What the Dormouse Said, Lessons for Grown-ups from Children's Books

Quotations from Children's Books that are Worth Remembering

My copy of What the Dormouse Said, Lessons for Grown-ups from Children's Books is beginning to look a little worn. That's because it's one of those books I read again and again and share with friends. I predict that after you read this collection of quotations from more than 200 children's books, you will do the same.

The Quotations

As Judith Viorst says in the book's foreword, "At their best, children's books offer insights we'll want to remember and ponder and savor and learn from and revel in." The quotations are amazingly varied, from the profound to the funny, but wise.

• "True friends never owe each other anything."
  Bear Circus,William Pene du Bois, 1971

• "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose"
  Oh, the Places You'll Go!, Dr. Seuss, 1990

Reading the book is like visiting old friends and meeting new ones. What the Dormouse Said is a small book, but it packs a wallop. It made me want to reread some old favorites and check out some of the children's books I had never read before. One of the most helpful things about the book is the way it is organized. The quotations are arranged by theme. The 21 themes include faith and courage, love and friendship, family woes, character and individuality, acceptance, sadness, eating habits, and goodness. At the end of the book is an index of the quotations by book title, with bibliographic information. Artist Pierre Le-Tan's witty and engaging illustrations add to the book's appeal.

The Author

Amy Gash is a book editor, who first read many of the books quoted while reading aloud to her young son. As her interest in children's books grew, she began to read children's books for her own pleasure. As she relates in the introduction, "The ability to get to the essence in just a few lines, as authors for young people with short attention spans must do, is the mark of a gifted writer for an audience of any age." Some of the quotations are from books that you'll recognize, like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, A Bear Called Paddington, Charlotte's Web, Goodnight Moon, The Little Prince, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Others may be from books you don't recognize but that you'll want to read. (Algonquin Books, Hardcover, ISBN: 1565122410, 1999; Paperback, ISBN: 1565124510, 2004)

Post Your Favorite Quotations

What are your favorite quotations from children's books? I hope you will post one or two on the About Children's Books Forum.