Munro Leaf's always a classic, but seriously, Margaret Wise Brown, what is up? I can't decide which ten books from Curious Pages' massive bloglist of "Recommended inappropriate books for kids" to post about next.
Buy a collectible copy of Margaret Wise Brown & Remy Charlip's The Dead Bird at amazon [amazon]
Margaret Wise Brown has a lot of kooky books. We have _The Dead Bird_, and enjoy it. I think the fact that the kids quickly forget about it is pretty true to life. We've buried a bird in our own yard, with much pomp and ceremony, in part inspired by that book. But the few times I've mentioned the grave or the funeral to our five-year-old since she has given me the blank stare of a stranger who just wandered into your house to make themselves a sandwich.
I didn't know The Dead Bird, but I was really impressed by the subtlety of that "until they forgot about it" ending.
The Dead Bird is good, as is The Tenth Good Thing About Barney. Both are secular stores about death. By secular I don't mean atheist, but simply they address the issue without delving into a particular religious belief.
I just clicked on the link to the bloglist and saw the illustration from the book that was my biggest nightmare as a child at the top- Shock Headed Peter (with the razorish fingers). My heart is still pounding. I was a thumb sucker, and for some reason my parents bought me this book, about a boy who sucks his thumb and then a mean man comes in and cuts off his thumbs. As an adult I wondered 1) what book it was and 2) what in the world my parents were thinking. Thanks for answering the first question. I guess I will never know the answer to the 2nd...
Haha, here's more Struwwelpeter, including a modern version, and here's a Struwwelhitler, just for fun.