Richard Scarry's Best Rainy Day Book Ever
Richard Scarry ~ Random House, 1974
I found this at a library sale today and had one of those my-heart-skipped-a-beat moments. Hundreds of rainy day hours from my childhood came flooding back, and I was five again. You all know I'm a sucker for big, fat "More Than 500 Things to Color and Make" books of the past, and I wonder why they don't make them as awesome as they used to. (My apologies to everyone for my excessive use of the word awesome on this blog, but really, is there any other word?) Thankfully, it seems, this one has found its way back into print so even more generations of tots can fall in love.
Each page, each illustration, each craft takes me back 30 years to a simpler time when all you needed was a pair of metal safety scissors and a bottle of Elmer's to have an absolute blast. Lucky for us, the child who owned this copy previously only partook of about 10 of the 500 things, so we're set to go. Good thing it's raining outside. Mobiles, pages to color, finger puppets, a calendar to make. As soon as I pick the boy up from preschool, we are totally hitting the make-you-own-bookplates page... that is, if I can wait that long!
(And Antmusic, after going back and reading your comment on The Bear's Activity Book, I totally just bought a copy of Little Monster's You-Can-Make-It Book from Abe. Thanks for the tip!)
Also by:I Am a Bunny
Chipmunk's ABC
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Great Big Air Book
The Bunny Book
Rabbit and His Friends
Tommy Visits the Doctor
and antmusic... those mayer pics are Amazon, are those all yours? crazy awesome!
ReplyDeleteI remember going to Kepler's Book store each year to buy mine!! I found one at a used children's store--untouched. My daughter (8 yo) is coloring, filling out the calendar, and cutting all the activities out. Good Times!
ReplyDeleteyou find the coolest stuff...
ReplyDeleteIt's a year later - but I found this at a garage sale for $0.75 in great shape. now to get some paper for the copier...
ReplyDelete(oops) I guess it seemed like a year...it's only been 3 months. ;)
ReplyDeleteI had this as a kid and absolutely loved it, but then lost it somehow. I spent literally years basically tearing the house apart looking for it. I don't remember whether I found it again or not, so I probably didn't. It probably ended up being thrown away or something. :(
ReplyDeletehi,am searching for make and do book from my childhood... don't know if this is it as can't see inside.. i can rem some projects that involved painting wooden clothes pegs like soldiers and making someting from a wooden thread spool to weave/knit yarn... does your book have this sort of thing? thanks
ReplyDeleteThis was the only decent present my father ever gave me - I loved it!
ReplyDeleteGosh - this was the only decent present my father ever gave me - I remember it well! Loved it!
ReplyDelete