A quick ode to Little Golden Books

My work week begins today, Tuesday.  Today I decided to deck my 'do with this bow, from AMWBowtique.  Etsy shut down AMW for some weird reason, but the Failbook page is alive and well.  This bow has a Little Golden Book theme.

The one, the only, the Saggy Baggy Elephant!  Oh, when my sister and I were children Little Golden Books were our lives.  We learned about God, about the solar system, about some of the more popular cat breeds, about make-believe worlds where animals communicated with humans and with each other.  One of my favorites was one of the classics, entitled The Saggy Baggy Elephant.  The book was about a young elephant who called himself Sooki.  Sooki didn't know exactly what he was but was happy with who he was...until a smart-aleck parrot made fun of his large ears and his large trunk and especially his wrinkly skin.  "You are baggy and saggy.  They should call you Saggy-Baggy!" the parrot jeered.  Poor Sooki subsequently tried a number of methods to shrink his skin, but each method nearly ended with him being eaten, first by a tiger, then by a crocodile, and finally by a lion.  Things do end well for Sooki, but y'all will have to read the book to see how!  Interestingly, The Saggy Baggy Elephant was owned by my grandmother, so if I wanted to read it I had to go to her house to get the job done!  I could read titles like Noah's Ark, The Poky Little Puppy's Naughty Day, and Pussy Willow in the comfort of my own home, but Grandma had the elephant!  Pussy Willow is better read in person, as the illustrations are epic.  I loved the Little Golden Book version of Noah's Ark, by the way.  The first page showed a ton of people beating the snot out of each other (with WHIPS!!!), and in the background, a poor donkey (that part always bothered my mother, who loves animals).  There was only one line of text:  "The people of the world had become very wicked."  When I hear of yet another murder or kidnapping I shake my head and think back to that book, and how despite it all one righteous man pulled through.  It wasn't easy, but Noah pulled it off, with animals and his family to spare.

Other classic Little Golden Book characters were the Poky Little Puppy (whom I  had in stuffed animal form), the Tawny Scrawny Lion, the Shy Little Kitten, Little Brown Bear, Scuffy the Tugboat, and Tootle, an anthropomorphic train.  And that sets the stage for one of my oldest and dearest memories.  I was about eighteen months old, Halloween was just around the corner, and Poplar Bluff had opened a brand-new Super Wal-Mart.  I don't know why Mama and Daddy decided to take me to the opening celebration, but they did.  As they were strapping me in the cart Shy Little Kitten came up to me, handed me a balloon (a GREEN balloon), and said "Here, Sarah, here's a balloon for you."  I know now that the lady in the Shy Little Kitten costume heard my mother say my name, but when you're a little kid and Shy Little Kitten knows your name...well, for toddler me it was like meeting Elvis!  I was so shocked that Mama had to remind me to say "thank you."  Tawny Scrawny Lion, Poky Little Puppy, Saggy Baggy Elephant, and Little Brown Bear were also there, but I didn't get to talk to them.  Seeing them was more than enuff.  It was amazing.  And that, folks, is more than you ever wanted know about why I love Little Golden Books!

Much love,
RagingMoon1987