From Lowly beginnings

When you have a 3-year-old, you find yourself being tormented with the very thing you loved/tormented your parents with as a child. Currently, Abigail is fixated on The Berenstain Bears, which was probably my favorite picture book series. Not a huge consolation when having to read "Messy Room" for the millionth time, but still, nice to see the generations build upon each other.

The previous favorite implement of torture was Richard Scarry's "Best First Book Ever." I'm sure we all remember the precocious humor of Richard Scarry (visit this incredibly funny bio, it's great!) -- and the seemingly infinite words on the page labeling everything. Good ol' Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat. My personal favorite as a child was "Busy, Busy World," where Scarry explored countries from Ireland to Algeria to China. (Sadly, it appears this book is too politically incorrect and has been pulled from print. Guess I'll have to eBay it!) It's amazing now to realize how young my fascination with travel and culture began. Those drawings were probably what first put into my head that there was a great big world out there I needed to visit. I still want to see Morrocco -- where I firmly believe I'll meet a fez-wearing dog named Couscous.