| From
the March/April 1997 issue of The Horn Book Magazine
Snapshot
“Again”
By Kevin Henkes
 efore
I became a parent, I would never have believed that a sixteen-month-old
could have strong tastes when it comes to choosing books. But my
son knows exactly what he likes and dislikes. He will stand at the
bookshelf and locate his favorite books by their spines. He has
been known to go through his stack of board books, tossing the less-than-favorites
aside, saying, “No, no, no,” until he finds what he
wants.
If his mother and I are trying to do something
else and he wants to read, he follows us around clutching the book
of choice, holding it up with outstretched arms. “Book! Book!”
He recently learned to say and understand “again.”
Sometimes he says “again” at the end of a story. Sometimes
he says “again” twenty-three times for the same book.
Once, I read School Bus by Donald Crews for close to an
hour without a break.
Luckily, his “again” books are books
his parents like as well. Although his list changes from time to
time, there are several consistent favorites. They are: “More,
More, More,” Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams, Truck
and School Bus by Donald Crews, Tractor by Craig
Brown, Little Donkey Close Your Eyes by Margaret Wise Brown,
illustrated by Ashley Wolff, Of Colors and Things by Tana
Hoban, Bam, Bam, Bam by Eve Merriam, illustrated by Dan
Yaccarino, and Now I’m Big by Margaret Miller.
All of these books have been ripped and bent and
chewed and spilled on. All have been taped and glued, or replaced.
And I’m sure they will be again. Again and again and again.
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