George and Martha by James Marshall

These picture books are a little like Frog and Toad because they contain truths that are recognised by children and adults. For example in one of the stories in the series George pretends to like pea soup because it would be hard to tell Martha. His deceit is discovered ( Martha sees George pour the soup in his shoe!).  Martha points out that true friends tell the truth.
A lovely read aloud and also a good reader for an older learner because it is not “babyish”.

There are 8 books in the series. They were made into a TV series

Here is the link for the books at the NZ  National Library

Here is the link for the book at the Auckland Libraries ( they currently hold only one title,  last year all the stories were reprinted in one book and I have made a request for its purchase – Later – which they bought !

Linked here )

Click on the image to buy the complete collection from Fishpond.

You can also see a limited preview at Google Books including the pea soup story

Maurice Sendak  in the forward writes “The picture book is a peculiar art form that thrives on genius, intuition, daring and a meticulous attention to its history and its various, complex components. The picture book is a picture puzzle, badly misunderstood by critics and condescended to by far too many as merely a trifle for “the kiddies.” Children are routinely patronized and thus so are we who spend our creative lives entertaining them and nourishing their spirit”

As a mother of children who has been reading aloud picture books for over 12 years, I could not agree more.

Tags: humour, Picture Books, reader

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Books for Later Readers, Picture Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.