Friday Firsts and Fancies - Artist and Author, David Shannon

Sorry, again I missed Wednesday Wow's and Friday First's blogs.  I was indisposed, as they say.  So, I am combining Wednesday with Friday on Saturday!  Today I'm featuring David Shannon, author and artist. 

Most parents have read at least one of Mr. Shannon's books, most famously "No David."  I subbed on Friday and read a book illustrated by David Shannon and written by Melinda Long, "How I became a Pirate."  As are his other books, it is brilliantly illustrated.  You are right there in the action when Jeremy sees a pirate ship while he's at the beach making sand castles.  Yes, he's digging in the sand and who are the pirates looking for, why a "digger" to help them bury their treasure! Jeremy goes with them and learns to be a pirate.  He figures it's okay as long as he makes it back by soccer practice.  

He learns all the fun things that pirates do, the songs, the pirate lingo, the "doing-whatever-I-want-to" life.  No one tells a pirate to brush their teeth (their teeth are a gross green), or go to bed or use good manners.  However, he also learns that no one tucks pirates into their beds, reads them bedtime stories, or kisses them goodnight.  When a huge storm comes up in the night, no one comforts pirates and tells them it's going to be okay.  He learns that maybe it's not all that wonderful being a pirate, all the time.  But he does get to help bury the treasure.  And he makes it back for soccer practice with his team, The Pirates!  

It's a cute, colorful reminder that childhood is a time of imaginative adventure, but it's also a time when we want to keep our children safe and enjoying their childhood for as long as possible.  We want to give them enough freedom to dream, play, imagine all sorts of things, learn, and grow.  And we want to be there to pick them up when they fall, reassure them that everything will be all night as we tuck them in bed, read them a bedtime story, and kiss them goodnight.

David Shannon has illustrated a lot of books for other authors, but here are some that he's written and illustrated:

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Tags:  David Shannon, No David, Alice Fairy, Fergus Dog, Stripes, Baseball, Soccer, childhood, pirates, tuck in bed, bedtime story, goodnight kiss, sand castles at the beach, imagination, learning, having fun.