05 July 2011

Never Too Much

Isaac and I spent July 4th morning, and part of the afternoon, cleaning his room. My mother was rather incredulous that we really spent over 4 hours working on it. But, we did. We (I) organized toy bins, cleaned out cubbies, made piles to toss and give away, and even weeded his book collection. Right now, the floor is still free of miniature cars and light up swords.

As we were (I was) going through the book crates, Isaac pulled out Too Many Toys by David Shannon. He thought the parallel was pretty funny. I thought it was less than hilarious. But, when we were finally done with the clean up/out and Isaac asked to read Too Many Toys, I didn't say no.

I have written about David Shannon previously, and mentioned this particular book, but I did not go into detail about it. It is another David Shannon gem. His descriptions of the multitude of playthings that can take over a house are spot-on. And, I swear, he could have been writing about us, right down to the harried mother with the blond ponytail.

In the end, a small box of toys is ready to go (again, the parallels are uncanny), and the mom is satisfied (well, maybe not so much). The boy still has plenty to play with (yup) and, of course, charms his mom into leniency (Ok, I admit it). Again, Shannon manages to capture the heart of parent/child relationships while drawing laughs from mom and son.

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