The Large Impact of a Small Book

This cute little book is one that brings back a lot of memories for me.  You know when you're getting ready for bed and your mom or dad ask you to pick out a bedtime story?  Usually, I'd try and pick a long one so I could stay up even a few minutes longer, but my parents caught on early to that trick.

Instead, I could pick two or three shorter books.  The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear was always one of my favorites for bedtime.  Written by Audrey and Don Wood, Don Wood's illustrations make you fall instantly in love with his adorable mouse friend who is trying to hide his strawberry from the big hungry bear.

Apparently, big hungry bears absolutely love red ripe strawberries and can find them anywhere, especially after they have been picked.  

So, our little mouse friend then tries to figure out how to hide his yummy strawberry from getting eaten from the bear.  This part was always my favorite and would make me laugh and laugh, because the mouse tried to put a disguise on the strawberry to hide it.  

When I was little I would read almost any chance I could.  I remember in second grade, my teacher told me I had to wait to go back to the library because I had already been there too many times in one day.  I had a pretty high reading comprehension level, but it was also the shorter stories that I fell in love with.  As wonderful as novels can be, I still look to the cute, unique stories I grew up with to give me inspiration, as a writer myself.  

Feel free to read along as Patricia M. Krause reads The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear aloud.  Then you can see for yourself how adorable this book is and why it was unique enough to remember it so vividly after a dozen years. 

I can't recall many chapter books that I've read in my lifetime, and I know there have been a lot, but I do always remember these children's books that have impacted my childhood.  Bedtime was always a favorite since Mom or Dad would read to my sister and I every night.  

Did your parents or guardian ever read to you before bedtime?  What book do you remember vividly?  Why do you think that book was so important to you?