Charlie the Tramp by Russell Hoban, pictures by Lillian Hoban

Have you been looking for some great children's classics to add to your home library?

Then check out one of my favorites - previously out of print but now re-released in a special 50th Anniversary hardcover edition!

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I received a free copy of this product from Propeller Consulting, LLC  in exchange for writing a review.  All opinions are my own.



When you're a kid, there are books that you enjoy reading once, books you enjoy reading over and over again, and then books like this: 


Charlie the Tramp
...that forever stick with you and become cherished favorites that you pass on to your children!

The memory of this book is so vivid in my mind. 

I'm not actually sure whether I read it more than once, or whether its words and pictures just burned themselves into my brain so deeply from a sole library check-out experience, but when I heard this book was celebrating its 50th Anniversary with a special hardcover edition, I got excited.

You see, this book had been out of print, so I hadn't had the chance to share it with Gv yet!



Reading this story again as a parent had me cracking up at each turn of the page - I love how the adults let Charlie take off and experience the tramping lifestyle, but it resulted in Charlie choosing what they all thought was best for him in the first place.

It reminded me of how we'd come up with rules in my classroom each year. Oh, I'd go on about how I could tell already that they were such a great class and that I thought they should come up with our rules for the year.

Then we'd spend all this time making lists and talking about the ways we wanted to treat others and be treated and guess what?

In the end, somehow all those rules could be summed up by the three that I'd already printed out to hang on the wall.

Pretty convenient, don't you think?

But the whole process to get there was awfully important. Because my students felt like the rules were their idea and so they completely bought each and every one.

So everyone got what they wanted and felt like a winner, just like Charlie and his family!




Besides the subtle humor, what I love most about this book is the clever way author Russell Hoban uses lush language to paint his descriptive pictures:


"He (Charlie) heard a trickling, tickling kind of a little song that had no words...He saw a little stream that sang as it ran in the moonlight..."

The book is full of rich word choices and figurative language like this, which makes my teacher heart very happy!

And if you're not a logophile like me, then I bet the book's illustrations will capture you:




I've always been amazed at how Lillian Hoban can breathe such life and character into her drawings.  Usually I prefer bright colors and silly scenes in a children's book, but the monotone aspect of her pencil drawings somehow manages to ooze expression!



This is one of those titles you'll want to make sure you have in your home library and it's the perfect choice to make a hardcover investment with. Grab your own copy here and see if your own little tramp decides to become a beaver, too.


Have you been looking for great books to add to your collection of children's classics?  I'd love to hear!  Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.

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