A tribute but not a farewell to Bernard Waber

Bernard Waber, the creator of Ira Sleeps Over and Lyle the Crocodile, died on May 16. He was 91 years old. How many kids experienced their first sleep over, clinging to a bare thread of confidence with the belief that if Ira could do it, they could too! Waber had the ability to depicts common childhood qualms with a good dose of empathy and humor.

To Lyle's many fans, the spirit of Bernard Waber will forever live on East 88th Street in New York.

A Mother's Love

All children should be so lucky—to have a mom that leads the way
Make Way For Ducklings, lives on!

Diane comments in the NYTimes on how no one ever outgrows a great children’s book because inside every adult is a child.

Re “Memories of a Bedtime Book Club,” by Dwight Garner (Critic’s Notebook, April 25):
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/opinion/beloved-childrens-books.html?ref=letters&_r=0

A loved and memorable children’s book carries you and your child’s DNA, so to speak; it is your literary inheritance.

No one ever outgrows a great children’s book because inside every adult is a child. Let the attic be home to other things, but not to these very alive and shared stories and memories. Mr. Garner’s own reverie while packing the books into boxes is proof enough.

As children navigate the sometimes turbulent world of adolescence and young adulthood, let these stories show them who they were and who they might become. Why not begin again the habit of reading aloud to your children?

Reading the written word and sharing thoughts offer rewards that should not have any imposed statute of limitations.

DIANE W. FRANKENSTEIN
San Francisco, April 25, 2013

The writer is the author of “Reading Together: Everything You Need to Know to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.”