Pickle Things

A few weeks ago, I came across a worn copy of Pickle Things that was left at my house by one of my granddaughters who is now seventeen years old. After that, it spent many years in my second grade classroom. I remembered how much children love it, so I took it to my little two-year-old granddaughter and it has quickly become her favorite book! Now, when I walk in the door of her house, she runs to get Pickle Things for us to read. In fact, she "reads" it to me!!! I wanted to get a new copy for her and I'm sorry to see that it is now out of print.

I have 2 boys - an almost 2 yr. old and a 4 1/2 yr. old. I picked this book out of the library 2 weeks ago and have read it approximately 100+ times over that period - they absolutely love it! My 4 yr. old "read" it to his little brother about 8 times a few nights ago - he literally memorized everything about it, including my own reflection throughout - a real joy and a great stress-reliever for me!Marc Brown describes ridiculous uses for pickles and backs the descriptions up with very silly illustrations. And, the fact that "pickle" is kind of a silly word makes it fun.HIGHLY REcommend - I'm online to buy a supply for gifts!

My second grade class loved to hear me read this book. They would ask to read it over and over again. I enjoyed it myself. I would recommend this book to children of all AGES!

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute. To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Pickle Things was one of her picks.Our daughter likes anything funny, and this book certainly fit the bill. It is designed as a short, simple poem that looks at various imaginary ways that pickles can be used (decorations on a Christmas tree, as an ear, as a nose, as hair, as toes, as objects to juggle, to come out of a water spout, as desserts, breakfast food, sweet snacks, as kites, etc.). Each potential application moves off in a new direction to stretch your child's imagination. Since the poem is short and triggered by the illustrations (of big green pickles), it is easy for the child to memorize it, and begin to "read" to you.The illustrations are clear, colorful and capture wonderful expressions on children's faces.A great thing to do with this book is to take another fruit or vegetable and create your own book (poem, illustrations, and all). I remember having the most fun with eggplants!We all start with lots of imagination, and generally lose that imagination to complacency. Use this wonderful book to recreate your own imagination and build on your child's! You'll build happy memories and associations that way. Enjoy!

My friend's young son had this book and would always ask me to read it to him when I visited. We would read it over and over and laughed harder each time. This book really helped bond us and for Christmas one year he gave me a pickle tree ornament. No one else understood the significance. Needless to say, this book is a favorite.