Friday, January 2, 2015

Goodnight Mr. Darcy and Other Boardbooks for Babies



Over the holidays my kids unwittingly brought home a Jane Austen primer, Goodnight Mr. Darcy.  It was such a darling idea, I had to share. A publishing company named BabyLit offers such titles as The Tattle-Tale Heart, and Anna Karenina, as board books.

If you're familiar with Goodnight Moon, you'll love Goodnight Mr. Darcy. It begins:

In the great ballroom
There was a country dance
And a well-played tune
And Elizabeth Bennett--

Present in the story are three officers sitting in chairs, and Lydia and Kitty who think they are very pretty, and Mr. Darcy enjoying a pair of fine eyes. And when we read, "Goodnight, mush," it's accompanied by a picture of a hearts-for-eyes Mr. Bingley who has gone to mush over Jane. Love it!

I have Shakespeare for Kids and Greek Myths for Kids, but it never occurred to me to get Pride and Prejudice for Babies. I love that they call them "primers" and indeed they do serve that purpose. I can just imagine my sons, as teenagers of the future, picking Pride and Prejudice from the shelf and going, "Ah, that's why Mr. Bingley was mush." 

What do you say? Is babyhood too early to introduce Edgar Allan Poe or Leo Tolstoy? Or is it, the earlier the better?

2 comments:

Cathy C. Hall said...

I am IN LOVE with this idea! So, yes, a primer of Jane Austen and Poe? Bring 'em on. And Tolstoy and Twain and Hawthorne and the Bronte sisters.

Maybe not The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wouldn't want to traumatize the little kidders. :-)

Katrina L. Lantz said...

Good call on Dorian Gray! I am curious about The Tattle-Tale Heart, too.