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A Fly Went By
I thought it might be interesting to occasionally revisit some of the books I loved as a boy.
'A Fly Went By' is a great rhyming book by Mike McClintock, who's real claim to fame lies in introducing his friend Dr. Suess to the world while McClintock worked as an editor.
The book tells the story of a series of panicked animals that run by a boy, each afraid of the animal behind them and each in turn misinterpreting the fears of their 'pursuer' as a threat to themselves.
The fly ran away
In fear of the frog,
Who ran from the cat,
Who ran from the dog.
The dog ran away
In fear of the pig,
Who ran from the cow.
She was so big!
The cow ran away
From the fox, who ran
As fast as he could
In fear of the man.
That man heard a thump,
And away he ran!"
A good way to ruin any book is to jump on Amazon and read the amateur psychology offered in the customer reviews. The book, written decades ago, has reviews that actually 'warns' parents that the text includes the word 'kill' and that man in the poem is a hunter with a rifle. Oh, the scarring this will cause a child!
[Aside #1:nevermind that I have no memory of the gun in the text and have never, as I've mentioned before, fired one in my life.]
[Aside #2: I'm afraid America has become a nation of mollycoddlin' parents nowadays. Prosperity certainly has its downside. It's a damn wonder we haven't been conquered by some country that doesn't demand bike helmets, doesn't forbid swing sets as our school's insurance does, can handle a reference to killing in nature and doesn't object to kids being kids.]
[Aside #3: BTW - I saw two kids wearing bike helmets yesterday . . . while they rode their big wheels. C'mon!]
I'm sorry. Back to the book.
I don't think it takes a degree to see that the Cold War era book tries to highlight the idea that miscommunication is at the center of most disagreements. Beneath that I think it also teaches a simpler ideal. Namely that anxiety and fear are often exaggerated in your own mind, and that most of the time Everything's Gonna Be All Right. I like that bit.
A very fun and sweet book, and still in print. Pick it up for the kids in your life.
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Great article...
I am constantly amazed by what is "banned" as well...One of the books/songs that I loved when I was young was "Zip-a-dee-doo-da" from a Walt Disney adventure. Now you can find it for one reason or another! Special-interest crap is what I say...I believe in equal opportunity...equal opportunity to read/write what is in our hearts and allow another to feel or relate to it...loving or hating it! -
My kids loved Dr. Seuss books when they were young. Their favorites included 'Mr. Brown can moo, can you?' and 'Green Eggs and Ham'. We still recite lines out of these books today. :) Estela
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I have two favorite childhood books: "Harriet the Spy," and "Words From the Myths." Although the latter isn't really a childhood book.
Don't get me started on the whole bike helmet thing. I understand that kids living in cities should probably wear helmets (but while riding Big Wheels...that's just ludicrous). Ken's kids--who were raised in the city--put on helmets to ride their bikes...in our driveway...our unpaved driveway, in the country.
I rode all over hell and back on these country roads, without a helmet, and somehow managed to avoid brain damage and/or injury. It's not the highways of L.A. around here, by any means.
Sometimes...don't you just wonder what the heck is going on?
Beth
http://journals.aol.com/luvrte66/nutwoodjunction/ -
I saw a youngster (too young to know how to skate board) sitting on a skate board and pushing himself around with his feet on the sidewalk. You guessed it. He was wearing a bike helmet.
Hugs, Joyce
7/23/08 10:02 AM
I think by making the kids wear helmets we are making their world too safe and can give the wrong signal....
But it is hard to fight city hall, when it comes to getting tickets or being blamed for neglect for taking care of a child.....
Jeanne