I most likely heard Captain Kangaroo read the book on his show (I was more of a Captain Kangaroo guy than a Sesame Street guy). I must have showed some interest because my Mom bought me a copy at some point. Of course I drew pictures all over the illustrations with my own 5 year old ideas of how they should really look!
When I was a toddler, we weren't allowed to watch Sesame Street. I didn't really understand why until my Mom realized she didn't want the influence of public television in her household. :)
(”...smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo. Now don’t tell me I got nothin’ to do.”)
: )
Wow, y’all are dating yourselves with the Capt. Kangaroo references. That takes me back. I loved that man as a kid. I can still remember the theme music. Dancing Bear kinda creeped me out,tho-must have been the nose.
As for the book suggestions- all those are good and I’m trying to rack my brain to add one. Any of the classic Golden Books were my favorites as a kid. I can recall my dad reading me the Peter Pan stories and sometimes stuff from a bible stories for children book. (great illustrations in that one!)
I think at that tender age it’s not so much the subject matter, but the cadence of the speaking voice. They’re still trying to get a grasp on English at that point and any reading out loud helps with that. You can’t beat any Dr. Suess books for that sort of thing. My dad read Green Eggs & Ham to me and always did silly voices for each character-I did the same thing reading it with mine. It was always a crowd pleaser.