We’ve been living in Macon for two years now so we’re way past due to join the local library. Our library isn’t a quaint little building surrounded by trees. No, this south Macon library is in a trashy strip mall next to the Dollar General and Food City.
Just like books though, you shouldn’t judge it by its cover – inside we found plenty of books, computers, and… ssshhh…. silence.
While I got a library card, Trey picked out his first two books (though the library’s limit is 50 books at a time, I limited him to just two). We came home with Dr. Seuss’ Yertle the Turtle & Other Short Stories, as well as slightly odd book about a family of bears singing “Jesus Loves Me” as they go about their day.
So I’ll leave you with a couple interesting facts I learned about Yertle the Turtle:
- It is #125 on the list of best-selling children’s books of all time
- It was written as “a reaction against the fascism of World War II” and Yertle represents Hitler
- It was controversial at the time for its use of the word “burp”. It became the first children’s book to feature the act of burping.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote a TERRIBLE song called Yertle the Turtle that shortly follows the song “Sex Rap” on their explicit album “Freaky Styley”
- There is an animated version of the book narrated by John Lithgow – you can watch it on YouTube
I just heard this morning on NPR a song made for children during the war about duck and covering during a bomb raid. It was about a duck who when he heard a loud noise duck and covered… something like that. This is so funny… makes me want to do some research on the girls picks.