? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.